March 30, 2006

As the Chamber of Commerce coordinator, Adrienne Chesire will focus on promoting Yellow Springs and its businesses.

By Lauren Heaton

Adrienne Chesire, the new coordinator of the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce, has worked hard over the past year to promote Yellow Springs in the minds of local and area residents.

She came to the Chamber a year ago as the part-time Street Fair coordinator and then took over the office manager’s position in the fall.

This month, Chesire was hired as the Chamber’s full-time coordinator.

Chesire recalled that she received a call at the Chamber recently from a man in Jackson, Miss., who was looking for a community where he and his wife could feel accepted. He felt that Yellow Springs could provide that, and Chesire wholeheartedly agreed.

It’s easy for Chesire to promote the town where she grew up, she said, because it’s full of qualities that make someone like her want to live here.

“There are so many different types of people here that you can feel comfortable being yourself and know that you’re accepted for whoever you are,” Chesire said. “I like that about Yellow Springs, and it makes me really want to be part of the town.”

Chesire was hired by the Chamber to oversee Street Fair after former Chamber Director Betsy Newman resigned last spring. Since then Chesire has organized a successful Street Fair with 250 booths that attracted approximately 10,000 people last year. In the fall, part-time manager Michael Cannon resigned, and Chesire took over his position, handling administrative duties as well as serving as the town’s visitor’s bureau. She has also worked to increase group advertising for local businesses and promote local events, such as this weekend’s Buy Local Campaign and Art Stroll.

Karen Wintrow, president of the Chamber of Commerce executive committee, praised Chesire for holding the organization together through a period of transition.

“She’s done a great job, and she’s really been the one holding down the fort for close to a year,” Wintrow said. “We felt it was time to offer her a more permanent position and also to bring more stability to the Chamber.”

While the coordinator will focus on marketing the village and promoting businesses, the role of the Chamber director is still being redefined. The Chamber’s executive committee has been working with Wright State’s Center for Urban and Public Affairs since the fall to develop a strategic plan that would help the organization serve the specific needs of the community, Wintrow said.

Though the committee won’t be ready to present a final draft to Chamber members for at least another month, Wintrow said the plan is likely to expand the Chamber’s focus beyond the smaller merchants and begin to also support businesses looking to grow and work to strengthen the economy of the entire village.

“There’s definitely a need in the community for a stronger emphasis on business retention and helping our economy to expand,” Wintrow said. “The goal is to all work together to determine where that function works best, and the chamber is trying to poise itself to be in a position to do some of that.”

The strategic planning team includes current executive committee members Wintrow, Phyllis Schmidt, Jacki Mayer, Ellen Hoover, Jeff Singleton, Sherryl Kostic and B.J. Walters, as well as past executive committee members Don Hollister, Eric Clark, Susan Miller, Denise Swinger and Elise Clark.

Chesire said her role in supporting the local economy lies in promoting the village as a destination spot for visitors to come for the whole day and stop at all the shops, take a walk in the Glen, get a bite to eat and catch a performance or film. She has tried to build on what the public loves about Yellow Springs and remind visitors as often as possible to come spend a day here, she said.

The Chamber has coordinated 27 local business ads in the Waterways and Pathways magazine, of which the Chamber handed out 5,000 to 10,000 last year to people on the bikepath. Chesire has also helped organize group advertising in the Dayton Daily News and the City Paper as well as on WYSO-FM, and she said, she is looking into getting a spot on Clear Channel Radio as well. The Chamber also hopes to help integrate activities planning in the village by creating a central events calendar with everything that’s going on in Yellow Springs all year round.

The Chamber’s new hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on weekends, are supported by Chamber employee Elsie Hevelin, as well as volunteers Hardy Ballantine, Joan Horn, John Hart and Yellow Springs High School students Kalson Cheow and Marina Cason.

“We’ve just gotten more active in the last year, and we’ve been more active in marketing,” Wintrow said. “Basically, the goal of the Chamber is to be the center of communication for the community.”

At 28, Chesire knows she is the kind of resident Yellow Springs has been targeting: young, energetic and looking to invest in a small, unique community. Her parents, Robin Suits and Jimmy Chesire, live here, and she sees them often, especially when she and her dad coach t-ball in the summer.

Adrienne Chesire said she likes Yellow Springs the way it is, and she only wants to help the village improve upon its strengths.

“I think Yellow Springs is a strong enough village with strong enough people that the local character won’t ever disappear,” she said. “There’s a lot of heart in this town that can’t be changed, and it’s only going to get better.”

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com