Baby steps toward the future
Jalen Skalskiy goes between the legs during the dunk contest at the 2021 Silver Hoops 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament in Kellogg.
Changing with the times isn’t always the top priority in smaller communities like those that dot Interstate 90 through the Silver Valley. While many of these communities have resisted change as much as possible, some have managed to grab ahold of small concepts and implement them slowly.
The Historic Wallace Chamber of Commerce and the Silver Valley Chamber work tirelessly to promote the communities they represent, borrowing heavily from the past while embracing the future as much as they can to best serve the Silver Valley.
The HWCC operates uniquely as both the central hub for businesses in Wallace, while also functioning as a visitor’s center, playing a major role in directing and managing tourism.
“As the name of our chamber implies, honoring our history and historic nature of our community is a guiding principle for our organization,” HWCC President KimBerly Keyton said. “We believe our history is one of the key attractions which brings visitors to Wallace and the Silver Valley. In many ways, staying the course to protect and preserve the traditions of our community is important for our members and community.”
In a town that strives to preserve and promote history, what can a chamber of commerce do to make sure that Wallace doesn’t get left in history?
Keyton and the rest of the HWCC Board have been diligent with their members, finding new ways to make sure that their businesses are marketed properly, and accessible beyond just the traffic that may walk in off the street.
“Seeing the future needs of our members going more and more online, the HWCC transitioned our member operations to a software program that empowers our members and gives them a way to network and access information important to them 24/7,” Keyton said. “The HWCC wanted to offer an online solution to our members that could supplement or act as a website for their small businesses as part of their membership. This innovative solution means for a business they can use their HWCC provided website to create and advertise their own events, event ticketing, job postings, business advertising ways for customers to find them.”
Getting businesses online has become a priority for the HWCC, realizing there is a legitimate barrier between many of the older, longstanding business owners. By taking the reins and helping them along, they are ensuring that none of them are left behind.
“The HWCC saw this as an opportunity for our members to leverage the Chamber’s website to attract more visitors to come see their businesses,” Keyton said. “This innovation increases the searchability for our members to get more people to find them.”
The SVC operates throughout the entirety of Shoshone County, including businesses that double dip with them and the HWCC. They tend to specialize in major events that draw hundreds to thousands from outside of the community.
Wallace annually hosts several festivals, many of them with longstanding history and tradition, but not always a lot of reach beyond the Silver Valley — With the exception of the now-defunct Blues Festival and Depot Day Car Show.
Events like the Jackass Half Marathon, Silver Hoops 3-on-3, and the Music in the Park weekly market have shown real legs in drawing people from neighboring communities, states, and even from other countries.
SVC Membership Coordinator Becca Holehan said the key to keeping their major events successful is consistent and diverse marketing.
“The SVC is a member of North Idaho Tourism Alliance,” Holehan explained. “Part of our membership is putting the Silver Valley Community on the map for tourists, you can find information on the Silver Valley and our events at www.northidahotoursim.com. We also use Facebook, Instagram, and our chamber website to help promote our member businesses and community resources.”
The SVC has pared down its list of events, but putting the same energy into making them as big as possible.
This has allowed them to be flexible with the other community groups who host events throughout the year, instead of trying to dominate the calendar. Once again, using social media to their advantage for promotion by offering sponsoring partnerships with businesses who benefit most from bringing in large amounts of people from the outside.
“When we schedule our events, we try to be consistent every year so that we are not taking away from other local community events,” Holehan said. “Local businesses are tied into every aspect of our events, they have the opportunity to participate, sponsor, and volunteer. We are constantly successfully promoting our events and each year we continue to have better participation and larger turnout which leads us to believe we are doing something right.”
It's not always cutting edge, but in the Silver Valley, it's just right.
Cars (and people) of all ages lined Wallace's streets during Depot Days 2018. The car show is the annual fundraiser for the Northern Pacific Railroad Depot Museum.
