REC Silicon chief headlines Moses Lake chamber banquet

Daschel passes presidency to Doran-Martinez

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce banquet attendees are receiving more information about the $600 million REC Silicon expansion Wednesday.

REC Silicon CEO Goran Bye speaks at the annual banquet, the chamber's 65th, beginning Wednesday with a no-host reception at 6 p.m. at Big Bend Community College's ATEC Building. Dinner begins at 7 p.m.

Chamber Manager Bev Shuford said Bye's appearance is due to his company's expansion in Moses Lake, announced in May, and what it will bring to the area.

"People need to be informed of what's happening," Shuford said.

Also at the banquet, chamber President Jacie Daschel ends her year-long term, handing the presidential gavel to Debbie Doran-Martinez.

Daschel called the year a transitional one for the chamber, in which longtime Manager Karen Wagner retired after 27 years, with Bev Shuford stepping into the managerial position. It meant a lot of time was spent identifying priorities, Daschel said, and restructuring the chamber's accounting.

"Because of our transition, some of the things are taking longer to finish, but we are definitely in mid-stream on all of them," she said.

The chamber is restructuring, reducing the number of vice presidents from six to three, with targeted emphases including budget and finance, government and regional affairs and tourism and economic development.

The chamber's continued support of Vision 2020 and downtown revitalization are personal highlights for Daschel from her term as president.

In the coming year, Daschel says the chamber is working to offer a board meeting to get work done, while a second meeting will be more educational for membership, spotlighting such topics as tourism or increasing skilled labor.

"We are definitely in a growing mode, so the key is, how do we as a business community attract the employees that we need?" she explained, pointing to expanding businesses and other construction projects.

Doran-Martinez pointed to development over the year of an active committee for visitor information, which created an outside dispensary of materials available outside chamber hours. The committee developed prototypes for similar information racks throughout the city, both inside and outside venues.

"We're going to kind of test it, see how it goes and hopefully expand it so that truly any visitors that are coming and eating, fueling up, or spending the night in a hotel are going to have access to what's happening in our community and what they can participate in," she said.

Doran-Martinez said the chamber hopes to move some signage identifying the community's organization to the chamber office and expand a visitor information kiosk.

The change in vice presidents blends duties and allows board members to become more active in committee work, she added.

Doran-Martinez's goals include bringing the local business community and assisting where needed, bringing new businesses to Moses Lake's downtown core and enhancing the community's programs and attributes.

Banquet tickets are $25 and available at the chamber office. The banquet is open to the public.