Lincoln is a growing and vibrant community. We’ve worked diligently to construct a great asset in Pinnacle Bank Arena. How far we’ve come as a community that gets noticed on a national stage became quite evident last month when both Paul McCartney and Pearl Jam announced they would include Lincoln on their summer tours. Think about that for a moment and let it sink in–Lincoln is a stop on tours that include Minneapolis, Kansas City, Nashville, and other large metro areas like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. That is something we could not have accomplished if we had done nothing and settled for the status quo at Pershing Auditorium.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I’m proud of my community for taking a risk and voting yes on the arena.  Pinnacle Bank Arena is not only meeting expectations, but going above and beyond even my wildest imagination.

The West Haymarket isn’t the only venue attracting visitors to our community.

I want to extend a special welcome to Amy Dickerson. Amy is the new Director at the Lancaster County Events Center. Rodeos, farm equipment auctions, and a county fair don’t necessarily fit into the model of Pinnacle Bank Arena, but we don’t want them to bypass us simply because they may not fit in the West Haymarket.

We need a thriving events center to make Lincoln a destination site for ALL types of events.

Amy has a background in agriculture and she comes to the events center from Hewlett-Packard, 15th on the Fortune 500 list, where she was a manager in charge of organizing and facilitating large corporate events.

I’m confident that her leadership and guidance will take an already thriving venue and push it to new heights and if you get a chance, stop by and check out the next event at the Lancaster Events Center. I’m sure you will be impressed.

I also want to briefly address the Nebraska Schools Activities Association decision to keep the State Wrestling Tournament in Omaha through 2018.

The tournament moved to what was then the Qwest Center back in 2007. At that time, the tournament had outgrown the Devaney Sports Center and it could not meet the tournament’s needs as well as the newly constructed Qwest Center.

Now, with the tournament back up for bid this year, we were excited to use the Arena as the centerpiece in bringing the tournament back home.

Unfortunately, we came up just short.

The good news is we are able to derive a lot of positives out of the bid process and identify the “pinch-points” for several members of the NSAA’s Board of Directors regarding wrestling at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

With these concerns in mind, we will be able to work with Tom Lorenz and his staff at the Arena to find creative solutions to these drawbacks and come back with an even more persuasive bid in 2018.


by Wendy Birdsall, President

Lincoln Chamber of Commerce

402-436-2350

www.lcoc.com


The Chamber’s mission is to improve the lives of Lincoln residents by providing increased economic opportunity and can only be accomplished together.  Networking opportunities, business advocacy, and creating economic viability are critical to our success.  We encourage you to become a member and help us achieve these goals for Lincoln.  For more information, please contact our Membership Director, Kristin Holmes, kholmes@lcoc.com.