Sean C. Morgan
New Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce office manager Diana Kelly is ready to get out and start meeting people as soon as she can.
Of course, how soon that can happen will depend on the coronavirus situation, but meanwhile Kelly is in place and learning the ropes at the chamber, which also serves as Sweet Home’s visitors center.
She succeeded Mackenzie Thomas, who moved to Texas, on March 23, “the same day that we shut down the entire state of Oregon.”
Kelly, 68, is retired from Umpqua Community College, where she worked for 15 years in the financial aid office and student life and campus engagement before becoming an academic adviser.
“We just moved here from Roseburg,” Kelly said. “We moved here because my daughter and her husband had a baby. Our little grandson is now 8 months old.”
Her daughter and family live in Lebanon. Her son-in-law, John Markert V, is from Sweet Home, and she initially looked in Lebanon for housing, Kelly said.
“I couldn’t find a house in Lebanon, and I did find a house in Sweet Home. I really enjoy being here. I like the town. The people here, I can’t say enough how friendly they are here.”
Sweet Home has made her feel at home, she said.
Kelly said she was born in Texas and moved to Southern California with her family when she was 4 years old. She lived in Northridge during the 1994 earthquake. Her family lost everything in that disaster, and that prompted them to pack up and move to Roseburg about 21 years ago.
She worked at Douglas Hospital. When it closed, she went to work for Umpqua Community College, meanwhile earning her associate’s degree in accounting technology. She then earned a bachelor of science degree at Eastern Oregon University in business administration, organization management and leadership.
“Retirement wasn’t as fun as I thought it was going to be,” Kelly said, and she decided to apply for the position with the chamber. “I enjoy people. I enjoy working with the community.”
At Umpqua Community College, she helped open the Veterans’ Center, she said. “I was privileged to be the chair for the local veterans network, a group of local businesses (run by veterans).”
She participated in the local Veterans Day parade committee.
“I was pretty ingrained in things like that in Roseburg,” Kelly said, and rather than pursuing a job at Linn-Benton Community College, “I wanted to do something more local.”
Kelly said she jumped into things quickly when she arrived in Sweet Home in October. She ended up judging the Christmas parade after Cassie Richey, owner of Sweet Things Boutique, recruited her. Kelly made gnomes for Christmas and wine cork screws for Richey’s store. She is currently working on hand-tied scarves. Richey ended up asking her to judge the parade.
At the chamber, it’s currently a one-woman operation, but the chamber has a lot of volunteers who help keep things operating, she said.
“Sweet Home is really good with that.”
At this point, “we’re trying to stay in touch with our businesses,” Kelly said, and coming up, she’s preparing for the monthly After Hours program by Zoom, a video conferencing computer application.
The chamber also is trying to help businesses through the red tape involved in the federal small business loans available to help them through business closures and the business slump related to orders for residents to stay home to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
President George Medellin is working hard on the loans, she said. He and city Community and Economic Development Director Blair Larsen made a how-to video available on the chamber’s Facebook page.
Kelly said she is looking forward to the end of social distancing. When she is able to get out, “people will know who I am. I will be out visiting and making connections.”
Social media are “kind of cold,” she said. “I want the community to know that we’re here. I want to be a real part of this community. We want to be a leader. We want to help the businesses in any way we can.”
She thinks Sweet Home has a lot going for it.
“This community is really kind of one of the stepping stones, right at the mouth of recreation,” Kelly said. Sweet Home leads to fishing, hiking, boating and even skiing.
It’s a place where the Jamboree is just one part of the event schedule, she said. It ought to have events all year long.
“I’m very optimistic,” Kelly said. “I just really like all the board members I’ve met so ar. They carry that same optimistic viewpoint I have. Their mindset is to move forward.”
As the chamber’s office manager, she serves as the greeter and official spokeswoman, Kelly said. She also works with the organizations accountant to make sure bills are paid.
“I’m always looking for new members,” she said, and she would encourage business owners to join. “It’s a good place now. It should be a landing spot for businesses, for new and for old. Your chamber is kind of like a hub.”
For more information about the chamber or to get involved, call (541) 367-6186.