Celebrating TCEDA's 21st year!

2023 Annual Meeting

At 5:30PM on March 16th, 2023, businesses and individuals, along with state and local representatives gathered in Hubbell at Acreage Steakhouse for a night of celebrating Thayer County. Thayer County Economic Development Alliance (TCEDA) was excited to hold their annual meeting banquet where so many like minded people could be brought together to share an evening of networking and celebrating.

Last year, the TCEDA board of directors created an annual award given to a local business and titled it the “Thriving in Thayer County” award. The award’s recipient would be a business within the county that has shown resilience during tough times, reinvested in Thayer County, and grown their business with a community mindset. This year’s award recipient was Hebron True Value, owned and operated by Ryan and Jamie Luttrell. Hebron True Value has just recently moved into a bigger building where they are able to offer more products and services to their customers. TCEDA commends Ryan and Jamie for all their hard work to make Hebron and Thayer County a better place! You can learn more about Hebron True Value and the award by visiting our press release about them.

The evening’s keynote speaker, KC Belitz, is the Chief Operating Executive for Nebraska Community Foundation. He sparked people’s interest during his presentation titled: “The Time is Now.” Many people don’t realize it, but our county is in the midst of a huge transfer of wealth between generations. KC discussed how economic developers and other organizations in the room could use this movement of wealth for economic and community growth in our county. If just 5% of the wealth being transferred could be set aside for economic and community development, we would have a significant financial impact to focus on growth for years to come! 

Over 100 people attended Thursday night’s event, which shows how committed Thayer County is to making this a great place to call home. We at TCEDA thank you for your support and hope you had as good a time as we did! We’re already looking forward to next year

Keynote Speaker

K.C. Belitz
Chief Operating Officer
Nebraska Community Foundation

As Chief Operating Officer, K.C. works with NCF staff, volunteers, donors and organizational partners to impact the future of Greater Nebraska. He believes NCF will change both the story and the reality of rural places in Nebraska in dramatic and positive ways.

K.C. is based in Columbus but spends part of his time at the Lincoln office, and travels regularly to work with Nebraskans across the state. As a former member of NCF’s Board of Directors and Fund Advisory Committee member of the Columbus Area Future Fund, K.C. has a deep appreciation of NCF’s culture and accomplishments.

K.C. graduated from Truman University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Prior to joining NCF in 2019, K.C. was president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce for 18 years, directing business and community development efforts for 800 members and the Columbus region.

K.C. enjoys serving as head volleyball coach at Columbus Lakeview High School. He and his wife, Colleen have one daughter, Emerson.