Published November 2002

Grand opening a tribute
to chamber’s efforts

When more than 150 people gathered to celebrate the opening of the new offices of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce last month, it was a joyful, emotional tribute to much more than simply a roof, walls, furniture and new brochure racks.

The event was a tribute to the optimism, perseverance and vision of President and CEO Caldie Rogers, who arrived at the chamber nearly a decade ago at a time when she wasn’t sure if she would be its last top executive or not.

Plagued by financial scandal, a shrinking membership, deeply in debt and having only a cramped railroad caboose for an office, the Marysville Chamber of Commerce needed someone with Rogers’ indomitable spirit to turn things around.

Rogers — who credits former colleagues at the Everett chamber like Larry Hanson, Pat McClain and Reid Shockey among the mentors who taught her how to set goals and succeed — needed the Marysville chamber, too. A single mother raising her young son, Nathan, she saw the opportunity as a “do or die” situation for herself as much as for the troubled chamber.

October’s event was a tribute to the Marysville chamber’s past and present directors, too, men and women inspired by Rogers’ vision of what the chamber could become and energized by her workaholic dedication to achieving both the chamber’s goals and her own.

The event was a tribute to the Tulalip Tribes’ leadership — people like Cal Taylor, Stan Jones Sr. and Herman Williams — who accepted, cautiously at first, Rogers’ overtures to partner for the forming of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce. And it was the foresight, creativity and trust of both sides — two communities divided by the I-5 freeway and decades of cultural differences — that allowed friendships to form, membership to grow and challenges to be met.

For the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Reta Lewis, vice president and counselor to the chamber’s president, Thomas Donohue, the event was a tribute to what chambers of commerce can accomplish for their members and communities, particularly when they reach out to minorities and women business owners.

Lewis was here to see firsthand the chamber that she plans to use as a national role model for its successful alliance between the Marysville business community and the Tulalip Tribes’ entrepreneurs who are building a multimillion-dollar regional business park and entertainment venue at Quil Ceda Village.

Since the Marysville chamber was the first among the nation’s 3,000 state and local chambers of commerce to reach out to a Native American community so extensively and successfully, Lewis sees it as a fitting segment of the U.S. Chamber’s newly launched “Access America” program that encourages chambers to help minority and women-owned enterprises achieve their entrepreneurial goals.

The event was also a tribute to the volunteers who have eagerly and enthusiastically staffed the new chamber offices, proud of their community’s new facility, eager to promote its regional tourism information center and enthused about its new programs and services, such as the Entrepreneurial Development Center for new businesses.

And the event was a tribute to Marysville’s downtown merchants, who recently joined the chamber to work together for the promotion of the entire community, and a tribute to Mayor Dave Weiser, City Council members and city staff, who are working closely with the expanded chamber membership for the combined good of the community.

It’s also a tribute to the cities and towns of north Snohomish County, that they have responded to the Marysville Tulalip chamber’s efforts to benefit the entire north-county area, not just the people and businesses around Marysville and the Tulalip Reservation.

Three North County Economic Summits over the last five years, co-sponsored by the Marysville Tulalip chamber and the Tulalip Tribes, led to the recent publishing of a north Snohomish County economic study that will provide a growth guide for northend communities.

Much will be written in coming years about the modern new chamber center, its community meeting rooms, its high-tech teleconferencing options and the seminars, receptions, public hearings and work-force training programs that will be held there.

With several million visitors expected annually at Quil Ceda Village when it is fully developed — with a new $72 million casino, two hotels, a water park, an amusement center, 120 more retail stores and perhaps even a four-year university campus — the chamber’s new regional Visitor Information Center will be a boost for local, regional and statewide tourism.

Reflecting on the past decade’s challenges and successes for the chamber, it’s not surprising that the grand-opening event touched hearts, minds and spirits — especially when the Tulalip youths of the Canoe Family performed graceful traditional Native American dances to bless the new chamber offices and tribal elders spoke of the two communities “paddling together in the same canoe” to achieve harmony as well as economic success.

The 300-member Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce is positioned to enhance its already significant role as a powerful economic leader in this very important sector of Snohomish County.

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