On Veterans Day, Americans gather to remember and celebrate the selfless acts of those who served in defense our country. We demonstrate our respect and appreciation for the liberty and safety secured by the actions of military men and women. But truly honoring their service requires action not just on November 11th, but every day.

Regrettably, the recent treatment of American veterans has taken a worrisome turn. While our society has such great respect for those who have served, the organization charged with providing their care has fallen short, failing to uphold its commitments to our veterans.

The problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs reached a breaking-point this year, leading whistleblowers to shine a light on the abuse, neglect, and cover-ups within the VA. Investigations of VA medical facilities across the country made clear that these accusations were not just isolated cases of bad behavior, but rather a systemic and cultural problem that had infected the entire VA system.

Like many Americans, I was disturbed by the dysfunction and disservice to veterans under the care of the VA, an agency created to serve them. The spout of reports was especially infuriating to lawmakers and Veterans Service Organizations whose oversight was diminished and calls for action ignored by VA leadership. It was also a wakeup call for those who had simply become complacent with a VA system that settled for mediocrity.

The existing leadership at the VA proved incapable of fixing the Department’s problems. I began the rally for new leadership and accountability to make certain the wrongdoers faced consequences. A new secretary of Veterans Affairs was confirmed in August. Since then, the new Secretary Bob McDonald has shown a desire to make the difficult steps needed to reform the VA system and inspire his employees to do better.

To enhance the Secretary’s ability to keep the Department on a path of recovery, Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act this summer to empower the VA Secretary to more readily remove employees for misconduct and poor performance. This power to easily rid the VA of its bad actors was long overdue.

To truly honor veterans, we must create an agency that is more compassionate and more caring toward the men and women it serves. The need for a functional and effective VA has never been greater. Today, the VA must tend to the needs of aging World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans, while keeping up with new challenges posed by caring for veterans of more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Kansas, this means increasing access to timely, quality care, especially for those living in the rural areas of our state. In the past, veterans have been required to travel hundreds of miles for appointments at VA facilities. This was an unacceptable burden for rural veterans, who compose 41 percent of the VA Health Care System. New policies passed by Congress this year will allow certain veterans to receive treatment at hometown facilities.

Improved service to rural veterans is further achieved by making certain Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, Sole Community Hospitals and other rural hospitals can provide quality primary and preventative care for veterans. Other positive developments include the creation Community Based Outpatient Clinics, enhancing transportation services to and from VA facilities, increasing travel reimbursement and improving Home-Health programs which bring care to a veteran’s doorstep. Despite these positive steps, there is more to be done in correcting the bad policies of the past and improving the quality of life for our nation’s veterans.

Whatever the mission, the men and women we honor on Veterans Day were ready to answer the call. We are forever grateful for your service. Our nation would not be what it is today without your strength, sacrifice and bravery.

Today military men and women are following in the footsteps of our veterans and do so at great risk. I pray that those currently serving the United States abroad return safely to the families who love them. It is our charge to welcome service members home with open arms, and make certain our promises of respect and care are kept.

Jerry Moran is a United States Senator for Kansas and a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Things are not “looking up” when it comes to our ability to “look down” or just around to keep an eye on what our police and other authorities are doing.

In several high-profile incidents and elsewhere, police have moved to block the public from effectively seeing what they are doing at scenes. Those actions put First Amendment freedoms — speech, assembly, petition and free press — literally on the line.

Police stifled coverage by reporters and photographers in Ferguson Mo., and in New York City by blocking access on the ground, and by creating “no-fly zones” banning news helicopters from reporting on public demonstrations and altercations.

In some cases, authorities have cited safety concerns, but a report by The Associated Press recently cast doubt on the real reason for the no-coverage zone around Ferguson, Mo., last summer.

Make no mistake: While the issue is framed in terms of police and “news media,” the view being blocked is yours and mine and that of our fellow citizens. What is being excluded is the public’s right to know — and sometimes see first-hand — what their police are doing.

According to the AP, federal aviation officials agreed to a local police request for a “no media” zone of 37 square miles around Ferguson, Mo. for 12 days last August. AP uncovered audio tapes showing that the so-called “safety” zone was really intended to keep news helicopters away during a time of street protests.

While police denied that intent, AP’s report included audio segments that would appear to leave little doubt: “They finally admitted it really was to keep the media out,” said one FAA manager about the St. Louis County Police. “But they were a little concerned of, obviously, anything else that could be going on.” At another point, a manager at the FAA’s Kansas City center said that police “did not care if you ran commercial traffic through this TFR (temporary flight restriction) all day long. They didn’t want media in there.”

There’s history here: In 2011, New York City police banned news helicopters — as well as reporters on the ground — from the vicinity of a small park where the national “Occupy” movement had set up its headquarters. Authorities moved about 1 a.m. to clear the demonstrators. The few reporters on scene, as quickly as they could be identified, were escorted to locations blocks away.

Apart from running roughshod over our First Amendment rights, the news media bans are both ineffective and likely counter-productive. How many times do authorities have to see cell phone videos, often posted in near–real time before they accept that it’s no longer possible to stop such reports? Where is the realization that narrowly focused reports — with some, to be sure, motivated by advocacy rather that rooted in accuracy — often miss the “big picture” provided by journalists? And where police act properly, no-view often translates into misplaced suspicion.

Lest we think attempts to restrict news coverage are rare, one need only scan for the all-too regular incidents in which journalists and others are accosted and often taken into custody for simply taking photos of regular police activity happening out in the open. Go to the other end of the spectrum and consider the ongoing flap over the White House’s persistent attempts to exclude press photographers from events, with “official” photos offered as replacement.

The nation’s founders provided constitutional protection for a free press in large degree to provide an independent entity to observe and report on our public officials and the work that they do. You cannot be an effective “watchdog on government” if you’re kept penned in the official doghouse, or shut out of the public yard.

Disturbingly, the efforts at censorship occur even in the most benign circumstances. Reports say that two Lindenwood University student reporters were questioned for more than 90 minutes by more than a dozen St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers and detectives who saw the students filming department patrol cars from a public sidewalk. The department is investigating the incident, according to St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, responding to a Nov. 1 letter from the university.

Perhaps that investigation should expand to include at least the Ferguson police officials behind the “no-fly” zone, and start with this question: When did the “Show Me” state motto get edited to include the words “ … except for this or that!”?

Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the Institute’s First Amendment Center. [email protected]

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

“Have a SAFE flight!” That’s the type of sentiment which we might express to a loved one as they depart on an airplane. In this case, the term SAFE also applies to a program which encouraged safety and precision in the work of agricultural pilots. Today we’ll meet a farmer and agricultural pilot who has been a leader in this initiative in Kansas.

Tom Miller is a farmer and ag pilot in southwest Kansas. “I grew up on the farm where we live now,” Tom said. His father was also a farmer who flew as a hobby. “My dad was a weekend pilot,” Tom said. He caught the flying bug from his dad.

They bought an old airplane and rebuilt it, and Tom learned to fly. “My dad gave me three hours of flight instruction when I was 10 or 11, long before I could fly by myself,” Tom said. “My dad was going to sell the old plane but I talked him into keeping it if I would pay for the maintenance.”

In those days, the local school district had a policy (since discontinued) that students who turned 16 years old could get a job driving the school bus. “I was the one who lived the furthest out, so I would drive the bus home from school and drop off the other kids on the way. Then I picked `em up on the way back in in the morning.” He used his earnings to pay for the costs of the plane.

He wanted to get into the crop dusting business. After college, he did some charter flying, worked for a neighboring farmer, and ultimately went into farming himself. A classmate of his had a business called Ingalls Aerial Sprayers Inc. When the classmate died in an accident while spraying, Tom and a partner bought the business. It is based at the Ingalls airport.

Ingalls Aerial Spraying provides aerial seeding and spraying for weed and pest control in agricultural crops. It serves Gray County and the southwest Kansas region.

Tom got involved in his professional organization, the Kansas Agricultural Aviation Association.  One of the organization’s projects was a program called Operation SAFE.

“This was a joint project with K-State and KAAA,” Tom said. “Dennis Kuhlman was an extension specialist and he had an educational program for ag pilots.” Tom got involved in implementing the SAFE program.

SAFE was an acronym for Self-regulating Application and Flight Efficiency. It was a program used by ag pilots to avoid drift of aerially-applied products.

“We did pattern testing,” Tom said. “We would put fluorescent dye into the spray equipment and fly into the wind.” A computer program would read the fluorescent effervescence and determine the variability of the spray pattern.

“We could see if a plane was putting out too much product or not enough,” Tom said. This enabled ag pilots to adjust their equipment to assure that they were applying just the right amount of product to the precise place that it was needed.

Tom served as SAFE chairman for the Kansas Agricultural Aviation Association for some 20 years. For many years, he hosted the annual testing at his home airport at Ingalls. Ingalls made an ideal location because it was in a rural area, far from any urban congestion. After all, Ingalls is a community of 331 people. Now, that’s rural.

Tom is farming full time now. He still flies, although he leaves the day-to-day ag applications to another pilot. He and his wife Margaret have three children: Ryan, who attended K-State-Salina; Emily, who is studying to be a dental hygienist; and Kyle, who is a student at K-State-Manhattan.

For more information, go to www.ingallsaerialsprayers.com.

“Have a SAFE flight!” That expression isn’t just for loved ones who are catching a plane. It also applies to this program which helps to enhance and improve the work of agricultural pilots. We salute Tom Miller, Dennis Kuhlman, and all those involved in Operation SAFE and the Kansas Agricultural Aviation Association for making a difference through this initiative. Now it’s time for me to come in for a landing.

As we do each election cycle, Kansas public school teachers who are members of KNEA gathered in committees across the state to begin the process of interviewing candidates for state offices. Our interviews were focused squarely on issues related to strong public schools and student success. Kansans have voted, but long before election day Kansas teachers became involved. In their soul, teachers believe it is their responsibility to stand for their profession, for learning, and most importantly for their students.

Teachers will be in their classrooms teaching after the election. We will continue to invite the Governor to include teachers and all educators, in any and all policy discussions related to public schools. As an organization, we pledge to be available to work with the Governor and the Kansas Legislature moving forward.

Nearly 25,000 public school teachers, higher education educators, administrators, para professionals, retired educators and pre-service students comprise our association. We believe it is our duty to advocate for those who sometimes have no other voice speaking on their behalf, Kansas students. Our members understand that this responsibility does not end with one election. Moving forward, we ask our members and all public school supporters to remember the following:

First- Do what you do best everyday, teach and support your public schools and students.

Second- KNEA members and public school supporters should remain engaged. The outcome of one election does not bury the issues we must confront in order to continue to ensure quality public schools in Kansas.

Third- Once the rhetoric has died down, reality in Kansas classrooms means that educators, community leaders, elected officials and students will need to work closely together to overcome obstacles and achieve success. KNEA will lead the effort to organize and move Kansas public schools forward. We hope you will join us.

Kansas NEA has been a public education leader and advocate for more than 150 years. We don’t bathe in the glow of our successes for too long, nor do we shrink from challenge. Educators teach students who will create and someday fill the jobs that fuel the Kansas economy. Educators are professionals who are accountable and driven to provide opportunity, protect our most cherished asset, and lay a foundation for the future.

We’ve raised our hands for public schools in Kansas and now we ask YOU, parents, leaders, students and teachers to join us as we continue to advocate for the future of Kansas and the students who will shape it. On behalf of Kansas NEA members, educators and students, I thank you for your effort and challenge you to keep advocating for quality public schools for every Kansas student.

Mark Farr, president, KNEA

Kansas Farm Bureau President Steve Baccus today released a statement following last night’s election.

“On behalf of the farmers and ranchers in Kansas, we want to congratulate the winners of last night’s election, both on the state and national level,” Steve Baccus, Kansas Farm Bureau president said. “Many races were hard fought, and the outcomes close, but our hope is this election may mark the beginning of a new political atmosphere, where elected officials, and all citizens, come together for the good of this state and this country, and the business of the people will be put first. We look forward to working with all of these individuals to improve and support the agriculture industry, and to put our great state and nation on solid footing for future generations.”

Kansas Farm Bureau represents grassroots agriculture. Established in 1919, the nonprofit advocacy organization supports farm families who earn their living in a changing industry.

If you notice your car’s headlights dimming soon for just a second, here’s why: The news is getting around that Tom Magliozzi, one of National Public Radio’s most popular personalities, died Nov. 3 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Tom, 77, was one half of the renowned “Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers,” along with his 12-year younger brother, Ray. They perpetually — and with an audio version of a smirk — apologized at the end of their programs for the damage they were doing to NPR’s reputation.

But longtime producer Doug Berman, in breaking news of the death to the NPR family in a brief note, was closer to the truth: “Tom and his brother came to public radio when it was stiff, academic and formal — and, not coincidentally, largely irrelevant to most Americans. And by being entirely and unselfconsciously themselves, they broke our medium open for real voices and real people, who turned out to be much more interesting, informative, and entertaining than the canned radio people we thought our listeners wanted.”

Beginning in 1987 on Boston’s WBUR public radio station, the brothers offered advice on car repairs (a little) with good humor (more than a little) and laughs (nearly all the time) on NPR’s “Car Talk.” About two years ago, they ended their live run, with an estimated audience of more than three million each week on more than 600 stations.

Tom and Ray made little mention of their formal education, portraying themselves as auto mechanics — which in fact they were. Not often mentioned was that they both graduated from MIT before going into the car repair business.

The format, for those not familiar with the program, was built around taking phone calls from various folks around the nation who had a mechanical problem with their car. The idea was the brothers would offer advice, and the caller and listeners in general — particularly those with the same year and model of auto — would be the wiser.

But that’s like calling a Bentley a “car.” True, but way short of enough.

The advice the pair dispensed came with a fair amount of brotherly joshing, and weekly features like a mind-challenging riddle called “The Puzzler,” all delivered in an accent that a Midwesterner like me would call Basic Boston, as in “Cahr Talk.”

Combined with a wickedly sharp sense of gentle humor and a lifetime pledge never to take themselves seriously, the show went to top-rated status at NPR — and stayed there for a 37-year run.

How humorous and how self-effacing? In announcing his brother’s passing and its cause, Ray couldn’t resist noting: “Turns out he wasn’t kidding. He really couldn’t remember last week’s puzzler.”

Even the end of each program was a joy. Real and imagined staffers were credited with a mixture of puns and word play, such as the program’s perpetual driver, Russian chauffer Pikov Andropov (“pick up and drop off”). There was the show’s supposed law firm of Dewey, Cheetham & Howe (“Do we cheat ‘em … and how?”). And there was weekly mention of long-suffering staffer Erasmus B. Dragon (just say that one out loud), often said to be the leader of the working mother’s support group at “Car Talk.”

News and information can be serious business — and the actual advice dispensed by Tom and Ray was just that, mostly. They even had an occasional segment to delight a media critic’s heart: Revisiting past callers to see if their programs helped or not, something that regular news programs might do well to adopt.

Ray and NPR say “Car Talk” will continue to air regularly in reruns, as it has since they retired.

That’s good news for those in need of not just repairs for a worn-out car, but a little tune-up each Saturday morning for a world-weary psyche.

Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and host of the Newseum’s audio program “Journalism/Works.” [email protected]

The cost of long term care continues to be a major issue with many people in their later years.  To create a “nest egg” for retirement, only to see it disappear because of an extended long term care stay would truly be a shame. And this could certainly throw the retirement numbers off dramatically.

Often it is suggested to get serious about considering long term care coverage around the age of 50, as the premium costs start increasing dramatically after this age. Also, the longer you wait the better chance that a health issue may appear and disqualify you from any coverage.

It is unfortunate that all LTC contracts written today are labeled “guaranteed renewable”, which means the insurance company cannot single you out for health reasons and discontinue your policy. They can, however, increase their premiums, and this is normally stated in bold letters on every contract.

So you may implement your contract at age 50, but by age 75, which is probably about the time you may need the benefit, the premiums could very well have gone up several times, to the point that they may  not be affordable any more.

Most long term care contracts were initiated in the 1990s and there simply has not been sufficient claims experience to define what premiums should be. Twenty years ago, companies offered single pay, or 10 pay contracts. These contracts avoid the premium increases after the scheduled pay period, because there are no more premiums to pay. Current policies normally have a premium for the entire life of the contract, so there is a much greater chance for increased premiums in the future.

Each long term care company is required to petition their state insurance commission’s regulators, in order to increase premiums. Recently those petitions requested increases by as much as 70%. That’s a bunch! Were premiums really miscalculated by that much?

If we look at health insurance premiums, we see that many years premiums increase, and sometimes by double digits. So it may be argued that if a long term care insurance company has not had increased premiums for 5-7 years that a 50-70% increase is justified.     Imagine for a minute that your house payment increased in your later years by 50-70 percent.

It would be nice to say, if you implemented your plan with a 160 year old company, that has an A+ rating with A.M. Best and are New York approved (New York has the strictest requirements on insurance companies), that you would be OK. But these are some of the companies requesting the large increases.

When someone receives a notice of an increase in their long term care insurance premium, they should call their financial representative and have two proposals created. The first proposal will show the individual at his/her original age at the time the contract was issued. What would the premium be today for such a policy with all the same benefits? Probably close to 3 times the original premium. (Actually, there cannot be an apples’ to apples comparison, as some of the benefits, like lifetime benefits, and premiums paid up at 65, have been discontinued on most contracts).

The second proposal will show their current age, purchasing a new LTC policy, and the premiums would be close to 4 times higher. So, if someone intended to sustain their coverage, undoubtedly they would stay with their original contract, in spite of the increase in premium.

More than likely, the huge medical costs in the future are not going to be hospital confinements. Instead, they’re going to be assisted living, home health, and nursing home care. If a person is breathing on their own but are not immobile, they won’t be staying in a hospital.

The costs of a long term care stay remain very high, and where not everyone is a candidate for long term care insurance, considering it as part of your overall financial plan should still be an option.

Tim Schumacher, Hays, represents Strategic Financial Partners. [email protected]      

Nov. 11 this nation will once again celebrate Veteran’s Day. While I’m a veteran myself, the first person I think about when it comes to veterans is my Grandpa Bert Becker. Not only was he an early hero of mine, he was one handsome, smiling young farm boy from Phillips County when he marched away to war during the summer of 1917. He returned to the family farm shortly after the war ended. The next year, he married my grandmother, Rose Zink. They raised a family of four children including my mother, Florence, or Mother to me. Here’s a small tribute to my grandparents on Veteran’s Day as I fondly recall Grandpa Bert and thank him again this year for his service.

My Grandma and Grandpa Becker were more people of action than words. Not that they didn’t have much to say. They just chose their words well and needed only a few to convey much.

As their oldest grandson, I visited them during the summer when I was growing up in the late 1950s. I always talked Grandma into letting me sleep in the screened in porch on the east side of their home.

Shaded by tall elm trees on the east side of their home, this was the coolest place to sleep on those warm summer nights before air conditioning. The porch was located right next to my grandparent’s room where I felt safe and slept like a log each and every night.

Their morning activities would always wake me and  their longest conversations  of the day took place over black coffee with bacon and eggs long before I crawled out of my comfortable bed each morning. A large, black Zenith AM radio provided the news and weather of the upcoming day.

I’d just lie there comfortably in my bed soaking up the sounds. I knew Grandma would make me my own special breakfast at a more kid-visiting-his-grandparents hour.

My Grandpa Bert was a tall slender man with kind eyes and a rich baritone voice that invited attention and respect. During those early-morning conversations with Grandma Rose, he spoke with a gentleness that was unlike any other setting.

While I didn’t really think of it back then, I just remember I loved listening to them visit and appreciated how my Grandpa talked to my Grandma like no one else.

Today I understand that what I was listening to were conversations between a woman and a man who had truly become one.

Grandpa always respected and took care of Grandma’s every need. She cheerfully and willingly gave back all that she received.

My Grandpa Bert was a veteran of World War I, saw action in France. He died nearly 25 years before Grandma Rose. His later years were difficult and he suffered from Parkinson’s disease. I also believe ghosts from those brothers in arms who didn’t return home with him weighed heavy on his soul.

Still, I never heard him complain. Grandma and my mother loved and cared for him when he couldn’t do so for himself.

I have always considered myself a lucky man to have inherited some of the wonderful attributes of the Becker family – cheerfulness, perseverance, a willingness to think and work smart and the ability to enjoy and appreciate others.

Having Becker blood also means you have family and some good friends willing to stand by your side during the best and worst of times. And while your living may be hard-earned – your life will be nothing less than rich.

Happy Veteran’s Day, Grandpa Bert.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

Best guesses so far are that those 25,360 Kansans whose voter registration applications are in “suspense” aren’t going to yield much in the way of post-Election Day results changes for any candidates.

Which means that the election’s results from Tuesday are probably just how it’s going to be, and waiting for the final county canvassing board certified vote totals from next week — either Monday or Wednesday, depending on the county election officials’ choice — is unlikely to change anything.

Oh, those “suspense” voters whom we’ve been hearing about for months under the new voter registration law will probably get a ballot, the fun of filling it out and one of those “I Voted” lapel stickers — but the vast majority of them will have just disappeared from the election.

Voters had until midnight before election day to square up their registrations—generally change of address or such—and if they didn’t get that done, well, their ballot will be put in an envelope, not counted on Tuesday after the polls closed and in a few cases might be able to provide the information necessary to see that envelope opened and the votes counted.

Will those non-voter voters change any elections? That’s the real question, and there are thousands of them in some counties, and apparently just one in Greeley County.

But they won’t be among the numbers we see in the election night vote totals that some of us will stay up to see—and then we’ll probably arrive at the office Wednesday a little groggy.

Because we’ll never see whom those “suspense” voters voted for, we’re not going to know whether the Secretary of State Kris Kobach-pushed new voter registration law changed results of any races.

Surprising? It made a pretty catchy campaign issue in the race for secretary of state, but for those “little guys” down the ballot, the House races and county officer races where races are sometimes decided by 100 votes or so, well, chances are that the county determinations of which of those “suspense” ballot envelopes get opened and counted are unlikely to make a difference.

There go those high-excitement and little-attended county election board meetings, where in a close race candidates for office — where a couple dozen votes might make a difference on who comes to Topeka — will be looking at boxes of might-be votes but are unlikely to see many of those ballots actually counted.

The Kansans who got a ballot Tuesday—nearly everyone does—probably aren’t going to know whether their vote will count, and depending on who was in line to vote nearby, may or may not bother to provide the information to make their ballot count.

The election law change that is designed to prevent foreigners from messing with Kansas elections probably isn’t going to catch a lot of illegal voting attempts, but it may make the number of votes which actually have to be counted on either Election Day or by county canvassing boards a little smaller than some would like. But, chances are that Tuesday’s vote totals will be very close in virtually every district, and that opens up the possibility that you might be able to cosign for whoever appears to have won on Tuesday…

And, whether your vote counts or not, at least the TV campaign ads will be over, so we’ll get to see what the new Fords look like this year…

Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.

Attending conferences allows for a wealth of knowledge to be consumed.

The first of October, I attended the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Kansas fall conference. Attending with me were approximately 50 other directors from across the state. From swapping funny stories to lending a supportive ear, I continue to be amazed at how much of an impact this experience is for me. I so enjoy the networking with my peers and the sharing of advice, encouragement and ideas with one another.

And, of course, this collaboration allows us to be more efficient so we don’t have to “re-create any wheels.”

So, what exactly, do I learn at these conferences and how can this knowledge positively affect the local business community and chamber members?

First and foremost, I learn best business practices to help the chamber office run effectively and remain fiscally stable. While these topics aren’t the “sexy” ideas that are easily promotable or measurable, being able to run the business side of the chamber is extremely important to the overall financial health of our organization. I’m able to learn from other chamber’s trials and successes so I can enhance, protect or validate our own activities.

Personally, I brought back sheets and sheets of hand-written notes filled with ideas and action plans to share with staff.

These notes cover an array of materials, including the Ambassador and Young Professional programs to New Member Orientation. I loved how one chamber director offers confidential “ghost writing” services to her members, and this service aided one citizen to successfully run for mayor. (Let me know if you think this would be a worthwhile service we should offer in Hays.)

Perhaps my most powerful take-away was the realization many chambers across the state lead positive change for their communities. I always knew collaboration with community leaders is a large part of our chamber’s mission, and it was so refreshing to hear this expressed across the room. The goal for many is to create robust discussion and healthy dialogue so our businesses and communities thrive and prosper.

I love being a part of this regional, creative and innovative group of people. Because of them, I am better prepared to assist the local community, and I look forward to sharing these ideas with all of you.

Tammy Wellbrock is executive director of the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.