One day at a time
Christina Petit
Here we are in the first weeks of 2022. At the beginning of the month, many of us took time to reflect on the past year and what we want to accomplish in the coming year. This exercise of reflection and goal setting helps create purposeful progress.
In 2021, I decided that I would find one thing to appreciate every day and I posted it on Instagram. It was a challenge some days to find something to share, but it forced me to pause and reflect daily. I couldn’t believe how much had happened in just one year; so many memories, so many accomplishments, so many lessons. I ran across this quote that summed up my thoughts, “We overestimate how much we can accomplish in a day, and we underestimate how much we can do in a year” — Michael Hyatt. In 2022, I plan to build on this process by adding time to set intentions for the next day. One day at a time, will make the greatest year yet!
Our Chamber team accomplished a lot this past year. We welcomed 54 new members, we added a new community event for Post Falls with the River City Market and Music, we thanked every single person in the education system of Post Falls with the Educator Thank You project, we brought you four inspirational CEO’s to share their personal journeys, we held a well-attended Business Fair, and with the help of our business partners, we gave away more than $17,000 in scholarships to Post Falls High School seniors.
We recognized incredible businesses and citizens at the Annual Recognition event, we ran forums to help educate our voters, we had informative speakers at Coffee Connections and our Connect 4 Lunches and we had a lot of fun with our members at the Golf Tournament, Member Appreciation Party, RCLA Pajama Drive School and Post Fallidays.
Perhaps one of our greatest achievements, we graduated 19 new leaders from the River City Leadership Academy in June and welcomed 18 more in August to begin their journey of discovering the wonderful businesses, nonprofits and leaders that our community has. The intention with this program is that each of the graduates will find a place in the community where they can be impactful. The benefits are ten-fold for the greater good of our region.
In 2022, we will do all of that again, but we hope to give more scholarships, welcome more members and add new programs. We have added in the Lunch and Learns with a focus on business development, and we are working on a couple of special speaker events later this year. We will stay focused on supporting our members in every way we can and we welcome ideas of how we can do more to support you and your business.
Our first event in 2022 was a special one. The Annual Community Recognition Gala was held on Thursday, Jan. 20. We want to give a special thank you to our sponsors: Numerica Credit Union, TDS, Idaho Central Credit Union, Northwest Specialty Hospital, Green Cloud Defense, Kootenai Health, and Eagle Rock RV and Boat Storage for this special evening.
Awards Given:
• Spirit of Post Falls: Newby Ginnings
• Volunteer of the Year: Jim Koester, P1FCU
• Small Business of the Year: Guardian Angel Homes
• Large Business of the Year: Idaho Central Credit Union
• Heritage: Avista Corporation
• Citizen of the Year: Eve Knudtsen
Looking ahead, please join us for Coffee Connections on Jan. 26. I will be the guest speaker at the event and will use this time to get to know members that can attend and how we can better serve them.
Next, we have our first Lunch and Learn on Jan. 31, noon at the Chamber. Lunch is being sponsored by our speaker, Andy Shepard from Grow Ignited. He will teach us “A New Way of Hiring.” Thank you to Orgill for sponsoring this event.
Our first Connect 4 Lunch will be held Tuesday, Feb. 15 at Red Lion Templin’s on the River. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Program runs from noon to 1 p.m. Thank you to Lewis-Clark State College for sponsoring the meeting. We will be hearing from Dena Naccarato on “Public School Funding.”
Cheers to a healthy and prosperous New Year, “Let’s go invent tomorrow” — Steve Jobs.
• • •
Christina Petit is the president/CEO for the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce.
