September 1st | 2023

Hey Chamber Members! Did You Know...

One of the benefits to being a Chamber Member is that we will feature something in this E-Connection Newsletter at NO COST to you the first time it's included!

This can be an event, press release, business news or updates (hour or location changes, for example), announcements, etc.! You can also run an event multiple weeks for an additional fee after the first free post. This is a GREAT way to advertise your business events and more as our E-Connection Newsletter goes out to over 1,800 people weekly!

Do you have an event you'd like featured in an upcoming E-Connection Newsletter? Send the following information to us by 5:00pm on Wednesdays to make sure your post is included in that week's E-Connection Newsletter! Remember, the newsletter goes out every Friday morning! You can send your post as far ahead of time as you'd like as well! The post will generally be included in chronological order.

Required information, as applies:

Image | Link (Image & Button) | Date & Time | Location | Description

Questions or assistance? Contact us directly!

Shelby Buchholz, Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Call | Email

2023 Live Local Calendar

Never miss out on what's happening locally! We have you covered with our fully interactive #LiveLocal calendar that's updated daily!! Use the button to get to our Live Local Calendar!

Save the Date for this City Hosted Open House

on September 7th!

October is another busy month for the Chamber -

save the date or register now for these upcoming events!

*Schedule of events are subject to changes.

Tuesday, October 2nd:

Taste of Marshall 2023 - Get Tickets Now!

Tuesday, October 10th:

Chamber 201 - Register Now!

Business After Hours @ Fuzzy's

Thursday, October 12th:

Women's Connect - Register Now!

Tuesday, October 17th:

Young Professionals - Fire Safety Month - Register Now!

Thursday, October 19th:

Let's Connect - Register Now!

Lunch & Learn - Register Now!

Thursday, October 26th:

Moonlight Madness - Registration Coming Soon!

Bring Them Back & Keep Them Here

Private Industry Council offers plan to Lyon County commissioners to address workforce shortage.

Retention and retainment.

Call it what you want, that’s the name of the game for leaders of the Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council, who presented a plan at last week’s Lyon County Board of Commissioners meeting in hopes of not only slowing the exodus of students from the area, but figuring out a way to entice them to return to work and start a family.

Carrie Bendix and Maria Peterson of the PIC met with commissioners at the Aug. 1 meeting along with Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce President Brad Gruhot to bounce an idea off them that they hope would go a long way to bringing Minnesota students who left the state for college back for a summer internship.

The plan is to mimic Nobles County’s new internship work program for college students — modeled after Martin County’s internship program — that was designed to find business leaders who act as mentors for local students, all the while promoting those businesses and work opportunities that students might otherwise not even know about.

“We put out a blanket request for students who are originally from the county and left and said, ‘Do you want to come back for the summer and work here with some of our local employers within the career degree that you’re working for?’” said Bendix, executive director of the Southwest Minnesota PIC. “The idea is to bring them back, connect them with local employers with the hope of increasing our student retention.”

Bendix said they had 12 students participate last year.

The program acts as a networking tool for students to develop connections with possible future employees. These would be paid internships, with financial backing coming from the county.

“It’s no secret that we have a workforce shortage in Lyon County, no matter what type of business it is,” Gruhot said. “This is to get students to come back to their hometown and have an opportunity to work at a company … and hopefully be working at those companies long-term after they’re done with college.

Gruhot noted that southwest Minnesota has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the state at 3.2%. Gruhot expressed his disappointment in Minnesota’s State Legislature for not appropriating money for high-demand industries involved with Minnesota West campuses to match similar programs in South Dakota that he said are luring Minnesota students across the border.

“From 2010 to 2020, we lost even more students than we did in previous years,” said Bendix. “The good news is, as they get older they have a tendency to come back, but it’s not until they’re mostly in their 40s.”

Bendix said the PIC hasn’t forgotten about the high school students in the region. In fact, its Youth Career Connector program has served more than 4,000 last year, and over 1,000 of them were from school districts in this area. This program includes mock interviews, job shadows/internships, work readiness training and career fairs.

However, despite those efforts, Bendix noted that 40% of high school students that graduated last year from the Marshall, Minneota and Tracy school districts went on to attend a college outside of Minnesota.

“That is significant,” she said. “Of those who stayed in Minnesota, 27% decided to go to a two-year college versus a four-year college.”

According to the agreement contract for the program in Nobles County, the program there began in Nov. 8, 2022, and expires Sept. 30, 2023. Nobles County pays up to a maximum of $106,416, which would be put mostly toward wages for the students, who would work 29 or fewer hours per week for up to 12 weeks during the summer. The PIC is required to repay any amount of money not used. Employers don’t pay their workers directly, but do offer in-kind support such as giving of their time for things like supervision. The employers do have the option of paying an employee involved in the program for any extra hours they would request to reach the 40-hours-per-week threshold.

“A lot of the internships started a little later than I would’ve liked, and making the connections were a little hard because it was the first year,” said Peterson, who works directly with Nobles County. “I do have some businesses that have submitted an application for next year already.”

Lyon County commissioners decided to take the request under advisement and discuss it further during soon-to-come budget talks for the upcoming fiscal year. 

“I think this is a program that we need to look at,” Lyon County Board of Commissioners Chair Rick Anderson said. “I think now would be the time to sit down and see where the dollars would come from.”

2023 Chamber Coupon Books

Available for purchase now at $30 per book & include over $5,000 in savings! Stop in the Chamber to purchase yours today.

2023 Community Guides

The Marshall Area Community Guide is here! Stop in the Chamber to get yours today or find one around town - they're free!

Avera Marshall

• Sonographer | Part-Time
• Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) - Behavior Health Acute Unit | Part-Time
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) - PRN
• Paramedic - PRN Transporter - PRN
• Sonographer - PRN
• Paramedic | Full-Time
• Registered Nurse (RN) - Resource Nurse - Med Surg | Part-Time
• Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) | Full-Time
• Radiology Technologist III | Part-Time
• Radiology Technologist (RT) | Part-Time
• Surgical Technician (Non-Certified) | PRN
• Registered Nurse (RN) - OB/GYN Clinic | Part-Time
• Dietary Aide | PRN
• Behavioral Health Technician
• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) - Long-Term Care | PRN
• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) - Long-Term Care | Part-Time
• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) - Long-Term Care | Part-Time
• Dietary Aide | Part-Time
• Phlebotomist | Part-Time Radiology Technologist | Part-Time
• Food Service Worker | Part-Time
• Registered Nurse (RN) Supervisor - Long-Term Care
• Registered Nurse (RN) - Surgery | PRN
• Radiology Technologist | Part-Time
• Registered Nurse (RN) - Clinic | Full-Time
• Registered Nurse (RN) - Pediatric Clinic | Part-Time
• Sonographer | Part-Time
• Registered Nurse (RN) - MDS Coordinator - Long-Term Care | Temporary
• Patient Services Representative (PSR) | Part-Time
• Behavioral Health Technician Dietary Aide | Part-Time
• Dietary Aide | Part-Time

Boerboom Ag Resources

• Feed Truck Driver

Carlson & Stewart Refrigeration, Inc.

• HVAC-R Technician

City of Marshall

• Police Officer (New & Lateral Transfers)

Evolution of Beauty

• Spa Receptionist

GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp.

• Account Support Advisor - Consumer | Part-Time

Grill Works Inc.

• Production Worker

Hoffman & Brobst, PLLP

• Senior Accountant Position

Hope Harbor

• Direct Care Staff | Full-Time
• Direct Care Staff | Part-Time

Jonti-Craft, Inc.

• Shipping
• Builder (ATO) 1st & 2nd Shift
• Carting 1st & 2nd Shift
• Sprayer 1st Shift
• Maintenance Tech 1st Shift
• Profile Sander 1st Shift
• Warehouse

Living Word Lutheran Church

• Worship Leader | Full-Time
• Director of Youth Ministry

Lyon County

• Lyon County Correctional Officer

Marshall-Lyon County Library

• Collection Assistant | Part-Time

Marshall Public Schools

• Middle School Special Education Paraprofessional
• Southview Special Education Paraprofessional
• Crossing Guard
• Substitute Teacher
• Substitute Paraprofessional
• Little Cubs Classroom Aide
• Maintenance Crew Member

Meulebroeck, Taubert & Co.

• Staff Accountant

New Horizons Crisis Center

• Murray County Program Coordinator & Regional Advocate
• Redwood County Program Coordinator
• Crime Victim Service Coordinator - Lyon County
• Crime Victim Service Coordinator - Murray County
• Crime Victim Service Coordinator - Redwood County

North Star Mutual Insurance Company

• Claims Technician - Auto Claims
• Policy Processing Technician - Farm Underwriting
• Policy Processing Technician - Personal Lines Underwriting
• Underwriting Technician - Personal Lines
• Assistant Claims Representative - Property/Casualty Claims
• Assistant Claims Representative - Auto Claims
• Claims Technician - Property/Casualty Claims

Prairie Home Hospice

• Clinical Director
• CNA / TMA / HHA - Multiple Positions Open | Part-Time & Full-Time
• LPN / RN | Part-Time & Full-Time
• RN Case Manager

Schwan's Company

• Maintenance Technician I - Nights

Southwest Minnesota State University

• SUCCESS Program Coach
• Director of Alumni Relations & Outreach
• Assistant Director of Residence Life

Southwest Tour & Travel

• Tour / Travel Coordinator

Traveler's Lodge

• Front Desk

True Light Christian School

• Middle School Teacher

US Bank

• Cash Applications Specialist
• Senior Disbursements Control Specialist
• Commercial Banking Client Rep

Varsity Pub / Extra Innings

• Kitchen Team / Panino Pitcher
• Waitstaff / Servers

Western Mental Health Center

• Mental Health Practitioner

Yelloh

• Route Team Lead

Any Chamber Member Can Submit Job Postings!

Ask about your login by emailing chamber@marshallmn.org or call the Chamber at 507-532-4484.

Newsletter Goals & Audience

The purpose of the Chamber E-Connection newsletter is to share our member's events with other business and community members. It's an informational newsletter and helps to promote our member businesses and their events. Each Friday, our newsletter is sent to over 1,500 individuals. Our separate emails are sent to the same list, but are held especially for our Chamber events and Business After Hours.

Newsletter Policy

E-Connection events are included based on the requests from the member business. The following criteria are requested by the Marshall Area Chamber for event submissions:

*Event flyers or submissions must be an actual event. We don't include sales or promotions.

*Events can be included in the E-Connection for one week free of charge. You have the option of adding one additional week for $20.

*Submissions to be included must be sent the Wednesday prior to that Friday's E-Connection - they can be emailed to chamber@marshallmn.org.

*All event flyers are for Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce members only.

Did you find any errors? It happens! Although we appreciate notice of a small error in the newsletter, we only send out a corrected e-mail if absolutely necessary.