I’m excited you could all join us tonight as we celebrate the achievements of the business community and also award our very deserving award winners this evening.”

Tony Ciro of American Family Insurance Ciro Agency

This is a place I want to be, and it’s the people that have supported me along the way that make it worthwhile. That made me want to stay here.”

Kyle Kreuser

The Chamber had a busy year, hosting 35 different events, including its signature Rivertown Days weekend and the annual Golf Classic.

Amid beads and masks, The Confluence Hotel event space was transformed into Mardi Gras for the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner on Thursday, Jan. 25.
The community nominated one educator, volunteer and business owner who made a difference in 2023, and a chamber panel picked award recipients.
Honored were Educator of the Year Kyle Kreuser, Volunteer of the Year Jeff Carter and Business of the Year Hastings Public House & Golf Club.
Following dinner, Tony Ciro of American Family Insurance Ciro Agency noted that chamber President Kristy Barse told him he got “to speak in front of the biggest annual awards banquet dinner we’ve ever had.”
“I’m excited you could all join us tonight as we celebrate the achievements of the business community and also award our very deserving award winners this evening.”
He also thanked The Confluence for hosting the event and volunteers who brought the event to life.
He said the Hastings Chamber works diligently to help in the community.
“We worked diligently as a board to build our strategic plan and have the proper mission statement to guide our work. We’ve also had a clear focus on making sure the work the chamber does reflects our mission statement which is to lead, promote and advocate for the Hastings area business community to reinforce a strong local economy,” he said. “I’m proud of our board members, past and present, who helped keep this top of mind through all of our work, even as we’ve navigated through some difficult challenges.”
He said in the last year the chamber has focused on “organizational excellence.”
“We have attracted a visionary leader to represent us from a variety of industries,” he said.
A big organizational change was moving the chamber office into The Confluence in 2023.
“It’s in a very busy and visible location with a lot of traffic, and we think that is a great place for the chamber to be moving forward to support our goals,” he said.
He noted the chamber had a busy year, hosting 35 different events, including its signature Rivertown Days weekend and the annual Golf Classic.
There are also networking events and educational events and seminars, as well as working with city, school and state leaders on Hastings projects and initiatives. He credited the staff for much of the success.
“I’d like to say thank you to Kristy Barse, Jessica Dodge and Dave Youngren. It’s hard to believe that your team of three can get all this organized and accomplished in a year,” said Ciro.

Award recipients –
Kyle Kreuser - Kreuser is a 6th grade Social Studies teacher at Hastings Middle School. He was nominated by several parents and some past students, who noted his ability to find individual strengths in every one of his students. Kreuser teachers several after school clubs, is a coach for Hastings wrestling and coaches soccer for UFC Hastings.
Both Kreuser’s parents were teachers.
“I’ve been fortunate. I’ve had a really solid web of support,” he said.
He landed in Hastings after one year in the Rosemount Schools when his job was cut due to budgetary constraints.
“I was devastated as a first year teacher. I thought had it figured out, and that I was going to be doing this forever, and suddenly my job was taken aware from me,” he said.
He had a connection in Hastings and was mentored by some longtime teachers, including Spencer Johnson. I remember telling Johnson, “Spencer, you don’t know this, but there was a lot of times where I just sat outside your room and listened to you teach because you were so awesome. You were so attached about what you taught, and the kids felt it, and I thought to myself as a young teacher, that’s what I want to be,” Kreuser said.
He said Hastings has become home for his family.
“This is a place I want to be, and it’s the people that have supported me along the way that make it worthwhile. That made me want to stay here,” he said.

Jeff Carter - Carter, who works at Merchants Bank in Hastings, has given tirelessly to several local organizations and holds a leadership role in the Black Dirt Theater, Hastings Downtown Business Association and as a chamber board member. He is heavily involved in Hope Lutheran Church and takes time off work in the summer to help with Vacation Bible School and to chaperone youth trips. He works at many community events, volunteering for the Hastings Historic Car Shows, Rivertown Days, the Candy Crawl, Holiday Hoopla and Gobble Gait.
Carter credited Merchants Bank.
“There’s no way I could be up here today if it wasn’t for them and their dedication to servant leadership,” he said. “As you can see, I tend to say yes to a lot of different groups, which takes me out of the office. They’ve never said no to me. I want to thank Bruce (Goblirsch) and Merchants Bank for being able to allow me to do all that cool stuff.”
Of Carter, Barse said, “He’s everything a volunteer should be. He’s dependable. He’s a problem solver. He’s always smiling.”
Carter said he and his family love Hastings.
“We will forever stay here, and we feel so passionate about the city,” he said.

Hastings Public House & Golf Club, owned by Nicole Sindelar - Barse said Hastings Public House & Golf Club make every customer feel welcome.
“I want to highlight the community work that Nicole and her team are involved in throughout the year,” she said. “Hastings Golf Club generously donated space to multiple causes, including Power of 100 Women, Relay for Life, chamber networking events and a ton of other events.”
She said Sindelar recommended Zoom calls for restaurant owners during the changing times when the COVID pandemic hit.
Sindelar and her team organized the Hastings Fourth of July Parade and host the Fourth of July Fireworks.
She serves on multiple boards, including on the chamber board.
“They believe that when we all work together, the community is better off,” said Barse.
Sindelar was appreciative of the work the chamber does to bring the community together.
“I have to be honest. The first chamber dinner I went to was in 2019, and I saw somebody up with this award, and I thought, well hopefully in 20 years…and here we are, which is amazing. It’s because of the chamber,” she said. “The chamber is absolutely how I got connected to my favorite people in the community.”
She said she was “blown away” when she started in business in Hastings by how great the chamber is.
“It’s just fun,” she said. “I love Hastings.”
New awards were introduced at the meeting as well. Froth & Cork was honored as Star of the North, as a star rookie business with innovative products and a cozy atmosphere. Spiral Brewery won the Community Connector Award for bringing together organizations and individuals and their visibility in the community. Dan Rother of Dan Rother Photography won the Legacy Award for his countless volunteer hours within Hastings over the years.