Email from Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce

March 25 - 29

YOUR CHAMBER THIS WEEK

The Chamber has announced its 2024 Top 35 Under 35 honorees. We had 83 applicants this year — more than previous years. Thank you to our volunteer panel of judges: Blake Corman (Grand Auto Sales), Justin Pfenning (Dramco Tool Company), and Laura McAloon (City of Grand Island). The 35 individuals being recognized are:

Amazon Shipping Facility Coming to GI

In case you missed it, Amazon has confirmed it will be establishing a shipping center in Grand Island. The facility at 4201 Gold Core Road will be considered a “rural/super rural” warehouse that Amazon will use to fulfill the “last mile” of orders.

Read reports by The Independent (subscription), and NTV, and Local 4, which also ran this story on Grand Island’s recent flurry of new projects.

State Lawmakers Advance Bill to Subsidize Local Property Taxes, Increase State Sales Tax Rate

In Lincoln, the Nebraska Legislature’s Revenue Committee has voted 7-0 to advance a property tax relief package (LB 388) that supporters — including Gov. Jim Pillen — say would lower local school taxes by a half. But the bill would also hike the state sales tax rate from 5.5% to 6.5% — making Nebraska one of the nation’s highest sales tax states — while eliminating some sales tax exemptions. The bill will now be debated by the full Legislature. Read more, or contact your senator using this tool.

The bill is opposed by conservative groups, such as American for Prosperity Nebraska and the Platte Institute, which issued a statement saying that “increasing the sales tax rate and extending taxation to business inputs, like advertising, is a step in the wrong direction.”

Coalition Forms to Oppose 22% Consumption Tax Plan

A few weeks ago, the Grand Island Chamber voted to oppose the so-called EPIC Option Consumption Tax plan, which would establish a new statewide consumption tax — imposing an estimated tax rate of nearly 22% on virtually all services and new goods purchased in the Cornhusker State. This would be a nearly 300% increase in the state sales tax.

Now a statewide group of business and government organizations, spearheaded by the Nebraska Chamber, is launching a new campaign committee called No New Taxes Nebraska. Learn more about the organization and how to support the effort.

New Tool Gives Chamber Insights Into Customer Traffic

The Grand Island Chamber, in coordination with Grow Grand Island, recently subscribed to Placer.ai, a location analytics platform that provides information on how many people visit business locations. This data will prove helpful for Chamber partners and developers looking to locate or expand in the Grand Island area.

The data is already helping to uncover some interesting information. For example, the software revealed Grand Island’s Hy-Vee is in the top 2% of most-visited Nebraska grocery stores during the last 12 months. It also revealed that in terms of customer visits, Grand Island’s top 10 quick-service restaurants rank in Nebraska’s top 10% of such establishments.

May 14 Primary Will Have Little Impact on November Ballot

Last week, the Chamber published its Voter Toolkit. This week, we’re sharing Hall County’s Notice of Election, which shows the candidates that will appear on the May 14 primary ballot. All candidates for Grand Island’s city council and school board races will automatically advance to the general election, set for Nov. 5, due to the low number of candidates. For Grand Island voters, the main local contested race in the primary is for public defender, but only on the Republican ticket.

In the race to represent a large portion of Grand Island in the legislature, both incumbent Dist. 35 Sen. Ray Aguilar and challenger Dan Quick will advance to the November ballot. Just west of Grand Island, the District 41 race has three candidates; that number will be narrowed to two for the general election.

Tracy Overstreet, Hall County Election Commissioner, told the Chamber: “This is a truly historic election for Nebraska. Every single Nebraska seat in Congress is on the ballot this election. … (T)his is the first time in 70 years in Nebraska that both U.S. Senate seats have been on the same ballot.”

GI in Nebraska's Business Hall of Fame

Here’s a reminder that Grand Island is well represented in the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame. Grow Grand Island’s Tonja Brown noted in her recent column that among the members of the Business Hall of Fame are Virgil Eihusen (inducted in 1992), Jan Thayer (2005), Fred Bosselman (2008), S.N. “Bud” Wolbach (2013), William “Bill” Marshall III (2020), Gloria Thesenvitz (2022), and the Hornady Family (2024).

Karl: Take Advantage of Your Chamber Partnership

Grand Island Chamber members are being encouraged to take advantage of all their Chamber has to offers. Jamie Karl, the Chamber’s new president, recently sent this note to partners, urging them to get involved, if they’re not already. “If your engagement has fallen off in recent years, especially after the pandemic, now is a great time to get re-engaged — because a lot of big things are happening in Grand Island,” Karl wrote.

Last Chance: Take the Chamber Partner's Survey

If you haven’t already, please take a couple minutes to complete this brief and anonymous survey to provide important feedback on your Grand Island Chamber. Deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, March 29.