The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

A few years ago a friend asked Shannon Gildea what she wanted to be when she grew up.

"I think it would be fun to run a Chamber in a small community," she said. Not too long ago, that friend reminded her of those words and they laughed.

Gildea is the new director for the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce.

Gildea grew up as a self described Air Force brat. She started her education at a private school in England and when her family moved back to the states, she was already two years ahead of her peers. She went to high school in Gig Harbor and received her bachelor's in Organizational Communication with a minor in Leadership at George Fox. Eventually she went on to get a masters in Communications with a secondary certificate in Corporate Training and Development at a college in New Braunfels, Texas.

"Communication is such a big deal," Gildea said. "It's one of those things that is universal across industries. You need to have the skills to communicate to a diverse audience what you do. It's something I care about, I think it's important interpersonally and from business to business. I think it's kind of perfect that I ended up with this chamber role."

Gildea got her first taste of chamber work in Gig Harbor as a high school volunteer. She stayed the course in college, taking an internship at the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce in Newberg, Ore.

"I understand how they run," Gildea said, but it's going to be a challenge to condense everything I've seen into one position."

Gildea was an award winner in speech and debate in high school and college and she holds high standards and a solid work ethic, so it's not likely to be an overwhelming challenge.

"My goal for my first year is just to run things smoothly," Gildea said. "I'm working with events that are in their 30th year. A lot of my burden is for it to run as smoothly as possible without a lot of deviation. I've learned that you need to go in and make yourself part of the organization and understand how the organization works. If you see potential critiques or possible minor tweaks, you make those changes in the future."

Already at work on the crab and oyster feed coming in March, she's aware of dealing with traditions.

"Traditions are important," Gildea said, "especially in small communities."

The crab and oyster feed creates funds for Bald Eagle Day and a bigger crowd will yield better fireworks and entertainment for the July event.

This event and others are not revenue to fund the Chamber but to fund events throughout the calendar year, she pointed out.

Gildea hopes to reach out to more businesses in the community, including small businesses in people's homes. She would like to see more people represented by and supported by the Chamber.

"The more people we have on the Chamber," Gildea said, "the stronger the small business group will be and the stronger our community can be. The chamber is about keeping small business in small communities alive by encouraging growth between the communities and the companies in the area. Communities are only successful when there are jobs and when there are people to buy things and sell things. Chambers are there to help small businesses and communities grow."

"I'm so excited about this job," she said.