Jenny Eckstein is celebrated for her service to the Chamber
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After 2000-plus committee meetings, training and working with countless board members and CEOs, planning lots of Oktoberfest events and Network New Ulm Happy Hours, Jenny Eckstein is retiring from her work as the Vice President at the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce. For 22 ¬Ω years, Eckstein has provided leadership and service to the business community and tourism organization and her contributions were celebrated with a party at the Best Western Plus.
Starting in November 2000, Eckstein came on the staff of the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce and she’s seen a lot of change in many areas of the Chamber and the business community. When asked to reflect on some of the best memories in the role, Eckstein’s first highlight was being selected to participate in the Blandin Community Leadership Program in 2007. The New Ulm cohort of leaders had five days to network, grow in leadership ability and talk about future needs of the community. During this time, the Career Expo for area 10th graders was conceived as a strategy to introduce students to the opportunities here and consider staying or coming back to New Ulm after post high school graduation. In 2007, New Ulm was one of the first few communities offering students this type of experience. The event continues today, and is open to hundreds of public and private school students from New Ulm and surrounding communities
Working at the Chamber through COVID was another significant situation for Eckstein. “I’m proud that we could continue to be of service to our members during that unexpected, abnormal time,” she said. The Chamber was closed but still involved with the business community and assisted businesses through the pandemic.
The laundromat fire of 2018 was another unexpected challenge that affected the staff, members and Chamber facility. Eckstein also mentioned meeting several Minnesota Governors as an “opportunity because I was a Chamber employee.”
Eckstein stated that she will miss the event planning that happens throughout the Chamber year, including: Oktoberfest, Annual Meetings, Women’s Networking Event and the Home & Health Show and is willing to take a call for help from the current staff if needed. Her network of business connections, volunteers, over 400 Network New Ulm Alumni and greeters in the office will all be missed and she hopes people will still stop her in the grocery store to chat. Eckstein’s influence will be missed at the Chamber but she looks forward to other volunteering opportunities and spending time with family and grandchildren.