Sean C Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council has agreed to continue contracting with the Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce to operate the Visitor Information Center.
Council members voted 6-0 to continue the contract on May 22. Bob Briana, Lisa Gourley, Mayor Greg Mahler, Dave Trask, James Goble and Diane Gerson voted in support. Susan Coleman abstained from the vote because she has been working at the chamber.
Following the financial difficulties last year at the chamber, which resulted in the investigation and arrest, on May 25, of former Executive Director Katrina Crabtree (see page 14), the council requested that the chamber provide a report on Visitor Information Center activity every four months during the year. In exchange, the city provided $5,000 every four months to pay for the Visitor Information Center.
Since contracting last year, the chamber has submitted to the city two reports, one in November and one in February. The third period will not be complete until June.
Among the information in the report from August to February, the Visitor Information Center received 324 walk-in visits. Volunteer staff had call-in requests for information from 435 people and mailed out information to five.
The chamber also reported a reach ranging from 1,500 per week to more than 32,000 hits per month at various points throughout the year through its Facebook page.
During the eight-month period, volunteers – not counting board members – worked 775 hours. From November to February, board members provided more than 298 volunteer hours.
“Even in the chamber’s slow winter months, we continue to serve a number of out-of-area visitors every week,” the report said. “While it is not possible to determine the intent of every visitor who comes in our door, generally, they are looking for hiking trail information, camping facilities, driving directions and information about our community.”
The chamber has extended its library to include more Forest Service maps, local business information, community services contact information and housing information, both rentals and for sale.
The chamber also continues to sponsor the Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce Visitor’s Guide in conjunction with The New Era.
“This is a quality publication that has a distribution of over 4,000 and serves as an important vehicle to promote Sweet Home and our business community,” the report said. “The chamber invests more than $2,500 and many hours in this effort, and the chamber is a primary source of distribution.”
The chamber also has sponsored, assisted and supported numerous events and efforts, including Ambassador visits to new businesses, After-hours events and grand openings, professional business luncheons, holiday events, small business development classes through Linn-Benton Community College, the Hero Banner Project, the Sweet Heart Run and more.
After expressing skepticism last year about whether to fund the Visitor Information Center, Goble said, “I love the direction the chamber’s going.”
He asked Chamber President Bill Matthews how the city’s funds are used, whether the chamber could show how they are allocated in contrast to chamber-specific functions.
“It would be nice to see where the funds are going,” Goble said.
Matthews said it’s difficult to break it down precisely because many costs are shared.
Rent is one rent, Matthews said. Payroll is one payroll.
Some things are clearly Visitor Center, while others are clearly chamber, he said. The expenses are “mashed” together.
It would be possible to instruct the bookkeeper to allocate percentages, Matthews said, noting that the chamber’s budget is in the range of $40,000 to $45,000 per year. “That seems cumbersome and arbitrary.”
The chamber is trying to keep everything transparent, he said. All of its income and spending are categorized, and anyone is welcome to look at it.
“There’s nothing confidential, unlike some other people in our community,” Matthews said.
Gourley said a breakdown on Visitor Information expenses won’t make a difference in her vote, adding she supports it either way because the chamber has to keep the lights on and pay the rent. She didn’t see a need to complicate the chamber’s books.
“That’s our tourist center, and people are going in there,” Gourley said. “It’s part of the cost of keeping the building open.”
Trask said he was concerned about the visual appearance of the chamber last year, and that has improved.
“I think you’ll be seeing some dramatic improvements to the appearance,” Matthews said.