Supporting New Ulm’s Small Businesses

As most members of the New Ulm community know, we are a tightknit group with a passion for supporting our local, small businesses. This is a sentiment our owner, Heather Hacker Hammer, takes to heart as she strives to not only make A to Zinnia a success, but every small business in our incredible town.

As a proud New Ulm business owner, Heather shares more in this post about her involvement with the Chamber and how all of the members are working to maintain our thriving community.

“I am currently the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce Board Chair and am in my third year of serving on the chamber board as a member. I also serve on the New Ulm Chamber Foundation Board and am currently on the Personnel Committee. I love being involved with the Chamber because I know the decisions we make affect other business owners, and I want to have a say in how we take care of our Chamber members.  

“The Chamber’s mission is to encourage economic growth in our community by supporting our members through development, networking, education, advocacy, and access to resources. This year was particularly challenging for the Chamber, but at the same time, our efforts were more important than ever before during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chamber CEO, Michael Looft, was extremely effective at keeping the business community up to date on all the changes that were happening, which was incredibly important during a time of so many unknowns for small business owners.

“Before my current involvement with the Chamber, I was on the New Ulm Business and Retail Association Board (NUBRA) for 6 years, also serving as the Board Chair in my last term. I am currently the Liaison between the Chamber board and NUBRA. I sit on the Advertising committee for NUBRA, which is integral in getting New Ulm recognized and on the map in shoppers’ minds. We love to promote New Ulm as a great day trip to the Western Metro and St. Peter area!

“The New Ulm Small Business Owners group was born out of necessity because local business owners needed a medium to connect with one another. It is a group for owners only and we are able to talk about current issues affecting our stores in confidence. We can bounce ideas off each other, talk about the pace of business, sales, or staff wages. I currently serve as the Secretary for this group. We host many events such as Modenschau and the Fruehling Bubbly and Boutique, we also help with Crazy Days, Shopping Opener and Shop Small Weekend.

“I want to see New Ulm prosper and grow. I want to see a vibrant downtown area. I plan to be in business the next 30 years, and my company’s growth can only benefit from other businesses and business owners that have a vested interest in moving New Ulm forward, while keeping our small town charm. The business owners I work closely with feel the same way and have the same passion I do. I learned community servitude at a young age from growing up in my family’s business. My parents had the same beliefs as I do. If you take care of the community, you are in, they will take care of you.”

We want to thank all of the small business owners in New Ulm and we look forward to seeing you continue to grow + thrive in the years to come!