Leadership development = business support, community benefit

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

May 26, 2025

MENOMONIE – For two decades, Melissa Anderson – director of investor relations with the Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce – said organizers, business leaders and volunteers have contributed “26,564 hours” to the development of “361 leaders” through the Leadership Menomonie program.

“We’ve had a pretty strong registration each year in the program,” she said. “Employers see value in developing their employees not only for their own team’s professional development, but I think they see the value in developing their team for company morale as well.”

To celebrate the two-decade milestone, Anderson said the chamber is throwing a 20th anniversary alumni reunion event from 4-7 p.m. June 10 at Kyote’s Den Bar and Grill (E2339 WI-29 in Menomonie) following the program’s 2024-25 graduation ceremony.

Storied leadership history

Anderson said a majority of the chamber’s team is “relatively new.”

So, when members of her statewide “leadership collaboration group” asked her how the chamber planned to celebrate Leadership Menomonie’s anniversary, she said she realized they didn’t know when it was.

“So, we started digging, and we actually had a class participant whose (work) supervisor – (the) owner of the business – was one of the first individuals in the very first class,” Anderson said. “She found the letter that said she was (accepted to) the first class. So, we finally figured out that we are now in our 20th year.”

Each Leadership Menomonie cohort, Anderson said, accepts between 18-25 local professionals.

“I think that sweet spot is 24-25 people,” she said.

Anderson said she believes a couple of dozen participants is the program’s “sweet spot” because of the opportunities for tight-knit, cross-industry collaboration it affords participants.

“When I started with the chamber, I could tell there was some disconnect,” she said. “A lot of (people in an) industry were (only) sitting with (others in that) industry, and there was no cross-collaboration.”

That presented a problem, because Anderson said collaboration “is kind of the point of the program.”

“You’re there to learn about how communities run within different industries and how it all works together,” she said.

In an attempt to enhance the program’s collaboration opportunities, Anderson said her team resurrected Leadership Menomonie’s once-lost, overnight retreat – last held “a few years back.”

“We thought that (through) learning about the program off-site (and) having an overnight where we’re not focusing on the program that year – just getting to know you on a personal level – there would be more interactions in and outside of the group,” she said. “We thought that was very beneficial.”

Unfortunately, overnight retreats, Anderson said, often come with steep price tags.

So, a few years later, she said they replaced the overnight event with an all-day retreat to kick off Leadership Menomonie.

“(Now) the program starts in August with… one, full-day retreat, instead of two half days,” she said. “(Participants) get to know about the program, get to know their classmates and do a little bit of professional development.”

Community Impact

Beyond what local businesses gain from the program in the form of thoroughly developed leaders, Anderson said the local community and Greater Menomonie area also benefit from the chamber’s leadership program and its participants.

“2017-18 is when the program developed community projects,” she said. “So, each year the class (is) split into teams to create a community project. We encourage the projects to be (more than) a simple garbage pick-up, (for example). (Participants) come up with (what they think is) lacking in the Menomonie area, develop a project and execute the project. Then they present (their) project at their graduation.”

Anderson said the chamber and its surrounding community appreciate when the participants’ programs “have longevity to them.”

“(One year), we had a group create a bike loop map (for) around Menominee,” she said. “Last year’s group, actually (fulfilled) a dream (of mine) since I started here five years ago – and put an alumni database together. I’ve just never had time to do it. So, last year’s team went ahead and did that and then put together an end-of-year survey.”

This year, Anderson said a couple of teams collaborated and held a volunteer fair while another group simultaneously worked to establish a centralized resource for community members seeking volunteer opportunities.

“They are putting together a list that will be (accessible) at the Community Foundation (of Dunn County),” she said. “So if you’re a volunteer, you can call the community foundation and see what nonprofits are available to volunteer for.”

Examples, such as the participant who graduated from Leadership Menomonie’s first class and went on to become a local business owner, Anderson said, serve as benchmarks for Leadership Menomonie’s value and impact of which, every year, the team attempts to build upon.
“Every year, we’re trying to enhance it to be just a touch better,” she said. “(We always ask), ‘How can we provide bigger value for the same price?’”

To learn more about Leadership Menomonie and for details about the 2025-26 program, visit menomoniechamber.org.