Jason Lieb, new chamber president, presented a report on everything the chamber has been working on the past year and future plans for the next year to the Gardner city council, Monday, Dec. 5.

He said it was a big time of transition for all the county chambers, and he was finally settling into his new role as president.

Lieb said he gave a lot of credit to former president Jason Camis for the Chamber’s 2022 successes.

The Chamber’s focus the last year included community services, business connections, workforce development, tourism marketing and three special projects.

Lieb said they strived to answer questions from residents even if they didn’t have the answers.

The website had 30,000 visitors in 2022, they reached 55,000 Facebook users as they continue to grow their social media presence and received 400 calls for service.

Lieb said the calls were the most entertaining part of the job, as they receive all types of calls.

The Chamber sent out 300 new resident bags which was down from the past and recently printed 11,000 Gardner Edgerton Magazines for distribution soon.

“It was more work than I expected,” he said.

Lieb said they hosted 17 chamber coffees this year that were in high demand, held 10 annual events and participated in 10 ribbon cuttings for welcoming new or expanding businesses.

The Gardner Edgerton Technical Career program through the high school with guest speakers was also a primary focus, he said. The chamber serves as a liaison.

“It’s great to partner with the school and work with kids,” Lieb said.

The chamber continues to heavily market the city’s parks and rec and the county’s parks and rec events.

Lieb said they also promoted the Garmin Air Show, Fountain City Con and installed a new literature rack at their newly remodeled offices.

The office remodel was the chamber’s biggest project for 2022.

They hosted a candidate forum in October for the candidates running for the district’s Kansas house representative seats and created Mission Main Street.

“We are all aware of the construction,” he said. “We are looking to do something to maintain businesses and promote them,” he said.

For 2023, Lieb said the chamber plans to work on a leadership program, forming tourism and governmental affairs committees and starting a quarterly luncheon educational series in early January.

“We are building a program to launch in 2024 with coordinated leadership efforts,” he said.

Lieb said they also want to be a liaison to elected officials and businesses and are laying the groundwork.

The community foundation efforts with funding and structure was a continuing process, he said. They are also working on a community profile marketing brochure.

“We are looking forward to strengthening our relationship with council,” he said. “We want more operational activities, and I hope next time to have more promotional information.”

Todd Winters, mayor, said he looked forward to hearing more updates from Lieb in six months.