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Join Blake Hunter, Iowa and Nebraska REALTOR, with his clients and colleagues as they discuss the current market, and the ins and outs of buying and selling real estate in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area.
Blake Hunter (00:05.118)
All right, Jacob, welcome to the first remote episode of Hunting Home. That's a big deal. Yeah, you bet. So today we have Jacob Cool. He's with the Council of Chamber of Commerce. And there's a lot of stuff going on with the chamber right now, 712. And I've seen Jacob present basically at every city event that I've been at recently and thought he'd be a really great guest to have on today. Kind of.
Jacob Cool (00:11.79)
Happen to me, man. Yeah.
Blake Hunter (00:35.07)
Talk about what's going on with the chamber. Talk about the city. Talk about small business. And so we just want to get to know you a little bit better today, Jacob. So tell us about yourself. Tell us your position and what you're doing right now.
Jacob Cool (00:49.517)
Yeah, so my name is Jacob Cool. I'm with the Council's Chamber of Commerce. My role at the Chamber is the Director of Member Services. I'm from Council Bluffs, born and raised. I love this community. I saw a big opportunity to give back and kind of support the community. I've always wanted to support small businesses. Never knew how until I got this position and role. So I'm really excited to be here. And like you said, there's been so many fun events that have been going on.
Being president is a big part of my role and being able to explain to our members, you know, the benefits that come along with being a chamber member and what we do to support the community. Cause a lot of the time you get these questions about like, well, what does a chamber do? and to be able to facilitate exactly what people receive from joining the chamber is actually really fun. Cause you can see by the end of the conversation, their faces are like, this is a good thing.
I need to be a part of this. How do I take the next step? So that's what I'm here for. I'm about membership growth and community development.
Blake Hunter (01:54.622)
Yeah, I mean, you guys have really been talking about, you know, all the benefits that you can get with a chamber that that so many people that are even currently members are not aware of and kind of the bang for your buck that you get. I mean, I don't even really see the chamber to me. It's about a lot more than that. It's about, you know, it's about a lot more than than what you're getting in return, but just.
Just the connections and the events that you go to and being aware of those things, you know, make me feel a lot deeper rooted in the community. But, so if you want to touch on it briefly, you know, a lot of people are aware of the merger that's going on, but can you kind of just talk a little bit about the two groups coming together and kind of what that means?
Jacob Cool (02:45.642)
Yeah, I can talk about that a little bit. It's a really exciting time right now. You know, we're going through the merger process There's a lot of great feedback that's coming back from the stakeholders and as well as you know, the employees at someone to Employees here at the chamber. We're excited to work together to completely revamp the project behind the council's chamber and the someone to initiative Becoming one working together
sharing events, sharing resources is a big part of this. We're just really excited about it and everything's been going smooth. We look forward to a great partnership in the future.
Blake Hunter (03:25.246)
That's cool. So what do you see as the benefit of the two organizations coming together?
Jacob Cool (03:33.385)
They've been in the community longer than, you know, myself and, you know, Jessica, our director of leadership programs. We're both so new to the chamber. We're not new to the community by any means, but we're new to the things that are going around, going on around our city. The events like the Shamrock Shuffle and Summerfest and Winterfest and, you know, all these different things that the 712 Initiative already has done and their event planning skills and their coordination, as well as the developments that they've been refinishing throughout the community.
That's all new information to me. So gaining their knowledge on things that are happening in our community and things that we need to be mindful of and being able to share that with our members to get them excited about being a part of this, that is a huge benefit for us.
Blake Hunter (04:20.766)
Yeah. Yeah, I can definitely see that. So you're obviously council bus guy. You know, you mentioned that born and raised. I've, you know, I knew you outside of this position, but how did you, go from where you were to where you are now? What was kind of the draw? How did that all, how did this all come to be?
Jacob Cool (04:40.84)
Yeah, I get that a lot. The big thing was I was doing business development throughout Nebraska and Iowa for senior living and healthcare. I was traveling a lot, you know, took away from time in my community, took me away from, you know, time with my wife. So really all I wanted to do was find a way that I could get involved in community, stay in town.
not have a huge commute to Western Iowa or Eastern Iowa and Western Nebraska, stay local. And I got pretty lucky that Chris LaFurla, our president and CEO, took over the Chamber of Commerce. I had known Chris previously, got to play golf with him a couple of times, and I just thought he was a good person, a good community leader, and I thought he would always be a good mentor for me so that if I could ever have an opportunity to work for a guy like that, I would...
not hesitate in finding a way to see if I could be of value to him. So when that all happened, I just asked him if I could come and talk to him about the position of the member services role. I knew Kim Boothie who did the job prior and you know, she was a staple of this chamber. She gets great feedback from the members that I know already. So I kind of thought, I think I could do that. That's right in my alley, you know. It's, you know.
It's got the business development side of things, it's got the marketing and promotions, and that's all in my background. So when Chris and I had the conversation, we were already putting together the pieces of what we wanted to do in year one compared to year five. So it just worked out perfectly, and I'm really thankful to be here now, and I'm really excited to be here in the future.
Blake Hunter (06:28.862)
Yeah. So has there been anything, you know, obviously a completely new role, a lot of change going on. You know, you probably didn't really know what to totally expect. Has anything really surprised you so far?
Jacob Cool (06:46.405)
I think the generosity of our members has surprised me the most. I know Council Bluffs is a great community, but the patience and the support that I've been given through these first few months of being here have been tremendous. I mean, I could have asked for a better support system from not just my leader, Chris, and my partners at the 712 Initiative, but just through the community of members that I have. They're all patient with me.
They're teaching me how things have been done in the past and kind of guiding me along the events that have been happening and where I need to be of value to them. And it's just been great. Like that's a breath of fresh air when you walk into something that you don't know what to expect. I mean, you're absolutely right. I had no idea what to expect. I had some past experience with the chamber, but I was one of those members that didn't utilize my benefits enough. I came to a lot of the events, but...
Blake Hunter (07:31.164)
Yeah.
Jacob Cool (07:42.436)
It was always just so well done and I didn't know exactly how to facilitate that day one. I can't walk in there and just take over and expect to know everything. So truly, it's just the support that I've been given from this community has been nothing short of amazing.
Blake Hunter (07:57.343)
Yeah, that's really cool. So what are you doing on a daily basis? I mean, I ran into you last week. You're taking photos at a ribbon cutting. You're coming to our networking meetings on Thursday morning, kind of giving us a brief on what's going on with the chamber. I mean, you seem to be have your hand in about everything right now. So what's your day to day look like?
Jacob Cool (08:19.939)
It's jam packed. I mean, it's busy, but I love being busy. I'd rather be busy than bored. And I'm doing ribbon cuttings with the CB ambassadors, which is the goodwill arm of the chamber. They're a great group and they've been around for a long time. They're one of those groups that, you know, have given me tremendous support. Ribbon cuttings we've done two last week, you know, two this week. It's been busy, which is great. And you mentioned that I've been taking photos. I really just want to mark it.
PR the good things that are going on in this community to our members and so and show them this is special. Like this is something that you can take advantage of and it's included in your benefits. So reach out to me. Let's get this set up and let's celebrate the the new businesses, the small businesses, the new amenities that are going into counts bluffs like the refurbished Fox Run, which is now Whispering Woods. I mean, those are all fun events.
I'm always at Coffee and Contacts, always at the Chamber Mixers. I love coming into your networking group. It's a great time. That's a great group of people that, you know, we need more support in our jobs and our day -to -day lives. So that's one group that you're involved in that I'm glad is still successful. But yeah, I'm bit.
Blake Hunter (09:39.518)
Yeah. And I mean, that's a, that's an important thing to bring up too, is that, you know, I'm in that group solely because you asked me to be in that group with it when you were at a previous job and, you know, times change and you've moved on and, but it's funny that you've now circled back and now you're attending our meetings, you know, once a month or so. And so that's pretty cool. you know, without that, without the, council bus business connection that you mentioned.
I would be a member of the chamber, but I would definitely not be as involved without that group because that's kind of what we have set up to be, to be a successful member of that group. You need to be involved with the chamber. And so I go to a lot of those things, but like you mentioned, taking the photos of the event, like when I saw you at, the golf course, you know, when you go to those things, and I don't think a lot of people realize this, but I think what you're doing with the photos is I can't make it to every ribbon cutting.
And people don't realize, I guess, maybe what takes place completely at those. But if nothing else, you get to put a face with a business. And like at the golf course, you know, I was aware of the new ownership. I had heard some names involved, but you can go there the day of the ribbon cutting. You can see those people listening to them talk firsthand why they're doing what they're doing. And I think that's, you know,
super important if you're going to be a business person in our community is to know those people and be able to recognize them out in public. And every coffee and contacts you see similar faces and you know, even if I wasn't part of that, the business connections group, going to that stuff when you can make it is, you know, it's hard to put a value on that and the people you'll meet and you know, like you.
you probably wouldn't even be end up in this position today without being at some of those things in the past. And it's just weird how those things all come together.
Jacob Cool (11:38.751)
You're right. Yeah, absolutely. It's pretty special, everything that we do for our community, but it's even more special when the community supports what we do.
Blake Hunter (11:50.974)
Yeah, it has to go full circle, right? Yeah. Yup.
Jacob Cool (11:53.534)
It does, just like getting you into the Council of Business Connections, coming back to tell you what's going on.
Blake Hunter (12:00.926)
Yeah So is there anything Big, you know coming I know we just finished Pride week council us What's what's big on the calendar for the chamber? You
Jacob Cool (12:16.829)
first off, I would say, you know, celebrate CB was awesome. we brought back the pancake man. I mean, we served over 500 plates. The food was delicious. The pancakes were flying. You know, we had Chris, president CEO handing out butter and sausage. It was just a true team effort. And to show the community that 712 and the chamber we're here. We're ready to support anything we can. And we love to be involved.
That was a special week. The parade was awesome. So many people turned out. It was fun to see all the kids doing the activities around Bayless Park. It was an exciting week and it was fun to participate in. But for the Chamber, our big upcoming thing is the mid -year meeting and leadership graduation, which I know you're in leadership and you're probably looking forward to celebrating the success of the group. I know you guys are Class 36 and Frick by Brick.
Blake Hunter (13:01.052)
Yeah.
Jacob Cool (13:15.932)
the things that you guys did all through the year supporting nonprofits and coming up to Des Moines for the legislative reception. I know that's valuable and we're excited to celebrate you guys on June 26th at the Mid -American Center, giving you guys a nice fancy lunch and hearing your stories about why you did leadership, what you thought of it and why you would recommend it to other people to do leadership. So.
Blake Hunter (13:16.102)
Yeah.
Jacob Cool (13:45.851)
That's one big thing that's coming up on our calendar that I'm really looking forward to.
Blake Hunter (13:50.206)
Yeah. Yeah. We, we actually just had our closing retreat yesterday up at Hitchcock nature center for, leadership council Bluffs. And, it, we had a lot of, you know, we don't, as you're going through it, you don't really get a lot of time to discuss why you should be in leadership or really reflect on it because you're so busy doing other things. But yesterday, you know, that was a majority of the time was spent, you know, what did you get out of it?
where do you see, you know, the future? what would you tell someone that's going to apply? you know, I know I had talked to you that you were gonna, you applied for, class 37 and it's, it's really hard to like explain all the things, but it's like, you get a lot out of the class, but it's really like a, you, you connect with all the people that have done it in the past. And, it's just.
It's hard to explain it without having done it. You know, it goes by really fast. You sign up for a commitment. It's basically a year commitment that you think, my gosh, like, I'm going to have to devote all this time to do it. And it does, it is a time commitment, but it's hard to really tell someone like what the true value is. It's almost like that person needs to know like that I'm going to get something out of this and go into it with that attitude because I did, you know, I had talked to so many people that.
I never thought would give a positive recommendation on a class like that. And when they said, hey, this is really something that you should consider, one of them was, and I know he won't mind me saying, but one of them was Travis Waldstein. And I'm like, if Travis committed to a day, a month for that and did the class and he recommended it, then it probably is a good thing to do.
Jacob Cool (15:42.328)
Yeah.
Blake Hunter (15:42.558)
So I'm like, if he, if he got something out of it and felt that way and told other people, then yeah, that's something I should do. And so Cindy Schmader was another person that really recommended it to me and was like, yeah, you should, she's like, I've lived in council plus my entire life and the things that I learned about our city. She's like, I would have never known without doing that. So hopefully excited for you. Hopefully it's something you can do next year and get something out of it. But.
We had a lot of time to reflect yesterday and looking forward to the graduation. We got to decide where the money is going to go to some different nonprofits. So we're excited to share that next month. And yeah, just overall positive.
Jacob Cool (16:23.415)
And you do that on the community foundation, right?
Blake Hunter (16:27.132)
What's that?
Jacob Cool (16:28.919)
You did all that work with the Community Foundation, is that correct?
Blake Hunter (16:32.062)
Yep. Yep. So they helped, they came in and Donna Dostle came in and she kind of helped us like, go through how to decide. we all did our own projects, so we could have our own projects nominated to have funds donated, as well as some, other nonprofits that we, kind of got to experience and just, and talk to firsthand through the class.
And so it was really nice as a class, we could sit down and take time to discuss all those things and decide, Hey, we felt like this was really the most important thing to donate our contribution to. and so we, like I said, we had a great discussion and it's, it was things from all across the board. I mean, from, mental health to, you know, kind of tying into mental health, but to homelessness to,
food pantries to just like overall good cause type things. And it's cool that we'll be able to have our name on that, you know, especially at graduation and be able to see those people receive those funds. And these are people that like they're small organizations that a small amount of money is a big deal. And so we're, we're excited that we get to present that. Yeah, it's cool. And I,
Jacob Cool (17:53.653)
That's that.
Blake Hunter (17:57.31)
I knew that all along, but it didn't really sink in until yesterday when we were discussing them and getting to talk about those people, being able to come up on the stage and receive those big checks. And if nothing else, the attention that those groups will get from just being able to be introduced, let alone the monetary contribution. But so many of these organizations, I mean, that's one thing that I really learned.
through Council Bluffs, through the leadership program was not just like the history of Council Bluffs and like the things that the city is about, but how many opportunities there are and how many organizations there are to help people. I mean, like I said, from all different aspects that I had no idea existed. And so,
learning about all those things and knowing that they exist is the first step. It's not necessarily like giving them money and doing those things, but like I said, I mean, there is so many that I did not realize even existed in our city. And so getting them some attention will be huge, especially at the graduation.
Jacob Cool (19:13.128)
Yeah, absolutely.
Blake Hunter (19:15.678)
So just trying to think of some other things while I got here. Like what someone would want to know, like what's, I know you guys are really working hard on membership and growing the Chamber, so what's your vision? Like where are we sitting right now with membership and where would you really like to be?
Jacob Cool (19:34.579)
Yeah, I mean, it's currently sitting at 700 members, which is, in my opinion, fantastic. I'm one person with 700 members. I say that a lot because I want to support all 700 of them, but to dedicate all that time is hard. And it goes without saying we still want to grow because without the membership growth, without the contributions we receive from our members and new members,
We aren't able to do the things that we want to do in our community. We're not able to make an impact at our events for nonprofits or even for our leadership class or, you know, the briefcase open that we host every year or annual meeting that we host every year. You know, the annual meetings are huge. Our huge meeting. It's a huge gala. You know, we want it to be valuable. We want the information and the message to be valuable to the members to be like, this is why.
we are part of the Chamber. This is why we love being a part of this community. And without that, there's no way we can show value to our members. And so our goal currently, you know, I came in with a lofty goal of I want to get, you know, at least 85 members. That would be 12 % growth over the year. In my first three months, I've gained 30 members. So pretty excited about where we're at right now, obviously.
You're going to have lulls in business. You're going to be start, you get, you start to get pulled into different directions. you know, I'm helping out with the workforce development programs. I'm helping out with, you know, some of the leadership aspects. I'm doing a lot of the events and planning and coordinating, and just trying to get out into the public eye as much as possible. So really what I want to be doing is door knocking and meeting new businesses and shaking hands.
and giving people the support that they need from us. But that will all come in time. We have a vision, we have a plan, and we just need patience from our community. And they've shown us that, and we're excited about it. So yeah, membership growth is priority, but at the same time, providing the value and the support that our members need is utmost priority for sure.
Blake Hunter (21:52.862)
Yeah. So when you're out there prospecting and looking for new members to join the chamber, how does that conversation typically go? I mean, if you call a business and you think, why are they not a current member? What's the feedback that you're getting from them?
Jacob Cool (22:12.023)
Most of the time it's just because they don't see the value in supporting the chamber. And it's not from a community aspect. They could love Council Bluffs and they could be a huge member or community leader of the Council Bluffs. But if they don't find the value in your product, why are they going to buy it? So expressing to them what we have to offer, what our benefits are, is the main thing that I kind of focus on.
Blake Hunter (22:31.216)
Yeah.
Jacob Cool (22:41.262)
you know, letting them know that we offer marketing and advertising. We offer these networking opportunities. We want to introduce you to community leaders and put on workshops where, you know, either you come in and you can train your staff on, you know, the new era of chat, GBT and AI or the social media marketing aspect, or even just the finance aspect and having our partners, the banking community come in and teach workshops. These are all things that we want people to take advantage of.
to grow their business. We're not a referral shop. We're not just going to select our few members that we like the most and send them out to them. We want to support everyone in this community any way that we can. So that's the message is come see what we have to offer you. Try us out. If you don't follow us, that's fine. We still want to support you. And we still love that you're in this community. But...
Blake Hunter (23:32.638)
Yeah.
Jacob Cool (23:39.927)
give us a chance because we might be a small team now, but in year five and with the 712 initiative coming on board, we're looking to be a brand new chamber, a brand new organization, and we're looking to be very supportive in this community.
Blake Hunter (23:58.782)
Yeah. I mean, you may not know, I mean, you may not have a statistic or know this, but I feel like once you join the chamber, like in a year still in business, the odds of you leaving that are probably pretty small, right? I mean, I feel like most people, once they're convinced that this is something I should be a part of, and as long as they're still in business, like they're going to continue to be a member, you know, into the future, I would assume.
Jacob Cool (24:23.948)
You're right to assume that. I mean, I think since I've started, I've maybe had one member that called me wanting to drop membership. And I just said, you know, whoa, whoa, whoa, you know, hey, let me introduce myself and had the conversation with. Right. Here's your flashing. No, I just, you know, we had a conversation. I got their feedback. I value feedback. That's the only way you can learn.
Blake Hunter (24:35.902)
Hey, I'll give you 50 % off.
Jacob Cool (24:51.723)
I say that about mistakes as well, you know, can't learn anything if you don't make mistakes. No one's perfect. That's all cliche and whatnot, but it's true. So having the conversation and by the end of it, they're like, okay, you know, we'll stick around for a little bit. You've got us excited and that's all the momentum that we're building right now has to be carried. We need to keep on building this momentum and get people excited about the future of the chamber.
Blake Hunter (25:15.772)
Yeah.
Blake Hunter (25:21.598)
Yeah, that makes sense. Well, I mean, if you've got that many new members and I keep, you know, on the Facebook page, I see when every time somebody joins and which, you know, that's something that you're doing that I think is super valuable along with the photos and stuff is just like showing the constant, the constant activity that's going on, you know, that there's, there's always value to be had. There's people joining all the time. There's different events to go to, but I mean,
If you've had that many new people join in the last three months, that conversation must be going pretty well when you're calling those people and saying, Hey, this is what you can get. And like I said, so many people that are members that have been members for a long time, don't even realize all the things that the chamber has to offer. So I would assume once again, you call these people that are not members and you're like, we do this, we do this, we do this. They're probably have no idea.
Jacob Cool (26:12.042)
Yeah, I had one new member conversation where they didn't join, unfortunately, but what they told me was that my passion behind the Chamber is what is going to make the Chamber great. And I believe that, you know, you have to be passionate about your job. You have to wake up every morning with the drive to want to be there and want to make an impact. And to find this role and to hear that feedback is just, it makes me really happy and makes me feel like I'm in a good spot. And I'm...
I'm excited for the future because my passion is you want to help people their dream homes if you didn't have a passion for that. I mean, how many you sold to people and you've taken your time and you've listened to their vision because you're passionate about what they're looking for. I mean, that's just having a good job.
Blake Hunter (26:40.862)
Yeah. Yeah.
Blake Hunter (26:47.452)
Yeah.
Blake Hunter (26:59.07)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, there's no other way to do it. And, and especially, you know, for somebody like, you know, in my position or someone in your position and you're, you're out prospecting, you're constantly, you know, trying to grow your business is like, if you have a bad attitude and you don't believe in it, then it's really hard to get others. I mean, if you don't believe in it, you're not going to get anybody else to. And so, I mean, I can definitely see, you know, through this.
Jacob Cool (27:00.361)
Doing what you love.
Jacob Cool (27:23.304)
Exactly.
Blake Hunter (27:26.974)
I mean, we've had quite a few conversations and I've listened to you talk to several different people, you know, about what you guys are doing. I've talked to Chris several different times in large groups, small group, and it seems like everyone has an aligned vision. And so, yeah, I mean, I'm excited for you guys and it's exciting for me to be a member. And I feel like I, with being a member of the Council Post Business Connection, having a...
good relationship with you and then seeing Chris around a lot more and going to the events. I feel like I kind of have like a backstage pass. I feel like I really know what's going on, which is great. And I'm excited about that.
Jacob Cool (28:04.328)
And being a part of the leadership class, man. Don't sell yourself short. That's no small feat.
Blake Hunter (28:06.354)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I guess I shouldn't have left that out, but yeah, I mean, the leadership program, again, I give a plug for that. If anyone's listening that's considering, you know, one of the things that they asked us yesterday was, if, you know, what are you going to do in the next 30 days to help your community? And mine was try to get people to sign up or apply for leadership. Because if I can get people to do that, they'll, they'll get it.
You know, they'll understand the things that our community needs. And the other thing was, you know, when thinking about people to apply for leadership, what are you thinking about? And I'm thinking about, and I knew you were going to apply. I'm like, you're the perfect candidate is like, it's gotta be somebody that already believes in it and wants to kind of buy in a little bit more and, and wants to spend the time, like devote the time to do it because you do, it is a time commitment and you have to like, you're going to get out of it. What you put in it.
And so I'm like, it's got to be the people that want to either grow their business, who want to be more involved in their community. and there's a lot of those people out there. So, I'm excited. I'm, I'm, I guess as a lifelong council bus resident, I mean, I can't say that I've ever been more, proud to be from council buffs.
Jacob Cool (29:13.542)
I love that, yeah. You said it best. It's true with all things. You get what you put into it. I mean, if you're not putting your 100%, you're not gonna get 100 % back. So you said it best. You folks, I mean, Blake Hunter.
Blake Hunter (29:30.268)
Yeah.
Blake Hunter (29:39.582)
Yeah.
Yeah, signing out.
Jacob Cool (29:43.653)
at the computer store by June 10th. Get them in. Going class 37, it's gonna be awesome.
Blake Hunter (29:49.68)
Yep.
There you go. Well, Jacob, I appreciate you coming on today, taking the time to do it. I think so far we've done well with this first remote recording. So Jacob over at the Chamber of Commerce, myself here in my office, keep listening to our podcast and thanks again, dude. Appreciate it.
Jacob Cool (30:14.245)
Yeah, you haven't been man. We'll talk soon. Alright, later.
Blake Hunter (30:16.702)
Sounds good.