September
2019
Business Connection
Volume 11, Issue 9
Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce
Kelso Longview 2019 Visitor Guide & Chamber Directory
Explore
300+ acres parks and
open space
Indulge
Amazing wines and craft
Enjoy
One of America’s prettiest
Chamber CEO’s Message
beer
towns
www.kelsolongviewcha
mber.org
By Bill Marcum
Summer Drives Visitors to Kelso Longview to Get Away Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce Team Bill Marcum, CEO Amy Hallock Project Manager Pam Fierst Office Manager Joelle Wilson Social Media Services
Kelso Longview Business Connection is published monthly by the Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce 105 N. Minor Road • Kelso, WA 98626 • 360-423-8400 kelsolongviewchamber.org To advertise, call Bill Marcum, 360-423-8400 or email bmarcum@ kelsolongviewchamber.org Ad Deadline: 20th of each month
A
s the summer draws to a close I thought I would share with you some interesting facts about the Kelso Visitor Center, which is manned by the Chamber staff seven days a week. Our numbers show 77 percent of all visits to the Visitors Center happen between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. We have seen a 13 percent increase in visitors this past summer. The trend from 2016 continues through 2019 – Monday is our busiest day. That’s right, Monday. Who would have thought that Monday would be the busiest day for visitors to the Visitor Center? During the summer our Monday visitors average about 30, with a high of 41. These numbers are the visitors who physically come into the building. We have another 20-plus each Monday who call us with travel questions. The second busiest day is Friday; and most of the 23 or more who venture through the doors generally do so after 1 p.m. I am also amazed at the number of people who come in looking for a local map because they are interested in moving to this area. The past two weeks several newly hired teachers have come
in looking for apartments, homes and basically anything we can give them to help them become more familiar with our area. During that same time we have had a couple new hires at PeaceHealth come in looking for the same information. All totaled over the past three weeks we have talked to more than a dozen families looking for housing information because they are moving here. Throughout the entire summer that number is close to 100 families. This past week we also talked to several people looking to retire in Washington. From what we gathered they are drawn to Longview’s location near the coast, the mountains, PDX, downtown Portland and Seattle. Last week I spent nearly two hours talking with two retired couples. They came in about 30 minutes apart, both from Ohio, who actually lived about 20 miles from each other. Traveling via motorhome, each couple was using Longview as their base point. One couple was staying about a week at Brookhollow RV Park and the other was staying a couple nights at the Elks RV space. During their stay, both couples had Mount St. Helens on their schedule, the Oregon and Washington coast, the Columbia Gorge/Multnomah Falls, and both were For more Visitors, see page 3