WHITEFISH – If you have a question about this resort town – whether you’re a tourist, a businessperson or a journalist – a good place to start is the chamber of commerce.
Chambers of commerce are expected to fulfill the role of a comprehensive information resource, and Whitefish’s chamber has been a consummate model for years under the guidance of president and chief executive officer Sheila Bowen. Bowen ran the chamber from 2002 through December of 2009.
With Bowen now retired, her replacement, Kevin Gartland, appears fully ready to continue and expand the chamber’s well-established presence in Whitefish.
“We are the information source for Whitefish,” Gartland said. “We’re the one-stop shop.”
Gartland officially started last week as the chamber’s executive director, but his work began long beforehand. In November and December, he attended “60 meetings in 30 days,” covering a broad spectrum of city boards and committees. Bowen was a fixture at every city council meeting, as well as other meetings and events. When issues affected her members, she often stepped up to the podium.
Gartland plans on being a fixture at meetings too. Pointing out that not everybody has the time to attend long city council meetings on Monday night, Gartland said he will be there to make sure the business community’s interests are represented.
But the chamber’s role extends beyond the business community – “it protects businesses and quality of life,” he said. Being politically active is as much a part of a chamber’s job, Gartland feels, as dispensing information.
“You can either take part in it, or have it take you apart,” Gartland said.
Among Gartland’s top priorities right off the bat is resolving issues stemming from the city no longer having a taxi service. Gartland said he is working with the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau and an ad-hoc committee to “see what it takes to get taxis here.” A subsidy system has been discussed.
“It’s a needed amenity,” he said.
Gartland has a professional history in chambers of commerce and journalism. From 1981-1996, he worked at a number of television stations and newspapers across Montana, Wyoming and California. He owned a publishing company as well.
Most recently, Gartland came from the Tampa Bay area in Florida. There he worked for multiple chambers of commerce, including as a governmental affairs officer at the Florida Chamber of Commerce and as interim president of the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce.
While he was at a chamber in upper Tampa Bay, the membership grew from about 200 to more than 800, he said. In Whitefish, the chamber has just over 500 members. And Gartland knows how much a chamber relies on its members. With any of his duties – tourism promotion, event planning or anything else – Gartland will look to his members for guidance.
“The business people know what’s happening on the street,” Gartland said. “If you can harness the collective power of your small businesses, it’s really quite impressive.”
During his journalism days in Montana, Gartland fell in love with the state. He and his wife bought property outside of Drummond and have visited it frequently over the years. When the Whitefish job opened up, he saw an opportunity to return to Montana full time.
“There’s no better place to live in the United States than in the state of Montana,” Gartland said.