News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce has to wear a lot of hats in a small community, and it has redefined its mission to reflect that fact.
Last week the Chamber issued a new mission statement: "The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce enhances the economic vitality of the Sisters Country through business advocacy, visitor relations and tourism development and community support."
According to Executive Director Erin Borla, the change in mission statement really reflects the existing direction of the chamber, not a sea change.
"In essence, nothing has changed within the Chamber," she explained. "However, there is not a clear understanding of what the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce does."
The new mission statement is designed to provide some clarity.
"It gives the community a full understanding of what the Chamber is," Borla said.
The Chamber is seeking to match words with action. Borla noted that marketing efforts are being stepped up. She will attend the Sunset Magazine Celebration in Menlo Park, California, in June, pitching Sisters to an ideal demographic.
"That's something we need to go to," Borla said. "That's our market."
She will also attend the Governor's Conference on Tourism in April and a full-day workshop on arts-based economies with the Oregon Arts Commission in May.
The trips are funded in part through "scholarships," and in part through sponsorships by individual local businesses. Borla is paying travel expenses out-of-pocket, with the hope of being reimbursed if Chamber events bring in sufficient revenue this summer.
The idea is "to get Sisters out there," Borla said. The Chamber is working with a group of lodging properties in Sisters toward cooperative marketing in Oregon, Washington and Northern California, though she acknowledges that "the cooperative piece is still in the fledgling stages."
The Chamber is also stepping up business advocacy, helping to start the Sisters Business Attraction and Retention Team (SBART) and enhancing its relationship with EDCO (Economic Development for Central Oregon).
Borla made a presentation before the Sisters City Council on March 26, asking that the council continue to offer room tax revenues to the Chamber to fund tourism marketing. Last year, the Chamber's room tax revenues were $92,083.77. This year, the Chamber budgeted for $83,000, though Borla acknowledges that the figure is unrealistically high, since receipts for the first quarter are down 30 percent.
Sisters businessman Todd Dow had earlier requested that the city withhold room tax contributions from the Chamber until the Chamber showed that the funds were being used effectively for the intended purpose.
He has moderated his position.
"There's been a lot of change between when Cherie (Ferguson)... resigned and when Erin came on board," Dow said.
Dow said he has reviewed the Chamber's new marketing plan and he is much more satisfied.
"Although it's not a perfect plan, it's vastly improved over anything that was ever done before - including when I was on the board," he said.
Dow's renewed confidence seems to reflect a general sense that the Chamber is headed in the right direction.
The organization has 31 new members in the first quarter of 2009.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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