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MV Chamber Announces New Officers At Annual Dinner

	by Tim Robison Moapa Valley Progress The Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce held its annual dinner meeting on Thursday, January 17, at the Old Logandale School. The meeting was to induct the recently elected 2008 Chamber Officers and to hear from guest speaker Connie Mancillas, Director of Southern Nevada Office for the Nevada Commission on Tourism.	2008 Officers with the evenings guest speaker. Pictured l to r, Treasurer, April Krell; 2007 President, Bret Staley; special guest, Connie Mancillas, of Nevada Commission on Tourism; Secretary, Craig Haderlie, 2008 President, Vernon Robison and Board Member, Mike Qualheim. Not pictured: Vice President, Daren Leach and Board Member, Russ Babb.
	The election of the 2008 board members took place last month when ballots were sent out to Chamber members throughout the Valley. Officers were chosen at the December meeting of the Board of Directors. The official announcement of the officer’s names came at Thursday night’s meeting. The Chamber President for 2008 is Vernon Robison, General Managing editor of the Moapa Valley Progress. Vice President is Darin Leach, manager of Lin’s Marketplace in Overton. Secretary is Craig Haderlie, agent with Valley Leavitt Insurance. Treasurer is April Krell, Moapa Valley Community Coordinator for the College of Southern Nevada. Bret Staley remains on the officers list as Past President of the Chamber. Other board members include Russ Babb, owner of Best Western North Shore Inn and Mike Qualheim, Farmers Insurance Agent. Outgoing President Staley made the years report for 2007 and gave the results of the selection of the 2008 Officers. Staley then introduced the guest speaker for the evening and turned the floor over to her. Mancillas told members in attendance that tourism in the United States is a $1.24 trillion dollar industry and that Nevada is the second most popular destination state in the country. “Thirty-nine million visitors came to Las Vegas in 2007.” Mancillas said. “This made Southern Nevada the seventh most visited location in the U.S.” Mancillas explained the importance of carving out a niche market for Moapa Valley. “Just because the Lake is low doesn’t mean that you can’t still use the Lake,” Mancillas said. “There are also the many trails that go through the Valley. The niche market for Moapa Valley is the outdoor enthusiast.” The importance of branding the community was also stressed by Mancillas. The Chamber of Commerce needs to come up with a single community logo that could be immediately recognized, she said. Once a logo was developed it should be put on everything that the Chamber of Commerce does especially on anything that is sent out as advertising. Mancillas then informed the group of the many ways that the Nevada Commission on Tourism was able to help the community; from free event notices in Nevada Magazine to the community getting grants to pay for developing logos, mottos, and other slogans to promote the community. “Do you have an RV park in the area?” Mancillas asked. “You should make sure that it is listed in the Nevada Magazine RV Travel Guide!” When Mancillas had finished her presentation, incoming Chamber President Robison addressed the crowd. Robison said that the information Mancillas had given indicated to him that there was tremendous untapped potential for the Moapa Valley community. “Business is what the Chamber of Commerce is about,” Robison said. “It is the responsibility of the business community to make the community a better place”