Lincoln Chamber outlines intercity visit, tourism push to boost local businesses

Jason Ball, president and chief executive officer of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, told the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners on July 9 that the Chamber is organizing an intercity visit to Madison, Wisconsin, to study redevelopment projects and gather ideas to support restaurant startups and downtown economic activity.

The visit will include site tours of the Garver Feed Mill, the Madison Public Market and the Epic campus, Ball said. He described the trip as an opportunity to bring back models for redevelopment and entrepreneurship to benefit Lincoln and Lancaster County.

Ball said the Chamber is coordinating tourism promotions with Violet PR that will target visitors and social media influencers around major July events such as USA Archery, USA Rodeo and Roller Sports. He introduced Skylar Reestman, who leads the Chamber’s social media and short‑form video work; Reestman reported strong engagement on Visit Lincoln’s new TikTok account driven by Coffee Month content and event coverage.

Ball also summarized the Chamber’s recently released development services survey, which showed generally positive feedback about residential permitting timelines but “clear concerns” about delays for commercial and industrial permitting. Board members praised the outreach and discussed tourism’s effect on hotel demand.

The Chamber concluded the briefing by thanking the board. The presentation was given during the staff meeting held at the County City Building and included opportunities for the board to ask follow‑up questions.