Five new directors representing a cross-section of local business will take seats this month on the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau's 24-member board of directors.
The chamber also stated in a Dec. 28 press release that Matt Engel will take over as board president, while John Wells, Pam Colesworthy, John Gaeddert and Karl Bick will retire from their seats on the board. Incoming directors are Rebekah Helzel, Steve Riccabona, Tom Nickel, Deb Fox and Anita Northwood.
The chamber's board is made up entirely of volunteers and is responsible for providing leadership for the 530-member, nonprofit business organization, which strives to promote tourism and economic development.
Helzel is the founder and director of the ARCH Community Housing Trust. She will be a representative for the nonprofit sector. After moving to Ketchum from the San Francisco Bay Area seven years ago, Helzel has volunteered in leadership positions with a number of local organizations, including the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, the Wood River Land Trust and the Wood River Jewish Community.
She founded ARCH in 2004 to help provide workforce housing in the Wood River Valley. Her husband, Larrry Helzel, was elected to the Ketchum City Council in November.
Riccabona and Nickel are representatives of the restaurant and bar sector. Riccabona owns Riccabona's Restaurant and Nickel owns The Sawtooth Club and the Roosevelt Tavern & Grille.
Nickel has sponsored an aid station for the Boulder Mountain Tour Nordic ski race since 1981, hosted a free lunch for the annual "Ketchum Clean Sweep" for seven years and was honored as Wood River Valley Citizen of the Year by the chamber in 2004.
Representing the lodging sector are Fox and Northwood, who manage Resort Quest Sun Valley and High Country Property Rentals, respectively.
Fox moved to Bellevue from Crested Butte four years ago, where she served on the Rural Transportation Authority and was a board member of its chamber of commerce.
Northwood was executive director of the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens from 2002 to 2006, a tenure that culminated with the construction of the Garden of Infinite Compassion and a visit from the Dalai Llama. Prior to that, she served as executive director of the chamber of commerce in Salida, Colo., for seven years and as president of the Salida Housing Development Corp. for three years.
Tom Nickel
Rebekah Helzel
