Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Christian and Amber Miller celebrated their new ownership of the Sidney and Ogallala McDonald’s Thursday afternoon with Michelle Dickison, director of operations at the McDonald’s, and Marcus Anderson, their general manager. The couple took over ownership on Jan. 1 and on Thursday they were presented with a plaque from members of the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce. From left to right are Michelle Dickison, Marcus Anderson, Amber Miller and Christian Miller.
Christian and Amber Miller moved to Gering, Neb. in June of 2008 for the opportunity to expand the McDonald’s franchise and for a small town setting to raise their three children.
The Millers recently purchased the McDonald’s stores in Sidney and Ogallala and began their new ownership the first of the year.
“We’ve really enjoyed being here in Nebraska; it’s been a nice change,” said Christian.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” he continued. “We used to live in Virginia and we moved to Nebraska almost five years ago. We moved here for the opportunity to be a part of McDonald’s. We had one restaurant back in Virginia and saw the opportunity to grow here.”
“We saw the opportunity for growth out here and that Scottsbluff and Gering was the right size of town for us,” said Amber. “In Virginia there is a McDonald’s on every corner and there are many different operators so there isn’t the opportunity out there.
“We decided the growth opportunity was significant enough to uproot our family and raised them in a small town setting. Everyone has been so nice out here and very accepting. It’s nice to actually live in the community you do business in,” she said.
Amber said that not only did the move bring them closer to her family residing in Idaho out west, but it also brought them to a community where they are proud to raise their family.
“McDonald’s has really always been in the family business,” said Amber. “Christian’s dad has been with McDonald’s for over 40 years, so he was kind of raised in the business. My father-in-law owns restaurants around Stafford and Fredericksburg, Va., and that’s how we got into it. But we started out there and decided we didn’t want to raise our kids there and wanted a small hometown kind of feeling.”
“We visited and loved it here,” said Christian.
The couple bought three McDonald’s stores in Scottsbluff and Gering and that was the beginning of their expansion.
“We actually have the Nebraska restaurants for the Rocky Mountain Region,” said Christian. “We have three locations in Gering and Scottsbluff now, and we have a total of eight here in Nebraska and one in Wyoming.”
“We had the opportunity to purchase a store in Alliance and Chadron from an operator that owned those two and moved back to Michigan. So we purchased Alliance first and built one from the ground up in Torrington, Wyoming.”
The couple said that they hope to serve and be involved in the community as best as they can.
“I’ve reached out to the local schools and we’ve started a McCafé Monday where we offer free coffee and anything on our McCafé menu to any teacher or school member with an ID,” said Amber. “We want to do more and get a feel for the community and see what the community needs.”
“A core value of McDonald’s as a whole is giving back to the community,” said Michelle Dickison, the new director of operations at the McDonald’s.
“We wanted to be a part of this community for a number of years - really since we moved to Western Nebraska,” said Christian. “We’re happy that the former owner was willing to let go and give it to us.
“We are genuinely excited to be here,” he said. “We are excited about some positive changes coming up. I mean McDonald’s will still be McDonald’s, which is the good thing, but we’re hoping to continue to make improvements to the business. And I would anticipate that the community is going to embrace the changes.”
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