Belinda Larsen on the job at Chamber

DAYTON–New Chamber of Commerce manager Belinda Larsen fielded phone calls and drop-in visitors Monday without missing a beat this week as the community gears up for Dayton Days and the Chamber's significant part in the Memorial Day weekend event, the Dayton Days Parade.

Some of the requests the former Clarkston resident had to defer while she is learning the ropes and handling the office solo, but her enthusiasm was apparent in all of the exchanges.

Larsen started as manager of the Chamber on May 17 and has made the move to Dayton from Clarkston, where she formerly was economic development assistant at the Port of Clarkston and on the Clarkston City Council.

An Open House is slated for 1-3 p.m., Wednesday, June 2 at the Chamber's new offices at 202 E. Main, formerly Alder Dental. Everyone is invited to drop in during that time, see the new Chamber digs and meet Larsen. Light refreshments will be available.

"I've visited Dayton a few times," Larsen said, "have driven through and stopped a few times.

"I'm a small-town girl and Dayton, for some reason, people I've talked to all say it's a neat town and a fun town. There's always some event going on...there's museums, hiking and biking on trails...I thought, 'if the opportunity presents itself, why not go there?'"

Larsen grew up in Asotin, a graduate of Asotin High School in 1978, and Clarkston has been her home for the past dozen years. After high school, she and her husband traveled due to his employment: Montana, Texas, Wyoming and other states. She later worked for a temp agency in a number of western states, eventually gravitating back to Washington, southeastern Washington in particular.

The past eight years, Larsen has been with the Port of Clarkston, assisting with marketing the Port's variety of properties, ensuring that as one tenant departed there was another to fill the place, and helping manage the maintenance aspect. Her work included ties to South East Washington Economic Development Association (SEWEDA) and Valley Vision, an economic development organization for the Lewis-Clark valley.

She is enthusiastic about the Chamber's programs and events, and likes to think that her deep belief in the value of chambers of commerce showed during the interview process and was a deciding factor. "I've been a chamber of commerce member for years," she said. "I've been an officer, on the board, or a member of the Lewis-Clark Valley Chamber."

Coming to Dayton's Chamber of Commerce was intriguing, she said. "This position spoke to me," Larsen said. "It's not just that it's a Chamber of Commerce, and a Visitor's Center, and the Dayton Downtown Development Task Force. It's all those different cogs and I get to be a part of it. I hope that we can fill the Main Street storefronts that are empty.

"I love small towns because it's a different feel," Larsen said. "But coming here to Dayton, I have met the friendliest, nicest, welcoming people than any other place I've lived. It's been amazing."