Serving Kansas City (Wyandotte County) Kansas for over 50 years!
The Kansas City, Kan., Women’s Chamber of Commerce awarded scholarships on Aug. 13 at a meeting at Dave and Buster’s, Kansas City, Kan. Receiving scholarships were Tiffani Henley, top photo; Deborah Sparks, second photo; and Teresa Hall, third photo. The guest speaker was Doris Givens, president of Kansas City Kansas Community College, lower photo. Also receiving a scholarship was Melissa Cooper, not shown. (Photos from KCK Women’s Chamber)
by William Crum
U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-3rd Dist., was the keynote speaker at the Fairfax industrial Association at the group’s monthly luncheon today.
More than 100 people attended this event, which was held at the General Motors plant in Kansas City, Kan.
“The best thing now is Congress is in recess. Congress needs to work together to get things done. However, we did get a lot done. We did get a lot of bills passed,” Rep. Yoder said.
When asked if he planned to hold a job fair in Wyandotte County, as currently he is holding job fairs in Johnson County, Rep. Yoder said, “I would love to get a job fair in Wyandotte County; however things have not worked out that way. However, we have tried to work out something with Work Force Partnership in the past. This is mainly due to a scheduling conflict.”
When asked what he thinks of a new ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding new compliance regulations, Rep. Yoder said, “We need to delay this ruling. It is not fair for the power companies to meet these compliance regulations right away. We definitely need to delay this ruling, after all it would put too much of a burden on the general consumer. It would cause too much of an increase on the general consumer’s utility bill, particularly for those who are on a fixed income. This is something I’m totally against.”
Toward the end of the meeting a member of the audience asked what is going to happen to the student loan situation.
It is very hard for a person fresh out of college to find a job. The graduates are burdened by the student loans later on in life.
“We need to get back to the basics,” Rep Yoder said. “We need to encourage colleges and universities to help the recent graduates find jobs in their chosen fields and while in college make the loans more affordable so everyone can get a higher education if they choose to do so.”
At the end of the meeting Congressman Yoder walked around and shook everyone’s hand and thanked them for attending the meeting.
The Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce has added two persons to its professional team.
Jeffrey Alderman is the new vice president of membership and sales. Most recently, he served as vice president of sales for Visit Topeka Inc., which is the convention and visitors bureau in Topeka. Prior to that, he was with the Kansas Bar Association. A Detroit area native, he brings 25 years of membership and administrative experience to the chamber. He and his wife, Brenda, have five children together.
Nolan Dees is the new director of finance. He recently relocated with his family from Amarillo, Texas. He brings 14 years of working in accounting capacities with various nonprofits as well as 13 years of corporate accounting experience. He received his degree in accounting from Texas Tech University. His wife, Susan, is a children’s ministry director and they have two children. Dees is working alongside George Turner, who will be retiring from the chamber at the end of July.
“The board and I are excited to have Jeff and Nolan join the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce team,” said interim President Gregory Kindle. “Both of them bring a high level of professionalism, energy and focus to their respective positions.”
– Information from Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce