Leadership Greater Topeka has been a mainstay in Topeka for more than three decades. Over the course of the program, hundreds upon hundreds of individuals have graduated and now call themselves LGT Alumni. It’s a little daunting to be selected to join 35 other professionals at the beginning of a new year to join the Leadership family. But now, reflecting on our experiences as the program has drawn to a close, the members of the 2017 class have found that LGT has changed us in innumerable ways. As two Topeka transplants, it felt a little strange at first to be selected to join a Topeka-centric tradition like LGT. But we… Read More
Continue ReadingForge Young Professionals Aims to Increase Young Voters in Shawnee County
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5, 2017 Contact: Gabriel O’Shea Telephone: 785.221.9240 Email: goshea@greatertopeka.org Website: TopekaForge.org Topeka, KS, May 5, 2017– Forge is introducing a new initiative called “Forge Your Future” with the goal of bringing young professionals to the voting polls. Working in collaboration with the League of Women Voters and Shawnee County Elections Office, Forge aims to increase the number of registered voters in Topeka and Shawnee County for individuals aged 18 – 39. In 2016, the number of registered voters between the ages of 18 – 39 was 42,847 which accounts for 39% of the total registered voters for that year. The number of registered voters between the… Read More
Continue ReadingQ&A with James Davis, Vice Chair of Government Relations
James Davis is currently serving as the Chamber’s Vice Chair of Government Relations. He is Vice-President Bankcard Manager with CoreFirst Bank & Trust. James has been an active Chamber member for years and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2011. In his role as Vice Chair of Government Relations, James works closely with Curtis Sneden to stay abreast of developments at the Statehouse and at other levels of government as they work to advance the Chamber’s legislative priorities. What has been going on with the legislature this year? The story since the legislature came to town in January has been the budget. Lawmakers were told at the… Read More
Continue ReadingTopCity Interns Program Begins Development
Forge, the Topeka and Shawnee County young professional’s organization, along with several other organizations is thrilled to forge ahead with their first ever Summer Internship Program. The program gathers over 200 interns from local Topeka and Shawnee County businesses, providing presenting them with the best internship experience possible while investing in their future as professionals. Their purpose is to provide a platform of connections for new up-and-coming young professionals. The ultimate goal is to impart a lasting impression of Topeka and Shawnee County on summer interns, maximizing attraction and retention of young professionals to the community. Forge is an organization that amplifies Topeka and Shawnee County’s ability to recruit, retain… Read More
Continue ReadingStatus of Women in Kansas
March is Women’s History Month. To call attention the status of women, GO Topeka hosted its Third Annual Woman’s Forum (Part I) at the Capital Plaza. Wendy Doyle, president of the Women’s Foundation and coordinator the Topeka Women’s Project, kicked off the 2017 Women’s Forum by sharing results from a study about women throughout the state of Kansas. Doyle provided insight from a research study commissioned by the Women’s Foundation, conducted by the University of Kansas, under five categories: Education Women have higher educational attainment than men across the U.S., and women in Kansas have higher educational attainment than in Missouri. Female educational attainment in Kansas City is roughly in… Read More
Continue ReadingGO Topeka and Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce Unveil New Diversity & Inclusion Program, INCLUDED
Topeka, KS, March 21, 2017– Backed by GO Topeka and the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Included aims to be the authority on diversity and inclusion within businesses and organizations throughout the region. Each of the participating organizations has made the commitment to improve and grow their diversity and inclusion initiatives to increase awareness in their own organizations as well as the overall community. The Included committee is currently made up of representatives from Advisors Excel, Alorica, Bartlett & West, Big Heart Pet Brands, Express Employment Professionals, FHLBank Topeka, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Mar’s Chocolate, OneGas, Payless ShoeSource, SE2, Security Benefit, Topeka Public Schools, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Washburn… Read More
Continue ReadingBenefits of Chamber Membership
To be honest, there are tens to hundreds of reasons to join the Chamber and each business has its own personal ones that are important. This blog post focuses on 3 reasons; one is the top reason, based on our member’s feedback, and the other two are less well-known reasons to join. Networking By far, networking is the number one reason that businesses join the Chamber. We all understand the value of communicating with one another, learning about what is going on in our community and working together. Another benefit of networking is partnerships. By participating in Chamber activities, you meet businesses that you may not normally run into, as… Read More
Continue ReadingEast Topeka Learning Center
Why an East Topeka Learning Center? The idea of a learning center on the east side of our community has been bubbling up for some time. At the Joint Economic Development Organization meeting on Feb. 8 community members shared how over the years there has been brainstorming, sharing, hoping and now finally the next step in developing the center. East Topeka Learning Center is envisioned as an impactful, education space for citizens to benefit from expanded educational opportunities in their own neighborhood. Where will the East Topeka Learning Center be located? The location is at 2014 SE Washington Street, situated on SE 21st Street, between SE Washington Street and SE… Read More
Continue ReadingMy Float Experience
Midwest Float is a new member of the Chamber, and as with most new members the Chamber gets the occasional question about what they do or who they are. Businesses their names make them fairly self-explanatory. However, with Midwest Float questions came flooding into our office the moment they joined. So what is Midwest Float? The simplest way I can describe it is a company that specializes in stress and anxiety release. What is it really? Imagine going into an enclosed hot tub, and the water is warm and very salty (like Dead Sea salty). For 90 minutes you “float” in this salty water and, if like most, you relax enough… Read More
Continue ReadingDTI Annual Meeting Highlight Business Growth, Future Developments
Sitting in the lobby of a former bank, over 200 local business leaders met to celebrate the successes in downtown Topeka at the DTI Annual Meeting last week. The Topeka Chamber, GO Topeka, Forge, Heartland Visioning and EMBD joined together in celebration of business growth in 2016, and further learning about what is to come in 2017 and beyond. The two future developments announced that night highlighted what is to come for our community. First, the Menninger Foundation announced it will fund a sculpture for Kansas Avenue. Monies has been raised to fund a sculpture that is in the design stage, this sculpture will represent the Brown v Board decision. The sculpture… Read More
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