Chamber Champion With His Small-Business Expertise, New Valley Chamber Chairman Will Attempt To Broaden Base Of Group

Terry Lynch, the new chairman of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, already knows the biggest challenge he’ll face in the coming year.

“Getting people to participate is a killer problem,” said the 54-year-old Washington state native. “That’ll be my focus because I want to keep the pressure on.”

This year, the chamber voted to change the titles of the two officers who lead the group. Ray Murphy, whose title formerly was executive director, now is president. Lynch, whose term as chairman will last one year, says the change brings the Valley chamber “up to speed” with other business organizations and is something that’s long overdue for the chamber.

During his one-year term, Lynch wants to draw in 175 more members. To accomplish that, he says he’ll target small business owners and women. The chamber currently has 680 members.

“It’s hard for small business owners to get involved,” he said. “If we do participate, we take away the myth that the large corporations run things.”

Lynch said it’s important for more women to join because their voices need to be heard. “

“Men and women think and express themselves differently and we need that on our board,” he said. Of the 22 current board members, four are women.

Ray Murphy, chamber president, said Lynch, as a small business owner, has exactly what it takes to lead the chamber. About 85 percent of the chamber’s members are small business owners.

“He’ll be more in tune to their needs - no doubt about it,” Murphy said.

“It’s real difficult for a small business owner to dedicate the kind of time that’s necessary to lead us. It’s a remarkable thing to do.”

One thing that Lynch seems intent on improving is member participation. He’d like to see more members attending chamber meetings as well as voicing their opinions to the board of directors.

Lynch has owned the Park Lane Motel, Suites and R.V. Park at Sprague and Havana since 1970. He joined the chamber in 1973, but decided to leave a few years later.

“There was this idea in the chamber around that time that the Valley ended at Argonne Road,” said Lynch. “And I was not pleased with that.”

He said he always considered the motel to be in the Valley, but few others did.

“Then I realized that I had to be involved to change things,” he said. “Seems the more you get involved, the more energetic you get and the more change you effect.”

In the 10 years since he’s rejoined the chamber, Lynch has gone from being a member to a vice president of the board of directors. Now, he’s the chairman.

Lynch, a former chairman of Spokane’s Better Business Bureau, says the chamber is something so different and so exciting for him to lead.

“I live, eat and breathe the hotel business,” says Lynch. “But in the chamber, I deal with dentists, lawyers, bakers and candlestick makers. And I don’t know their businesses intimately. So it’s not an easy task to motivate them.

But he says he’s certainly ready to jump into his new job. He said he’ll work to make sure everyone - including the county commissioners - is as informed as possible about what the Growth Management Act means to the Valley. He also says he’d like to see the Valley have its own government because “it’d be easier for us if we did.”

With his direct, no-nonsense leadership style, Lynch will help make the Valley and the chamber the best it can be, Murphy said.

“The Chamber’s got a great future in the Valley,” Lynch says. “I just want it to be greater than it is.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo