Chamber votes to raise rates due to inflation

At the May Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce board meeting, CEO Meri Ann Dorman said regarding their board elections they did not receive any additional ballot applications. Therefore, the four existing candidates will move forward. They are Scott Alwin, Stephanie Mohr, Jana Oliver, and Howie Samelson. At the chamber’s June meeting, the current plus the new board will vote for the executive board officers, which are the president, vice president, secretary, and treasury.

Dorman also reported on the Workforce Bootcamp, which just completed the past six weeks.

Dorman observed the students in the training and their progress and said, “Seeing how these young adults, how we first started and how they interacted with us compared to the end, was amazing. How they blossomed and were able to talk to us without us [prompting]. And they even initiated the conversation. And we even did interviews the last night, and they even got compliments on being able to make eye contact. And that was something that we worked on throughout the whole course. We had about 13 different kids and we had two of them that were here every night. We had two of them that were gone one week, but they called me ahead of time, which I thought, you know, we’re telling them how to be responsible and stuff. And so it was a lot of fun. I have sent an email to the high school principal encouraging her that this needs to be a curriculum and required for every freshman student.”

Chamber president Howie Samelson added, “I saw the results, and the results were pretty terrific.”

In new business, the chamber board discussed their 2023-2024 investment schedule and the idea of raising rates due to inflation measures. The chamber had not raised rates for the previous two years and according to Dorman, in her past 10 years with the chamber, they raised rates only three times. Dorman researched and found that inflation rates increase by about 4.98%. After further discussion, the board voted and passed the motion to raise the chamber rates, as suggested. The chamber also decided to table the 2023-2024 budget discussion.

The chamber’s Business After Hours will be with Central Bank & Trust on May 18 at 5:30 p.m. in the Hot Springs State Park for their Beer and Brats event.

Mike Sinclair, representing the Travel & Tourism Board, was present and commented on the “huge improvement” to the chamber’s website he observed. There was some discussion with Sinclair, the chamber board, and Dorman about their membership surveys and how effective they were in building the website. 

Also present was Bill Malloy, representing the Town of Thermopolis. Malloy discussed the town’s work on fixing potholes and performing crack sealing.

Howie Samelson, representing Main Street Thermopolis, said they will hold their Brewfest on June 3 on Broadway Street between 4th & 5th Streets.

During the director’s report, Dorman said she attended the Wyoming State Chamber of Commerce Spring Conference on April 24-26 in Saratoga. Dorman said that she and other participants shared valuable information with each other. Dorman also said that the chamber has three grants currently open, and the writing is in progress. 

The next Chamber meeting will be on June 8 at 6 p.m. at Big Horn Federal.