Luster returns as chamber president for second year

Mark Luster returns as president of the Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce for a second term. Luster was installed at Wednesday morning's Kickoff Breakfast."It gives an opportunity for some continuity," Luster said of his repeat tenure as chamber president. "It helps as we continue with our goals and objectives."The biggest issue centers around the continued growth in the community, said Luster, who is the community relations manager for Sierra Pacific Industries.While new shopping centers and businesses keep moving into the community, Luster said the chamber can't focus all of its attention on the new merchants at the expense of existing businesses."We need to make sure we continue to provide existing businesses with our support so that they can continue to grow and flourish," he said. Attracting new business to Lincoln isn't a problem. The Lincoln Crossing Marketplace is on the drawing board, with Target as the anchor store and several other national brand stores also looking to move here.While big box stores, such as Target or Home Depot might at first seem to doom the smaller, existing businesses in town, over the long run Luster said he still sees the existing businesses thriving."An example is Rainbow Market," he said. "It's still going strong" despite the presence of Raley's and Safeway supermarkets.Another big challenge is to encourage industry to locate to Lincoln. Last year, two firms located in at the Lincoln AirCenter shut down. The closings of Solectron and UPS Supply Chain Solutions meant a loss of nearly 500 jobs."We're in a good position to attract new industry," Luster said. "It's just a matter of finding the right fit."There is ample vacant building space in Lincoln's Industrial Park just east of the airport. Also, Luster said, Lincoln has a low crime rate, a competitive housing market and a sense of community - all attractive reasons to locate in Lincoln.Another goal Luster has is to make sure the chamber is accessible to its membership."We need to support the sole proprietor as well as large business," he said. Chamber officers installed Wednesday morning, besides Luster, includeMarcus Lo Duca of Sandberg, Lo Duca and Aland, president-elect; Susan Rohan of Rohan Consulting, first vice president; Diane Zmerzl of BZ Plumbing, second vice president; Geri Rainbolt of First Bank, treasurer; Ruth Alves of Placer County, secretary; and Judy Bennett of Pulte/Del Webb, past president.The Board of Directors includes Bill Anderson of Thunder Valley Casino; Fred Arcuri of SureWest; Steve Art of the city of Lincoln; Robin Creger of Teichert Aggregates; Dan Cross of Gladding, McBean; Cindy Eveler of Lincoln Home Loans; Tom Kubicko of River City Bank; Mike Lee of Placer Holdings; Tina McCauslin of Richland Planned Communities; and Bob Romness of the Lincoln Volunteer Center.