EDC surveys occupy Chamber

At the November 8 meeting of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, Margie Hall, Executive Director of the Lincoln County Economic Development Council (EDC) distributed surveys to members and guests. The surveys are one of several information-gathering tools to be used by Eastern Washington University students who will be compiling the data for their senior project. The end result of the information gathering and analysis will be an economic development “vision” for the county.

The survey questions were the same ones that residents were asked to answer at the “listening posts” at the post office and Odessa Foods on October 24. Hall commented that two of the fifteen students participating in the project were actually from Lincoln County, one from Odessa and the other from Creston.

According to Hall, the EDC was appointed by the county to write an economic development plan for the county. Data will be compiled not just for the county as a whole, but will also be tracked by community as well as by smaller groups within the community, such as the Chambers of Commerce. Hall emphasized that such data could be helpful to municipalities when applying for grants.

The students will be presenting their findings, and their vision for economic development for the county, at the regular Lincoln County Commissioners meeting on December 5. The students have been scheduled for 11 a.m.

The same surveys were distributed at last Friday’s meeting of Lincoln County Chambers of Commerce, and generated “lots of lively discussion” according to Odessa Chamber President Marlon Schafer.

Both Hall and Schafer commented favorably on the Odessa Chamber, with Hall observing that the Odessa group has a wide range of age groups represented, while some other communities’ Chambers are made up of mostly retirement-aged people. She added that Deutschesfest is the only event she is aware of that has participation from an array of community groups. Schafer went on to add that several of the county chambers of commerce seem to revolve around the special interests of the leadership, and that Odessa’s has managed to avoid that so far.

Hall reported that the county-wide group has agreed to meet quarterly for at least one year, and will begin by focusing on the possibility of pooling resources for advertising the area and its events. She also said that several of the individual groups expressed frustration at their inability to attract new volunteers to their ranks.

Commercial kitchen update

Schafer said that he was looking into the possibility of taking advantage of current low-interest loans for the commercial kitchen installation at the community center. The option of using a loan could open “perfect kitchen” doors and allow the group to spread the cost out over a number of years, rather than limiting the project or depleting reserves.

Fest Poker Run

LoriLynn White, proprietor of My Sisters’ Closet who has agreed to organize the 2012 Deutsches Fest poker run, will bring a proposal to the next meeting, which will be held at noon, November 22, at Any Occasion Banquet Hall.