Great Northwest Day returns

Dan Hegeman

Hundreds of northwest Missourians returned to Jefferson City last week for the 14th annual Great Northwest Day.

This is a wonderful event that allows folks from 18 counties in northwestern Missouri to come down to the Capitol and share their story with state legislators, department heads and elected officials.

I was pleased to see such a strong mix of leaders make the snowy drive down to network amongst themselves, discover what’s going on throughout our region and advocate to elected officials from throughout the state.

During the two-day event, I enjoyed meeting with area business leaders; county and municipal government officials, and representatives and students from Northwest Missouri State University, Missouri Western State University and North Central Missouri College.

Great Northwest Day has been going on for over a decade now. What started as a creative way to raise regional awareness has grown to become the premier event for northwest Missouri to showcase all it has to offer to the rest of the Show-Me State, and to present our issues and concerns to the General Assembly.

It’s easy for a small town’s message to get drowned out by all the big-city noise. And since northwest Missouri is primarily composed of small towns, it’s much more effective when all of our communities present a unified message.

I am proud to represent northwest Missouri, and I truly appreciate all of the folks from the Great Northwest who volunteer their time, effort and passion to advocate for the needs of our communities.

As is always the case, please feel free to call, email, or write to me with your ideas or concerns.

My Capitol office telephone number is 573-751-1415, my email is [email protected] and my mailing address is Room 332, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.