Think MHK Podcast

The Think MHK Podcast is back with season four! We are opening up our season by sitting down with City Manager, Ron Fehr, who is wrapping up two-plus decades of service to the City of Manhattan. In the episode, Fehr discusses how he got into city management, after starting with the parks and recreation department in 1982. He highlights how partnerships with the chamber, university, and business community were key to the city's success during his tenure and reflects on the challenges. Fehr also reveals a hidden talent that you do not want to miss!

For the final episode of season 3, we welcome Brian Peete, Director of the Riley County Police Department. In this episode, Brian shares his story from growing up with two parents in the Chicago Police Department to his time in the Air Force and his past Chief of Police experiences all the way to what attracted him to come to Manhattan. Brian also shares what he views RCPD's role in the community is and what surprised him most about Manhattan.

On this episode of the ThinkMHK podcast, Jason is joined by guest Mary Martell, Vice President and Regional Administrator of Stormont Vail. Mary recently moved to Manhattan to run Stormont Vail's new Manhattan location. She shares the history of Stormont Vail, why they decided to invest in Manhattan and details on their new location on N. Manhattan Ave. Mary also shares why she personally decided to move to Manhattan, the excitement she's found in The Little Apple® and why she has chosen to be a part of the Chamber world.

This week we hear from the new Director of Visit Manhattan, Marcia Rozell. Marcia has served Visit Manhattan for the last 13 years as the Sports and Leisure Manager and in May of 2023 she was promoted to Director. Listen in as Marcia shares what first brought her to Manhattan, some of her favorite events she's helped bring to Manhattan, her goals for the first year and so much more.

In April of 2023, we welcomed the new Military Relations Manager, Christian Bishop to the Chamber team. Christian has been at the forefront of engagement between Fort Riley and the Flint Hills community for nearly 15 years as part of the Fort Riley team. Listen to this week's podcast to learn more about Christian's past career working with Fort Riley, how she received the nickname "Ms. Manhattan", the key initiatives for her new position and ways to get involved with the Chamber's Military Relations Committee.

This week we welcome Vern Henricks President/CEO of the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. Did you know that GMCF is the largest community foundation in the whole State of Kansas?! While on the podcast Vern dives into what the GMCF is, who they serve, their big events like Grow Green Match Day and more.

We are excited to welcome our final two 15 Under 40 guests to the ThinkMHK Podcast. This week we feature Sheila Ellis-Glasper, Founder and Marketing Strategist of SEG Media Collective and Marc Kent, Realtor at ERA High Pointe Realty. Listen in to learn more about how they have been involved in the community, the opportunities they have found in Manhattan, advice for young professionals and much more.

This week we welcome Dr. Steven Bellinger, CEO of Radiation Detection Technologies, Inc. to the podcast. RDT is a local Manhattan company that recently was recognized by the Kansas Department of Commerce as a statewide winner of the 2022 Business Innovation Award. During this episode you will learn more about what RDT does, the different industries they serve and their recent expansion plans.

This week we welcome our 2023 Young Professional of the Year award winner, Stephanie Pierce, back to the ThinkMHK Podcast. Stephanie is the Economic development and entrepreneur relations manager at K-State Innovation Partners. She is also the Chair of the Chamber's young professional program, Hype. Throughout the episode, she shares what her role in economic development looks like, the importance of Hype and entrepreneurship in the community and more.

To hear more about Hype from Stephanie listen to season 2 episode 12.

This week we welcome Mary Vanier to the mic. Mary Vanier is the President of the Grand Mere Development, a 1,054 acres master-planned golf course community on the West Side of Manhattan. She also serves as Chair of the KSU Foundation Board of Directors. Vanier was awarded the Lud Fiser Citizen of the Year award at the Chamber's 2023 Annual Meeting. 

Throughout the episode, Mary shares her personal story that lead her to, and back to, Manhattan. She shares stories of her family's history of being long-time K-Staters, why philanthropy is important to her and her family and so much more!