Dave Montoure, who owns the West 5 restaurant in the Junction, is the new President of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the West Seattle Herald asked him to take a look at the year ahead, and to share his thoughts on the role of the Chamber regarding business in West Seattle.

He began by stating his primary goal for this year. "I want to strengthen the business climate and environment in West Seattle. " To accomplish that he wants to "bring more money into the Chamber of Commerce." While he has some thoughts in mind about this he said he's open to suggestions from the public as to how they might do that. Contact the Chamber at info@wschamber.com.

The Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization, supported on a sliding scale of dues starting at $260 for the year. Higher levels of membership enable the Chamber to conduct its work as a business promotion organization but also as the representative for local business to government, a role that often goes unrecognized. The number one thing the Chamber does as he sees it is the promotion of "our relationship with the folks at City Hall and at the County level. They know that the West Seattle Chamber is very well connected in this community. That we have strong leadership and any time there are issues coming down the pike from a political or governmental perspective the Chamber is very good at representing the interests of the businesses here."

This past year the Chamber changed the way memberships are structured so dues are more easily paid, and the process is more streamlined. "We're trying to have businesses write just one check," instead of paying for sponsorships or other aspects at various times. "It's a little easier on the wallet for the businesses and I think it's also helpful in making commitments. We've made sponsorships part of membership dues."

"We're looking at the peninsula as a whole, so as the leader of this organization I think it's good for us to meet with all the other neighborhood associations such as the DNDA and we're doing some work with them this coming year. We're trying to develop these strategic partnerships with the Junction Merchants, the Alki groups, groups activating in the Triangle and the Luna Park areas."

Montoure talked about communication being key in promoting better relationships. They would like to do more outreach to other groups with a similar role in Ballard, Fremont, White Center, Burien and elsewhere to exchange good ideas and gain access to resources that have helped them.

The Chamber has been sponsoring two events the last few years, the Gathering of Neighbors and the Business Expo that this year will be merged.

"Another goal for the Chamber has to do with resource planning and capacity building. We've got a very small budget, we've got a very high performing CEO (Patti Mullen) and we've been able to afford a little bit of part time staff so the goal there is to raise the level of resources available to the Chamber. I'm also good at organizational structure, that's my background so I will tinker with the organization so that it runs more efficiently."

An example of a successful program the Chamber runs now is "Lunch with LEO" a monthly event that brings in a 'Local Elected Official' to not only share perspectives and foster communication but to strengthen ties between business and government. These events are meant to be small, held at the Chamber office so the setting means real conversations can take place.

Montoure is looking forward to his new role and said, "It helps me by knowing I can give back to the community. That's really what I do. I like to be active in this community, i've spent years volunteering my time here (…) This is my neighborhood. I started delivering your paper when I was 14 years old which was my first job in this community. This is where I decided to open my business."

Montoure went to college in Spokane, then worked overseas for a few years, moved to California "working in a corporate environment", and "when I left the corporate world I decided I wanted to come here and work in my community."

He noted that there is some confusion about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which in recent years has taken certain political positions and he wanted to emphasize that the West Seattle Chamber is not directly affiliated. "We're a local Chamber and we're here to promote the community and business here."

Montoure acknowledged that the growth of the number of restaurants in West Seattle has been dramatic but added that, "The services in this community may not be as visible but this is a very strong neighborhood in terms of the services that are available. The health and wellness community for example, obviously we don't have a hospital or emergency care here. That's something that if the Chamber can get into that conversation we'd like to do." If a developer came along that was interested in the Whole Foods location for a health care facility, "that would be wonderful for West Seattle. (…) and of course we'd like to see a stronger retail component here in the Junction. There are some strategies we can use to attract quality retail businesses to West Seattle."

Developing a signature West Seattle event is high on Montoure's agenda for 2011 but "we're still sort of strategizing to figure out what that kind of event would look like."