Tipping Point

"The future of the Chamber is at a tipping point," Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce President Laurie Welty told the BVD last week.

During the chamber's Aug. 11 board meeting, Welty announced that, unless something changes, the LVCC will be without a board of directors early next year.

"By February of 2023 when we vote the board members in, there will be no active members on the chamber (board). The chamber can't function without a minimum of three. The bylaws say we can have up to seven members. We've essentially been operating with only three board members for most of 2022." Welty told the BVD.

For the past year, the Chamber of Commerce has been dealing with an exodus of board members, a lack of volunteers from within the membership, declining membership, and fundraising setbacks.

Currently the Chamber board is down to Welty, Victor Johnson, and secretary/treasurer Jeff Hollingworth.

Hollingworth, who has served as the LVCC secretary since last year and took on treasurer duties more recently, will be stepping down in the next couple weeks. He's moving to be closer to his kids and first grandchild. Erin Dey, who had served as LVCC treasurer from 2013 through 2020, offered to take care of the books through the end of the year but doesn't plan to return to the board.

Johnson will also leave when his term ends at the beginning of next year, in part to focus on his duties with the Ponderosa Snow Warriors and as president of the Upper Blackfoot Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Association.

Likewise, Welty, who has been LVCC president since February of 2021, intends to step down from the board when her current term expires in February.

The LVCC began losing directors last fall when Kate Radford stepped down to return to Boise for a new Job.

"When Kate left, she was the vice president at the time... we identified the (open position) in meetings, it went out in meeting minutes. But we had not a single individual step forward to take her seat," Welty told the BVD. since then, they've lost other board members through attrition, culminating in June when Shelby Brookie vacated her seat after moving out of town.

"We need commitments for new board members and officers by December from within our business community," Welty told the BVD

"If we're at a point where we don't have chamber members who are willing to serve on the board, we may have to freeze the chamber. We will have to take a look at what the next step will be," she said at the meeting.

"If the chamber is at risk of just having nobody on the board, then everything that constitutes the chamber as a legal entity, is that suspendable? Or does it have to be re-instated?" Johnson asked during the meeting.

The answer remains to be seen. Welty said there is no dissolution clause in the Chamber bylaws, so it's unclear what the LVCC's future would be without a board of directors.

If members do step up to fill the director and officer positions and to keep the Chamber functioning, it still faces the challenges of fundraising, growing the membership and increasing volunteerism.

Since 2020, the LVCC has faced a fundraising problem. The COVID pandemic led to the cancellation of the Lincoln Community Benefit in both 2020 and 2021. The benefit served as the Chambers primary fundraiser, raising money for the fireworks, the parade, operating costs, the website and support for various community organizations and events. This year, with only three remaining board members and apprehensions about finding enough volunteers, the LVCC agreed to hand off the 2022 Community Benefit to a partnership between the Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society and the Ponderosa Snow Warriors.

Without the benefit, the LVCC will be challenged to cover basic expenses.

Welty explained to the BVD that the Chamber's fixed annual overhead costs include $1800 per year for event and director's insurance; $720 a year for the storage unit fixed to store the fireworks tubes, event signage and other chamber supplies; $500 for the chambers telephone; and $168 for the chamber website. They also budget $400 for tax preparation by an accountant.

Welty said in a good year, membership dues alone barely cover those basic costs. This wasn't a good year.

She said people do need to understand they're grateful for the membership, but dues alone don't meet the financial and volunteer needs to keep the LVCC running.

"We had 10 fewer members in 2022 pay their dues, and our fireworks went up 15 percent," Welty noted at the Aug. 11 meeting.

That calls into question the future of Lincoln's Independence Day weekend events.

Welty explained that the fireworks show the Chamber puts on are an $11,000 package, but cost the Chamber $8600, if they order far enough in advance. This year they came close to covering that cost, but still came up a short.

"We got $4120 through the sponsorship drive. Another $1685 came from the donation jars (and) $1000 from the 'fill the boot' during the parade," she said.

They also received a separate $250 donation and netted $355 from the fireworks raffle.

In the end LVCC came up just $650 shy of paying for this year's fireworks show. Welty is incredibly grateful to those who did sponsor fireworks or put money into the donation jars this year. She also wanted to thank the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Thrift Store, which won the fireworks raffle after buying $500 worth of the raffle tickets. They donated the fireworks back to the chamber for next year's raffle. "They really lived up to their name because they helped the community that way," she said.

Next year is likely to be more of a challenge, assuming the Chamber is still operational. By then it will have been without its major fundraiser for three years.

"The options are always to determine how to spend within your means. That means a lot of things like the fireworks probably gets reduced. We have to pay for them through sponsorships, donations, etc., and not continue to go into the red to put the show on," Welty said. "And you can't operate, period, without a board. That's the main thrust right now, to ensure the chamber stays viable."

"Lincoln relies on volunteerism in general, and the chamber operations are no exception," Welty said. The LVCC director and officer positions are entirely voluntary.

The challenges facing the Chamber of Commerce speak to a larger problem within the community. During the LVCC meeting Dey pointed out that the lack of volunteers and declining membership isn't specific to the Chamber and said several organizations are facing the same issues.

Hollingworth agreed, saying that without volunteer members in the various organizations, in a sense that could lead to the gradual implosion of the community.