Valley Chamber of Commerce welcomes new leader

The blustery and gray weather was no match for Katherine Morgan’s enthusiasm last week. Morgan is the new president and CEO of the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce and on Oct. 23 the Chamber threw her a welcome reception at CenterPlace in Mirabeau Point Park.

“There couldn’t be a more fitting place to have this reception than the center of this great community,” Morgan told the crowd of about 60 business owners and public officials. Barry Baker, chairman of the chamber’s board, introduced Morgan and thanked her predecessor, Eldonna Shaw, for her 13 years of hard work and dedication.

“It’s been 38 days now and it’s beginning to feel real,” Morgan said.

Morgan returns to the Spokane area from a job with the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, Missouri, and to say she is enthusiastic about her new job is an understatement.

“It feels inspiring. I can’t sleep at night and I come into work all the time,” she said.

The chamber also introduced a new logo at the reception as well as a new branding campaign and an initiative that will focus on five big ideas for the future.

“The big ideas will be coming forth in the next couple of months,” said Morgan, “and they will be known as the big five for Spokane Valley.”

Morgan grew up in Spokane and attended Gonzaga University. She worked for the Home Builders Association here before taking the job in Kansas City. There, she said she enjoyed pulling 80-hour work weeks until she woke up one day and realized she missed Spokane.

One of Morgan’s top priorities is to establish new and measurable goals for the 530-member chamber. She said she’s visited with many member organizations and supporters asking them what they’d do in her shoes.

“We can’t be everything to everybody,” Morgan said, “but we are going to do things well.”