After reflecting on what the year 2020 was for Alaskans across the Kenai Peninsula, the Executive Director of the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, Shanon Davis provided a quarterly report to the Soldotna City Council, expressing hope for what’s to come.
Davis says how proud she is that the Soldotna Chamber refused to be deterred by the setbacks brought by the pandemic, showcasing the ways the Chamber stepped up to help businesses, non-profits and the region navigate the pandemic, “Certainly our proudest accomplishments for the year centered around the work we did on the two Shop Local campaigns, the first in the summertime, and then as you all know, the second revolved our Christmas Shop Local campaign and we couldn’t be more grateful. It was absolutely the highlight of my chamber career so far to participate in that. So thank you so much.”
The Soldotna Chamber finished 2020 with 473 members, with an 89% retention rate and 59 new members. Amidst the pandemic, the Chamber facilitated 24 community events, six ribbon cuttings and pulled off an online fundraiser that raised $19,000 for their scholarship program. Nearly 9,000 more visitor guides were mailed out than normal because the pandemic affected visitation across the Kenai Peninsula last year.
The Chamber took advantage of its presence on social media, increasing its followers in nearly every one of their pages. Instagram followers increased 16% from 2,239 to 2,590. The Visit Soldotna Facebook Page increased 13,141 to 13,195. The Soldotna Chamber Facebook Page increased 27% from 2,869 to 3,668. The Greater Soldotna Food Group has over 4,000 members currently.
Davis explained how successful the “Holding Our Own” Shop Soldotna program was that began on November 16 and culminated on December 16, “We did distribute $289,000 in vouchers that were paid out to area residents and even some that weren’t residents from our area, but that money went directly into small business pockets. It was phenomenal the feeling around that program. We had 2,893 shoppers. Of those 1,643 submitted their receipts online. Of those 766 had physical addresses outside of Soldotna city limits and 13 were even outside of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Over the course of the program, we had right at 1,200 come into the Soldotna Visitors Center to receive their vouchers and we heard over and over and over again how grateful they were for the program.”
Looking forward, the Soldotna Chamber is gearing up for the 30th Annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Last year’s parade was canceled due to the public health concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic.