PORT ANGELES — This will be the last year the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce promotes and markets the city under what in 2015 is a $175,000 contract.
The chamber board voted Friday to focus the organization’s efforts on the group’s “core missions,” according to an email Monday from chamber President Jim Moran.
But the chamber does want to continue running the visitor center on Railroad Avenue, which the group recently agreed to operate out of jointly with the Port Angeles Downtown Association.
The chamber operates the visitor center under a separate $78,000 contract.
“Although the chamber still firmly believes in the value of tourism as an industry in our area, running the marketing contract has pulled the chamber away from some of its core missions,” Moran said.
“We hope to continue to assist promoting the area through partnerships with chamber businesses and other groups that are involved with tourism marketing.
“We plan to actively pursue continuing operation of the Visitor Center.”
Moran said Monday in an interview that the board voted 10-0 — with City Council member and board member Dan Gase recusing himself — to not pursue the marketing contract.
The move came about as the result of chamber officials preparing a job description for a replacement for Executive Director Russ Veenema, who is retiring Dec. 31.
Moran said 30 of the chamber’s approximately 400 members responded to a survey asking them to rank the importance of various executive director duties.
“Almost 90 percent of the respondents said we shouldn’t be in the marketing contract business,” he said.
“That gave me a feel for what the members are feeling out there, and the board backed that up by their unanimous vote.
“We feel the chamber really has an obligation more to assist the membership, and we wanted to make sure the new job description for the executive director reflects that.
“The board did want the Visitor Center. That we feel is a chamber function.”
Veenema was hired in the fall of 2000. He earns $89,000 a year.
Moran said the new director probably will earn less and will begin the job in January.
He said the job description also may call for someone who would be “co-director” of both the chamber and the Downtown Association.
City Finance Director Byron Olson said Monday that city staff is preparing a request for proposals for 2016 tourism marketing that will be issued this month or in early July.
Olson said marketing the city’s appeal to visitors and running the Visitor Center usually go hand in hand, although last year, two separate contracts were awarded.
“Being able to operate a good visitor center does not mean you can do quality marketing, and vice versa,” he said.
Mayor Dan Di Guilio saw the chamber board’s action as an opportunity.
“It gives us a chance to bring some fresh ideas in, and hopefully, try different tactics,” Di Guilio said Monday.
“It could be good for us.
“They were doing what we asked them to do. . . . They were trying with the limited resources they had and working with other groups in the area, and that was something we wanted on the council, to see more collaboration among the promoters.”
Chamber leaders were unsuccessful earlier this year in generating enthusiasm among 411 chamber members for a plan to dramatically reorganize the group under a task-force structure.
Only 53 chamber members returned ballots, short by eight votes of the 61 needed to validate the election, although 45 of those who did respond favored the move.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
