PCDC Annual Meeting Features Tom Osborne

Two local entities will be honored and a state celebrity will speak at PCDC’s annual meeting on Thursday, Feb. 9, making the event a fun community celebration.

“We’re introducing this new format for our annual meeting to open it up to more people, to convene in a festive environment to celebrate as a community,” PCDC Executive Director Ron Tillery said. “We want people to hear about our activities but also to enjoy being together.”

A highlight of the event will be hearing from Tom Osborne, former Nebraska football coach, U.S. Congressional Representative and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Director. Osborne founded the TeamMates mentoring program in 1991 with his wife, Nancy, who graduated from Holdrege High School. Osborne will speak about leadership and commitment as key components to success as well as TeamMates and its value in building the local workforce.

Fred Diedrichsen, PCDC’s president for the past two years, will share his views on pivotal events that have shaped the local economy and set the stage for future growth.

Another new component of PCDC’s annual meeting is recognizing a Business of the Year. Investment, risk taking, job creation, construction and new product development are some of the criteria considered for this honor.

Breinig Diesel will be recognized as PCDC’s Business of the Year. In 2016, Breinig Diesel made a significant investment to the community by expanding to a new location just north of Holdrege on U.S. Highway 183. The expansion created capacity to grow and hire more employees in the future.

Loren and Jo Breinig opened their truck repair shop four years ago at 700 South Brewster Road (south of the airport). They service and repair heavy-duty trucks for farmers and commercial haulers in central Nebraska and Northern Kansas.

Also this year, PCDC is recognizing an organization that made an impact on the county’s quality of life and the ability to attract and support economic development.

This year’s honoree in that category is the Phelps County Community Foundation. PCCF leads the state in per capita giving and has been an important partner to PCDC in local talent retention through the high-demand jobs scholarships.

Also at the event, PCDC will conduct its annual business meeting that includes electing officers and a new board member.

The event will begin with a 6:30 p.m. reception at Taste of Texas, 302 East Ave., in Holdrege. Advance tickets are $30 per person or $240 for a table of eight and includes a meal of either chicken cordon bleu or prime rib. Tickets are $35 the day of the event.

To make reservations to attend, please contact PCDC at (308) 995-4148.