Alesia Christensen Begins Tenure as Chamber President

Alesia Christensen, a personal banker at Great Western Bank, has taken over the reins as the Milbank Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Board President. “I didn’t truly know what being on the chamber board was going to be like, but I’ve learned so much these past three years,” Christensen says. “I probably would not have gotten to know so many people in our community if I wasn’t part of the board, but that’s what I love about it. I enjoy working with the community.”

Christensen says her main duties as president are to conduct the monthly board meetings, help make decisions alongside the chamber directors Laura Kelly and Chelcie Eischens, oversee the directors, and keep an eye on the budget.

One of her biggest goals for this year is to make improvements to the Summer Event Series. “We want to make improvements for these events and will be working hard on that. We are not sure yet what those improvements will be, but we are trying to come up with ideas to bring people into the community to boost our local businesses.”

The 2017 Summer Event Series was the second year of scheduling events throughout the summer. “The purpose for trying it that way was to generate business and provide activities for our community throughout the entire summer instead of just a one-day event, she says.”

Christensen also says, “I will be working closely with Laura on tourism. Our goal is to make local businesses profit as much as possible and tourism is one way of doing that.”

She plans to communicate with the directors nearly every day and will be assisted by past president Denice Hooth. “She has been a great role model for me. She will be there to answer any questions I have and will continue to be very involved with the chamber.”

Christensen’s overall goal is in line with the chamber’s mission – to strengthen the community and provide a means for helping the local businesses thrive. She says, “One of the best ways to do that is to become involved with the chamber. If you would like to become a chamber member, contact me or Chelcie in the chamber office.”

Christensen is a 2000 graduate of Milbank High School. She has been employed at Great Western Bank for over 11 years. Her husband, Jon, is the operations manager at Whetstone Valley Electric Cooperative. They have two children, Brayden (7th grade) and Grant (3rd grade).