Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Waller resigns in chamber restructuring

Marketing and events organization downsizes


By TREVON MILLIARD
Express Staff Writer

Carol Waller

Carol Waller resigned Tuesday from her 13-year role as executive director of the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau. According to a bureau news release, the move was in conjunction with the organization's downsizing and narrowed focus to coordinate with the newly formed Sun Valley Resort Area Marketing group.

The bureau will limit its services to event planning, business services for its 450 members and the visitor center in Ketchum. The marketing board will take over all external marketing for the resort area.

"A new course is being laid to market the area," Waller stated, "and with change come new opportunities for the community and for me personally. I am proud of our many accomplishments and thank the staff, the board and countless volunteers who have made our organization highly regarded throughout Idaho and across the country."

Bureau board President Rob Santa said in an interview that the executive director position has been eliminated, and Waller's day-to-day duties have been handed to the bureau's staff, currently consisting of four workers.

The news release did not state Waller's plans. Waller could not be reached for comment.

The remolding means the bureau will no longer do any external marketing of the Sun Valley area. But the other details of the transition are still murky, as the volunteer marketing board has yet to hire a full-time chief marketing officer to lead the effort and coordinate with the bureau.

However, Santa said, one thing has improved.

"Things are literally looking more collaborative and constructive," he said.

Up to now, it's been a push and pull between the bureau and board, which was hastily initiated this summer by elected officials in Ketchum and Sun Valley.

The marketing board's creation has foreshadowed much change for the bureau ever since talk of its conception first began in late May. The economic investigative committee that suggested the board's formation also recommended a funneling of Ketchum and Sun Valley city money away from the bureau to the marketing board for a revitalized and expanded marketing effort of the area.

In the meantime, the cities have each pledged $400,000 to the board and none to the bureau for the fiscal year starting Sept. 1, claiming the marketing board could voluntarily share some of the money with the bureau.

The bureau's only assured funding for next year is a $201,000 grant from the Idaho Travel Council awarded Aug. 4 and business memberships, which brought in about $120,000 this year. If that's the only money it receives, the bureau would suffer a 70 percent budget cut over the current fiscal year's $1.1 million, half of which came from the two cities.

But the understanding reached between the bureau and board serves to shrink that uncertainty at least a little.

"We've been working to refresh our priorities with the new marketing group," Santa said, "and Carol has shown exceptional professionalism and leadership in helping chart a new course for the bureau."

As for the bureau's other workers, Santa said it remains to be seen if other cuts would be taken.

"The board certainly recognizes their experience," he said.

Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.