SIDNEY – Emily Neu might be a well-known name to some around Sidney, as her recent ventures include being the founder and president of the board at The Mercy Mission House and being the community development director at the Shelby County United Way. Now, her already jam-packed schedule includes running Vera Event Rentals, LLC, a “modern event space in downtown Sidney” that was once home to the Alpha Community Center at 330 E. Court St.
Neu celebrated the grand opening of Vera Event Rentals with her daughter, friend, and local dignitaries at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon on July 21, and guests marveled at how the space has positively transformed since the Alpha Community Center vacated the property.
“What a beautiful space, and what a beautiful transformation, and what a great thing for downtown. On behalf of the city of Sidney, we are so grateful and thankful that you’re here and that you’ve opened up this business,” Sidney Mayor Mardi Milligan said. “I look forward to coming back to events here.”
Amy Breinich, the executive director and event producer of Sidney Alive, said she has known Neu and her family since they were farmer’s market vendors, and she praised Neu’s perseverance when her ideas are met with doubt.
“Emily’s the kind of people I love that just really dig into the community – the whole family does,” Breinich said.
Despite Neu’s background in the corporate world, she is not new to the design industry. She graduated from Wright State University with a bachelor’s in marketing and Louisiana State University with a master’s in business administration and she helped friends decorate their weddings on the side during that time. She has done many design projects since then, like decorating for weddings at Shelby Oaks Golf Club and VanDemark Farm in Sidney and Cliffside Acres in Springfield.
With her connections to the Alpha Community Center as the former president of the board of directors, Neu knew that it was a struggle for the organization to own two facilities. Neu will lease the space from the organization for 2022 with plans to buy the building in the spring of 2023.
“With some changes that happened in my corporate job, I was looking for something else to do, and this building had been for sale for a while, and because I am intertwined with the Alpha Center and Mercy Mission House, I knew it was a drain on their finances trying to pay utilities for both,” Neu said.
While many renovations have been done to the space, the availability of parking, especially for large events, might pose an issue in the future. Since Vera’s is currently leasing, nothing can be done about it yet, but when Vera’s owns the space, Neu said they will consider turning the lot behind the building into parking, which the community center used as a recreation-type space with two basketball hoops.
The new business is in tribute in both name and style to Neu’s grandmother, Vera, who Neu admired for her elegance. Hints of Neu’s style are also highlighted by the business, which she described as a mix of modern and classic.
“She was just a woman of style and grace all the time. Even if we were going to the grocery store, she had her heels on and looked like she was just dynamite, so this was in honor of her and everything she taught us growing up,” Neu said about her grandmother.
Besides renting out the building, which can be used for corporate events, weddings, showers and everything in between and has a capacity of 100 to 175 people, Vera’s also offers decorations for rent and will travel to other spaces to decorate. One unique part of the business is a picnic party option with seven different design options to choose from, all named after prominent women.
Neu said her favorite part about design work is working with clients and their reactions to her work.
“My favorite part is the face of the clients, like helping them actually bring their vision to reality is a lot of fun,” Neu said.
For more information about booking events with Vera Event Rentals, LLC, and pricing, visit veraeventrentals.com or call 937-419-0406.
