Commercial Club Minds Our Business

The

Waitsburg Commercial Club is a venerable organization that sometimes gets taken for granted and forgotten about. Club President Joy Smith thinks that might be partly because of the name.

Whatever the reason, she and the group aim to change that perception; and Waitsbur­gites should pay attention.

As Dena Wood reports on our front page this week, the club is working with a group called 501 Commons to create a one-year strategic plan for Waitsburg's downtown. A committee made up of Smith, Robbie John­son and Leroy Cunningham will work with that group to create the plan, hopefully by June.

The Committee will focus on two main goals. One is shopping locally, which we fully support, of course. We hope the new plan will help educate not only consumers in Waitsburg, but also businesses in Waitsburg. Products local shoppers want, and service that draws them in, will work a lot better than guilt to get local residents to shop here.

And we hope local shoppers will rec­ognize the hard work of Commercial Club members and the dedication of our local businesspeople as they implement their plan, and give them a chance.

The second goal of the committee is to help the community recognize the Commer­cial Club as a true "Chamber of Commerce." It is fitting that the only city in Washington that still operates under its original territorial charter has also kept the original name of its business organization.

But the term "club" is a misnomer. This is a group that includes many hardworking businesspeople. They are focused on improv­ing areas where they have a common interest, including bringing visitors to town, encourag­ing locals to shop here and recognizing the many accomplishments of our local business leaders.

The Commercial Club will hold its annual meeting March 18. There, the group will an­nounce this year's recipient of its Community Service Award. A new slate of officers will also be chosen.

We salute those hardworking members of this, yes, venerable group. You are doing im­portant work that deserves recognition.

We encourage our readers in Waitsburg - business owners or not - to attend the meet­ing and to join the Commercial Club and get involved with its important efforts to improve the business climate in Waitsburg. The group meets for dinner the first and third Tuesday evening of each month at 6:30 p.m. Call Joy Smith at (509) 539-8773 for more informa­tion.