West Newsmagazine 4-19-17

34 I WEST COUNTY CHAMBER I
April 19, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
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HISTORY, from page 31
March 14, 2016 – Metro Transit extends its
bus service to the intersection of Hwy. 109
and New College Avenue in Wildwood.
@WESTNEWSMAG
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Circa 2010 – Lori Kelling [left] rides in the
Ballwin Days parade with Don and Pat Essen.
In the early 1990s, [the late] Melody
Harris, was chamber president.
“Under Melody’s leadership, membership
had lots of fun – baseball games,
happy hours and paintball outings all come
to mind,” Jones said.
Jim Silvernail, a former chamber president
in the 1990s and retired chief of the
Mehlville and Metro West fire protection
districts, gave credit to the chamber leaders
that came before and after him.
“We’ve had some fantastic leaders, like
Don Essen and the late Dick Andrews [a
former Ballwin mayor], who really set the
bar high for the chamber and were able to
pass their skills along to other individuals,”
Silvernail said.
Colleen Washburn Jarvis, now of Arcadia,
Missouri, was the chamber’s executive
director from 1992 to 1997. At the time
she was involved, the chamber’s office was
in Ballwin, in a small converted house that
also was used for an insurance company
and a real estate company. She said she has
“many wonderful memories from that time,
but a few projects stand out for me.”
“We began a very successful program
titled ‘Good Morning, West County,’ which
was still an ongoing project when I left
St. Louis in 1997,” Washburn Jarvis said.
“Held quarterly, this innovative breakfast
program was coordinated by a group of
chamber members who worked diligently
to ensure the major issues facing the businesses
of West St. Louis County were
brought to the attention of the membership.
Set on a stage, our co-hosts, for nearly
one hour, would interview both sides of
major issues, whether it be a proposed tax
increase for one of our municipalities, fire
districts or schools, or legislation in Jefferson
City that might impact local businesses
or highway improvements.
“Each time I return to St. Louis and drive
on Hwy. 141, I think back to the two-lane
road we traveled and wonder how all these
cars were able to reach their destinations
20 years ago. I believe, without the chamber
[transportation committee] pushing
this project [Hwy. 141, south of Interstate
64] on a weekly basis with MoDOT for
several years, the development of the current
Hwy. 141 would not have taken place
as quickly as it happened.”
She added that the chamber’s longevity
shows that being successful at anything
requires dedication and hard work from
“so many dedicated volunteers and business
people.”
“It is heartening to know that the same
spirit of dedication has continued for 60
years as businesses realize the many benefits
they receive by working together
through the Chamber of Commerce for
the betterment of not only their businesses,
but the quality of life in West St. Louis
County,” she said.
The city-chamber connection
Kelling said the chamber today is “working
better than ever with our cities, having
two city administrators on our board of
directors, and an average turnout of 50 at
our Government Affairs and Transportation
Forum.”
The chamber regularly is involved in
local advocacy, in many forms. Since
2009, the chamber has had a representative
serving on the MSD Rate Commission
– Koenen from 2009 to 2014 and Kelling
since 2014.
In 2009, the chamber lent its support
to efforts by Ellisville to secure Trailnet
funding to pay for 80 percent of the cost
of developing its Bikeable, Walkable Community
Plan.
In 2010, the chamber wrote to Metro
Transit addressing the lack of bus service
to the St. Louis Community College-Wildwood,
the Wildwood YMCA and the growing
number of businesses along Hwy. 109
near Manchester Road. In response, Metro
extended its Maplewood-Wildwood Bus
Route No. 57 to reach the intersection of
Hwy. 109 and New College Avenue.
In 2016, the chamber held a ribbon cutting
ceremony for a new bus stop in front
of the college.
“Our business community needs an
organization that provides opportunities
for them to connect, relate to one another
and grow, and the chamber has successfully
met those objectives for 60 years and
counting,” Kelling said. “We have a phenomenal
reputation of being energetic and
friendly. We have an atmosphere people
want to be around.”