Former Mattawa chamber now South Grant County Chamber of Commerce

MATTAWA — Volunteers working to revitalize the Mattawa Chamber of Commerce have announced a name change that reflects what they see as part of its mission.

Pam Thorsen, secretary/treasurer of the renamed South Grant County Chamber of Commerce, said the goal is to make the Chamber a place where business owners, government officials and regular citizens can make connections.

“Everybody has been working individually for what they need to have done, but a collective umbrella is kind of what we’re looking for,” Thorsen said. “Because it will take all of us to get whatever we need done (to get) done.”

The volunteers are recruiting a new Chamber president and vice-president, and hope to get some business owners in those roles, Thorsen said.

The change to a south county chamber expands the organization to Desert Aire and the surrounding area, Thorsen said, as well as Mattawa. What happens in Mattawa affects what happens in Desert Aire, she said, and Beverly and Schwana, and Desert Aire affects Mattawa. But people living in one place don’t necessarily know what’s going on in the other.

“That’s the collective umbrella of the Chamber, having all these entities working together, getting the information out. We might not always agree, but at least we’re working together to solve problems,” Thorsen said.

Wahluke School District Superintendent Andy Harlow is one of the volunteers working on the Chamber’s revitalization. He said the goal is to coordinate the different efforts and make them more effective.

“I think it’s just connecting the dots right now. We’re pretty fractured with Desert Aire, with Mattawa, decisions that happen in Desert Aire, decisions that happen in Mattawa, decisions that happen at the county level. So how can this group try to connect some of those dots?” Harlow said.

Thorsen said she’s also hoping the Chamber can work to promote south Grant County by talking with business owners, potential new business owners or government officials.

The volunteers want to make the Chamber’s efforts relevant to business owners, and are seeking involvement from business owners to make that possible.

Carolyn Holmes also has volunteered to help reenergize the Chamber. Holmes owned a small business, and in her experience she said she had enough to do to keep her business going.

“You’re focused on staying alive - just staying alive,” Holmes said. “So now you just want me to drop everything and come to your meetings and fix the world within (the) 99349 (zip code)? They can’t do it.”

Thorsen said she hopes business owners will think about what would help them, and focus on a slightly different question than what the Chamber has for them.

“What do you need it to have for you, is the question you ask. What are you looking for?” Thorsen said. “We don’t even know what our businesses need.”

Holmes said any contribution from business owners and employees will be valuable, even if it’s just one project.

“What’s that little tiny piece that your skill set could help us with?” Holmes said.

Thorsen said she wants to concentrate on connecting different groups and organizations, rather than sponsoring events. Mattawa city officials may know of options that would help the school district, she said, and vice versa, but each group may not know the other has that information. The same thing is true for businesses, Holmes said - local businesses may be able to provide services and supplies to each other, and may not even know it.

“This is an exciting time for Mattawa,” Harlow said. “Mattawa is growing, our area is growing, and it has been growing. Things are growing, whether people want to have this or not. We just want to help where we can, and connect those dots.

“Change is inevitable, growth is optional,” he said.

Holmes said she wants the Chamber to be a factor in making growth easier to handle.

The Chamber can work to facilitate efforts by other groups, and connect them, whether that’s city officials, Port of Mattawa officials, local medical offices, WSD officials, business owners and Mattawa-area residents, Holmes said.

“How can we help all those groups accomplish what they’re trying to get accomplished?” she said.

“What is it we want to do? What do we want the Chamber to look like in five, 10 and 20 years from now? For me I want to look back and say, ‘Look what we helped do.’ We didn’t do this single-handedly,” Holmes said.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.