Chamber seeks $15,000 for data tool; Juneteenth committee requests $2,000 from county

Two community organizations presented budget requests at the Atchison County Commission meeting on April 15: the Atchison Chamber of Commerce and the Juneteenth Committee.

Chamber request: Jill Thorne, the Atchison Chamber of Commerce director, outlined work since taking the role in January. Thorne described new website and directory work and asked the county for $15,000 to restore access to a location-analytics platform (Placer.ai) that the chamber previously used for event and tourism planning. She said Placer.ai was negotiated to an $8,400 annual rate but that the chamber’s first offer had been $15,000; the chamber’s current ask is $15,000 to restore the tool and marketing capabilities. Thorne said the tool helps the chamber target event attendees and market tourism, and she offered to provide staff documentation and sample reports to commissioners.

Juneteenth request: Donald (Don) Bratton and co-chair Rita Williams presented on behalf of the Juneteenth Committee and requested $2,000 from the county for 2026 festival costs. Bratton said the event aims to be free to the public, offers food and activities and has traditionally relied on volunteers and community sponsors. The committee requested the same $2,000 county support it had received in prior years and asked commissioners for additional publicity support and permission to promote the county’s involvement.

Neither presentation resulted in a formal vote at the meeting; commissioners asked for supporting documentation and said staff would follow up. Thorne and Juneteenth organizers said they would supply invoices, sample reports and sponsorship information to county staff.