Community Members Welcome New Chamber, ED Employee

Representatives from all three organizations from Neligh and Clearwater were on hand Monday night to welcome Lauren Sheridan-Simonsen on board as the Assistant Economic Development Director.

Sponsored by the Neligh Chamber of Commerce, a Business After Hours event was held at the Neligh Legion to welcome her to the new role with the communities.

Sheridan-Simonsen is officially a City of Neligh employee, but through an inter-local agreement, she also is working toward economic development for the Village of Clearwater and to assist the business community through the Neligh Chamber of Commerce.

"I'm excited to be a part of this exciting time in Neligh where we have the opportunity to showcase our community for all the incredible things it has to offer," Sheridan-Simonsen said. "Working with the business community in Neligh to keep a portion of the millions of dollars that leave our community is a goal that should be attainable because of the great local businesses we are blessed to have."

Sheridan-Simonsen has lived in Neligh for several years and is based at the Neligh Economic Development/Chamber office on Second Street, where she works beside Economic Development Director Greg Ptacek.

"I'm extremely excited to welcome Lauren to our team. In the past three weeks, she's hit the ground running and had started to build strong foundations for several new projects," Ptacek said. "Lauren's primary focus will be community development and growing the Neligh Chamber of Commerce. Her rapport and drive will help her accomplish a lot for Neligh."