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Chamber's Tracy Kaiser enjoys local goods
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
There will be a new, yet familiar, face at the center of a number
of big
Hood
River
events.
Tracy Kaiser was hired two weeks ago as business development
coordinator for the Hood River Chamber of Commerce.
Through her past work with The Fruit Company, she established a
number of connections with the chamber and other community groups,
including the Visitors Council.
Kaiser, a Wisconsin native, moved from
Dallas,
Texas,
three years ago with her husband, Christopher, to work for The
Fruit Company in Pine Grove, where she was vice president of
merchandising and product development.
But she is well familiar with the Northwest. Kaiser had also lived
in
Ashland
for seven years, doing similar work for Harry and David.
She left The Fruit Company in January 2009 and, as things worked
out, started a new company and a family at about the same time.
Tracy and Christopher’s daughter, Ellie, was born 14 months ago.
“We felt this was where we wanted to raise our daughter,” Kaiser
said.
“We love our garden, and we are real outdoor activists,” she said.
“You’ll find us mountain biking on
Post
Canyon
or out hiking. We just love the outdoors and all the Gorge has to
offer.”
But she noted that as much as they love their garden and living on
the outskirts of Hood River, “I missed that business blood.
“I need to be involved in something that’s business-driven. I felt
like I was not as well-connected as I was,” she said.
So Kaiser drew on her past experience in product development and
marketing, and partnered with Rhonda Crumpacker to create Hood
River Gourmet, which she said offers “high-end” online gift
packages using Gorge vendors. The company hopes to promote the
quality of locally made products, with an emerging emphasis on its
own niche: gift packages featuring wine.
Earlier this year she saw the advertisement for the chamber
position, and applied.
“I really appreciate them giving me this opportunity,” said
Kaiser, whose main task is “to create a clear communications
connection between the chamber and the Downtown Business Council
and Heights Business Association.”
“I’m looking forward to working with the downtown merchants,”
Kaiser said, “but I also see the Heights as really an area that
has not gotten the kind of attention it deserves.”
Kaiser succeeds Stu Watson, who stepped down in March but has
assisted the Chamber in the interim.
“I have a lot of respect for Stu and what he has done,” Kaiser
said.
She’ll keep busy organizing projects such as the Hood River Hops
Fest (in October), First Friday, Blossom Festival, Holiday
Lighting Celebration and others.
She also looks to the insights she gained at The Fruit Company,
saying she wants to help promote the agri-tourism opportunities in
the county, which she said have great potential and are “more than
apples and pears.”
“We as locals need to know what is available right here, all year
long,” she said.
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