Belle Plaine Chamber of Commerce

06/08/2026

Wednesday - Bikes Across Kansas will be making their way through Belle Plaine. 🚴🏻‍♀️

06/08/2026

“Why would you move here?”

“Why would you want to start a business here?”

“Why would you renovate a building here?”

I hear these questions in a lot of places I visit. People asking them of their own community, about their own home.

That’s not pessimism or realism either, but low civic self-esteem and it’s plaguing too many of our places.

The problem with low civic self-esteem is that it can’t be fixed with the typical approach. There are no technical solutions that lift self-esteem. All the grant money in the world can’t make a community like itself. Even the best plans can’t force a town to believe in itself.

Cities don’t behave like machines. They behave like people. Because cities are made of people, not parts.

06/05/2026

Public Statement Regarding the Downtown Festival

For many years the Belle Plaine Chamber of Commerce has been proud to host the Downtown Festival (aka Tulip Time) to support our local economy and bring our community together. Following the conclusion of last year's event, which successfully met its goal of breaking even, the Chamber’s Board of Directors made the strategic decision to officially close the operational file on this project to focus our resources on core business advocacy and membership programming.

We are thrilled to see that a passionate group of local citizens has independently organized private venture to launch a new festival for our community. The Chamber celebrates this entrepreneurial spirit and wishes this new group great success in their endeavor.

To ensure complete clarity for our residents, local businesses and corporate sponsors, the Chamber wishes to clarify the structure relationship between our two distinctive organizations:

Complete operational Independence: The upcoming event is an entirely new independent private venture. There is no formal partnership, “transition” or operational handoff occurring between the Chamber and the new organizing committee.

Protection of chamber assets and data: We are legally and ethically prohibited from releasing internal operational manuals, historical venture agreements, or private sponsor databases outside of our organization. This protective policy applies universally; joining chamber membership does not grant any individual or external group access to closed proprietary files.

Allocation of resources: Because the past Festival operated on a break-even basis, there are no residual funds available for distribution. All current chamber funding is strictly reserved for the core business services and programming promise to our dues paying members.

The Chamber of Commerce exists to champion a thriving local economy while we cannot legally share proprietary data or financial resources with external private ventures. We applaud the efforts of these independent organizers to bring vibrant events to our city and we encourage the community to support them as they build their new startup from the ground up.

Board of Directors
Belle Plaine Area Chamber of Commerce
June 5, 2026

05/25/2026

A destination in the making....

This handsome water tower is in Belle Plaine, Kansas. It is 113 years old and no longer in use. The Belle Plaine Community Foundation is about to start work to convert the tower into the World's Largest Tea Pot.

They believe they have raised enough money for the project, but more fundraising will be done if necessary. They will start by building a new base and then lowering the former tank.

05/21/2026

Belle Plaine City Council meeting 5/20/26. Jeff Cox, our Chair, comments to the City - Chamber moving forward.

05/14/2026

The Belle Plaine Area Chamber of Commerce will no longer sponsor the April Downtown Festival.

Rumors had reached the Board that many coordinators and volunteers could no longer commit their lives to the annual event. The Festival Wrap-up Meeting confirmed the rumors and many core coordinators stepped down during the meeting.

Simultaneously, a new private group has appeared in Belle Plaine wishing to Bring Back Tulip Time. Since the Board had decided at their Director's meeting to diverge from the event, we feel this is the appropriate time for this new private group to take the event and run.

The Chamber will focus their efforts on events/activities to support our local businesses.

Board of Directors
The Belle Plaine Area Chamber of Commerce

05/14/2026

05/05/2026

Thank you, Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce/ CVB for the announcement.

04/12/2026

Many thanks to The Mulvane Mercantile for their sponsorship of Belle Plaine's Downtown Festival Doodlebug and the quality banners that hold up to the Kansas wind.