PF Chamber expanding

The numbers seem to tell the story.

With almost 500 members, 2,000 summer visitors, 50 calls a day, and more than 500 relocation packets mailed out per year, the Post Falls Chamber has simply outgrown its current facility according to Chamber President/CEO Pam Houser.

With a new 6,000-square-foot, two-story building, and a location finalized, the chamber is building for the future.

“We will offer leased space to other businesses or nonprofits to grow their business in an incubator environment on the top floor,” Houser said.

The current chamber building was completely financed and remodeled by a dedicated group of volunteers in the 1980s. The chamber owns the building but not the land.

“The computer and phone technology is limited, and every time we have a large meeting we have to rent space wherever we can find it,” Houser said.

Randy Oaks, chair of the chamber building committee, past chamber president, and longtime community volunteer, says the city has given approval on the final design. The architect is ML Architect and the builder is Mountain Lakes Construction

“The official building campaign kickoff will be Saturday at the Play in Paradise chamber annual auction at the Greyhound Park,” Oaks said.

The city of Post Falls offered the chamber a lease on the new Post Falls city campus according to Houser.

“They felt, as we do, that the chamber and the city can work on celebrative economic development issues better when we are located in close proximity.”

An area the chamber wants to concentrate on growing is the visitor center.

“With the new building we can grow this part of the chamber to a new level,” she said. “We would like to double the amount of visitors we serve and we think in this new facility, we can do that.”

With easy access on and off the interstate, high visibility and traffic, the new location will be a real plus according to Houser.

Occupying the southeast corner of the new Post Falls city campus at Spokane and Fourth Streets, the building will complete a block that has recently been renovated and includes the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center.

Oaks says that $500,000 is needed for the building; $300,000 to start and move ahead on the project. The balance will be financed by Panhandle Area Council and Community First Bank.

“Some pledges have already been made to the building fund,” Oaks said.

Ron Nilson, President/CEO of Ground Force Manufacturing, is the capital campaign chair. He says that Post Falls is a growing community that is attracting people, manufacturing companies, and businesses from all over the U.S.

“Since the chamber is usually the first point of contact in a community, the chamber building needs to reflect the qualities of the area.”

Nilson feels strongly that “the community shares the vision and has the passion to make the project a reality, even in these tough economic times.”

Called “Idaho’s River City,” the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1964 with a handful of business owners who realized a need for combined business promotion, and who wanted to work toward developing and maintaining a thriving business climate.

Over the years, Post Falls has struggled with the location of city center. With the construction of the new Post Falls city campus and new chamber building on that campus, it seems the heart of the city now has a home.

“If there are two people who can make the new chamber building a reality, it is Ron Nilson and Randy Oaks,” said Houser. “They are dedicated chamber members who are tremendously respected.”