In the Know column: Let’s focus on being ‘Better Than Yesterday’

By Tyler Notch, 2023 president of the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

I have served on the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for more than four years and in that time have served as secretary, treasurer and am honored to now be serving as the Chamber president for 2023. I have some big shoes to fill, both literally and figuratively, from our outgoing President Matt Gilbertson, and want to thank him for leading us so passionately in 2022.

Each year the incoming president gets to decide on the Chamber theme for the year. As I contemplated what my theme would be, I immediately thought of my personal theme which is “Better Than Yesterday,” but thought it was maybe too personal to me to use as the theme. So I came up with a few other ideas and sent them all to Chamber Executive Director Tara Bitzan for consideration. After a few follow up conversations, Better Than Yesterday was selected as the 2023 Theme.

Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce

Fast forward to today and I see this theme all over Chamber materials and it fits extremely well with where we’re at in our current times as a Chamber and as a community. To me, Better Than Yesterday means a consistent effort to be just a little bit better every single day. That effort can take many forms, whether it be doing one more push up than you did the day before, spending an extra 10 minutes without your phone at the end of the night to get just a little more time with your kids, or putting $1 more down for the tip at your favorite local restaurant to help that server know how much you appreciate them. All these little acts seem minimal in the moment, but spread out over time, they can change the course of your life or someone else’s life and greatly impact the community.

Looking at present-day Alexandria, you can see the constant improvement across our community. Just driving down Broadway Street, you see we have business leaders committed to making Alexandria one of the best communities in Minnesota and even the country, to live, work, play and prosper. Whether it’s the new marquee at Andria Theater, or the numerous new or remodeled retail spaces or the recently remodeled sidewalks and road, all of those improvements seemed little at the time, but as you see them stacked up next to each other you can see the growth happening right before your eyes.

With that said, my challenge for everyone in our community is to continue to work with each other to push Alexandria forward towards a brighter future.

I’ve mentioned a few ways we can push each other to be Better than Yesterday but to take it a step further, I want to actually put a challenge out to all of you reading this. I challenge you to make a point of doing one thing every day to better yourself, but I also challenge you to make add one additional touchpoint every month to improve the community. Visit a business you’ve never been to, volunteer for one of our many great nonprofits, join a local service organization, attend local government meetings, or simply try to educate yourself on the many resources and services available in the community and share that information with others.

Let’s do our best to make 2023 our best year yet and commit to doing just a little bit better every day.

In the Know is a rotating column written by community leaders from the Douglas County area.