Community members familiar with the West Plains Chamber of Commerce will have no problem recognizing the organization’s newest executive director, Deanna Williams. Williams, who has been with the Chamber since 2017, was most recently the organization’s Director of Operations.
Chamber board of directors chairwoman Kendra Wiiest said it was immediately obvious that Williams was the best candidate of the dozen who applied. “She just really was the standout,” Wiiest said. “She’s very organized and she knows the past, present and future of the Chamber. She has the values that we were looking for. We decided on it as a group and she was the one.”
As part of the process of looking for a new director after the previous director, Mark Losh, left in December, Williams and Wiiest sat down and wrote a strategic plan mapping out the Chamber’s future. The two also wrote the job description for the new executive director, partly because Williams was always the one focusing on the details.
“She’s really the implementer,” Wiiest said. “She’s the one who does all the behind the scenes work.”
The Chamber covers the communities of Cheney, Airway Heights and Medical Lake as well as the rural area stretching to the Lincoln County line. “We’re unique because we’ve dedicated ourselves to making sure we can connect the smaller communities,” Wiiest said. “We’re really excited to have her so eager to make the commitment to growing the Chamber.”
Williams first got involved with the Chamber through her aunt, Christine Day, who owns Northwest Heating and Cooling. Day was on the chamber board and at the time the chamber had no employees and was supported by volunteers. Day asked Williams to do the Chamber’s newsletter and a few other small tasks part-time, but the work soon became full-time.
“Every couple of weeks they added something new to my plate,” she said. “They kind of tricked me into it.”
Williams said she will be examining how to make sure members get the most out of their membership, since large and small companies have different needs. The Chamber will be looking at offering different kinds of memberships with that in mind. “We really need to focus on what kind of value we can bring to our members,” she said.
The Chamber has only two employees, Williams and a community engagement director that will be hired soon. They rely heavily on a group of core volunteers called the West Plains Connectors. They regularly touch base with members to see how business is going and if there’s anything they need, Williams said. The current volunteer ambassadors are Wiiest, owner of Profectus Business Consulting; Tonya Murray, branch manager of the Global Credit Union on Fairchild Air Force Base; Pasha Pechenov, Regional Vice President of Primerica; and Blake James, business development specialist at Colonial Life.
“They are awesome,” Williams said. “You see them at every single event.”
Though small, the West Plains Chamber has deep roots in the community. It was founded as the Cheney Chamber of Commerce in 1942. Williams said she’s not certain when the name of the organization changed and it expanded its reach.
Members receive discounted admission to events as well as access to free networking events. Member businesses are also the only ones allowed to advertise in the Chamber newsletter. But the biggest membership perk is online visibility. “We have an opportunity for them to create a business page, almost like a web page, on our website,” she said. “People really love that.”
The webpage, located at www.westplainschamber.org, lists upcoming events as well. And since the Chamber encompasses a large rural area, there are also links to local farmers for those interested in buying their food locally.
As part of her new role, Williams said she will be exploring how to get members more involved in the Chamber and with each other. That could include reviving the committees that the Chamber used to have to brainstorm ideas on various topics, such as economic development. She also hopes to expand the West Plains Connectors and create a program that helps match corporate volunteers with local non-profit organizations in need of helping hands.
Williams said her transition into the executive director role has been seamless. “It’s been about the same as it’s been since Mark left,” she said. “I was already doing a lot of the decision making.”
She’s also grateful for the positive feedback she’s been getting from members since her promotion was announced. “It’s been really awesome, seeing the support from members,” she said.
Q. You have a family history of being involved in the West Plains Chamber, what made you want to get involved with the chamber?
A. Yes! My aunt, Christine Day, owner of NW Heating and Cooling, served on the board at the West Plains Chamber for several years. In 2017, she approached me about doing some work with the chamber. I started out doing a little bit of contracted work and after getting to know the community and the board I was more than excited to accept a full-time position with WPC.
Q. You talked about the chambers roots in the community, how long have you and your family been apart of the west plains?
A. I don’t remember exactly when my aunt moved to Medical Lake, but I remember going to her house when we were kids. In 2016, I moved out here from Coeur d’Alene and the following year I started getting to know the community through the chamber.
Q. What have you enjoyed the most about your involvement in the West Plains Chamber?
A. When I look back on the past seven years, it’s really the values of the people here that I love the most and have been the most impactful. One of my greatest, personal values is gumption and it’s something the people here in the West Plains have. It takes courage to make room for growth in a place you call home, and it takes courage to preserve the things that make your community unique. It also takes a lot of dedication and hard work. None of these things are in short supply in our community.
Q. While you have already been apart of the chamber team, is there any new ideas you are looking forward to implementing now that you are the Director?
A. Two things come to mind:
1. I plan to reevaluate the benefits that come with being a member of the chamber. Our area and economy have changed, and it only makes sense that we pay attention to our members and what their businesses need and put together options that allow them to optimize their membership.
2. We are going to work on creating more ways for members and the community to get involved. While some of this is done through committee meetings, I want to focus on change through course of action and limit the time spent solely on discussion.
Q. In addition to being involved with the West Plains Chamber, I hear you are also a business owner and flower farmer?
A. That’s correct! I own and operate a small flower farm and am heading in to my third growing season. While I still consider myself very new to it, the lessons it has taught me are invaluable. It has brought me understanding for some of the struggles that many business owners endure and, in a way, has taken away a lot of my optimism – but replaced it with hope. There are many harsh realities a person has to face when owning a business and I want to be able to use any experience I can garner and use it to help our local businesses.
Q. The West Plains community is growing fairly rapidly, what do you see for the future, any challenges ahead?
A. There are always going to be challenges when it comes to change and growth. When I think about the future of the West Plains and the inevitable development it will continue to support, I believe it’s important that our community thinks about the future of our area and the vision they have for it so that we aren’t faced with the challenges of our community changing in an unfavorable or detrimental way. Our community members are urged to pay attention to planning meetings with each of the cities and to not be shy about voicing your thoughts or opinions.
Q. With multiple different cities, how do you help connect with the different communities within the West Plains?
A. I remember several years ago the chamber was really working to pull our cities together and be the West Plains Community. But over time and in shifting our focus to initiatives under Mark Losh’s leadership we found that our cities have different needs and qualities. By supporting them individually and helping to tell their stories within our region it helped pull our communities together. That’s where we are really lucky with the people we have here: we have multiple communities that work with and support each other.
Q. You highlighted not only the importance of volunteers to the chamber but also wanting to match businesses volunteers with local non-profits. What is your favorite event or group to volunteer with?
A. A couple of my favorite groups I’ve been able to help with are the Spokane Alliance for Fentanyl Education (S.A.F.E.) and their fall festival over the past few years and being involved with the Jensen Memorial Youth Ranch. We have so many incredible nonprofits in our area that are doing wonderful work and one of our goals at the chamber is to help them keep strong connections with the community and help them find groups of volunteers to help them with their missions.
Q. How can the community help support you and the West Plains Chamber?
A. Shop local. Eat local. Do business local. Attend local events. Buy your food from a local farmer or rancher. If you’re looking for a business or service, check our member directory – maybe there’s somebody right down the road from you that you don’t know about yet. Or if you’re on google looking for someone, look at the map and see who’s close to you. The best way you can support our chamber is by supporting our members and businesses.
