SPEAKER_03 0:00

Everyone has a story, a moment, a lesson, or a piece of their life most people may never hear. Hi, I'm Callie Zamzo, and this is Nobody Knows. Welcome to Nobody Knows. I'm your host, Callie Zamzo. And most of the time when we think about community, we at least I think about like roads and buildings and businesses and schools and neighborhoods and things like that. But communities aren't buildings. Communities are human beings. And our today's guest has spent decades working with businesses, nonprofits, media organizations, and community leaders helping to shape the places where we live and uh and and work and do all of the stuff that we do. Um so today I want to talk about what it takes to build a thriving community. And we've got the perfect guest today. So welcome into the studio, Sean Evans. He is the CEO of Meridian, and I decided to pop in Idaho. I was just gonna say Meridian Chamber of Commerce, but this is seen all around the world. So Meridian, Idaho, Chamber of Commerce. And so welcome into the studio.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Well, Callie, thank you. Thanks for uh inviting me in today.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Yeah, I'm I'm really excited. I've got all these fun questions to ask you. I am I'm very curious, particularly about Meridian, because Meridian is this very unique space in Idaho. Um, and any of us that have been around for a while have known that there's been this very interesting trajectory, and you have been at the heart of that. So um, but I'm gonna start off really quickly before we get that, and then I want to talk about your background and that sort of thing. But I want to just start with a question. Um, and and the the question is what do you think that people misunderstand most about what it takes to build a community?

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Uh I think you you mentioned it in your opening a little bit. It's the people. It's uh embracing the people embracing uh what it takes for the community to uh evolve. Um Meridian in particular, when you look at the history of Meridian, uh it was the people. It was the people that founded Meridian, the people that built Meridian then, they had a vision for it, and they worked to bring that vision to to life. The um a lot of people don't necessarily know that vision, they're not in tune enough with it and things, but I think it it takes people. Uh the the community is the people and the people that get involved uh in it. And everyone has the opportunity to get involved. Um, they've just got to wanna be in the the know.

SPEAKER_03 2:35

Yeah, yeah. Well, and I I think that that's part of what makes Meridian so magical is there is sort of this amazing combination of human beings that choose to live and or work there. And that combination has really created something extraordinary.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Yeah, and Meridian has definitely evolved um in the the time that I've been uh in the community. And you've got some uh longtime Meridian residents uh that uh have seen it change quite a bit. I mean, we were just looking at some of the numbers uh last week. In 1990, the census for Meridian was about 9,000 people.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

9,000 people, and today Meridian's over 150,000 people. So basically, in you know, four decades, uh no, not even four decades, three, three decades, uh Meridian has uh balloon from 9,000 to 150,000 people. So it has. You've seen a lot of new people come into the community. Um, but the community has changed in that time too, because uh if you even go back 10, 15, definitely 20 years, Meridian was a suburb. It was a right, it was a bedroom community for Boise and even a bedroom community for Canyon County at the time. Um this where you bought a home, the subdivisions were sprouting up in Meridian, they were growing. Uh you had uh the schools, uh West Ada School District uh was was growing and and is now the largest school district in the state. The uh but you traveled into downtown Boise for your job. Right. Or you traveled to Canyon County for your job. Uh you would also have to travel into downtown Boise for uh a wide variety of restaurants or attractions or activities. But in the last 15 years, 20 years, Meridian has changed from being just that suburb community to being a place where it has everything. We've got the restaurants, we've got the retail, we've got the attractions and the destinations. And you can now live, work, and and play in in Meridian. You don't have to necessarily uh just live here and commute somewhere else.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Yeah, it is it is interesting when I think about um just even even in high school, because I had friends who lived out in Meridian and um and all the farmland and just the everything seems so far away. I remember when my parents moved, they moved out to Eagle, like Eagle Island area. And it was like, it was so far out. I thought they had ruined my whole world because I was so far away from everything. And now, like that's are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_00 5:18

You know somebody's lived here a long time when they say when we went out to Meridian.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Yeah. True.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Because uh it used to, it used to be a drive uh from Boise to Meridian. Now it's you don't even the lines are blurred.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about you a little bit. Let's uh are you willing to give us just kind of a quick um background as far as who you are and kind of what you've done that's led up to this point in your life.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so as your intro of me uh mentioned, I've been uh working in the business community for many decades. Um grew up in uh Southern Oklahoma, um small community, 9,000 people, still 9,000 people. So unlike Marie. So yeah, it hasn't grown. Um so uh went on to to college, attended college at Carl Abbott State College, Northeastern State University. Uh after college, I uh honestly didn't go to college to do the career path that I chose, but I got into um advertising, started in radio, moved into newspaper uh print advertising, and that's what I spent 20 plus years uh in the newspaper industry, the media world. Um came up through the advertising side, so I was, you know, an ad exec, ad director, and um got my first publishing job in the newspaper world. Publishers run the organization. Uh so I oversaw the news side, the advertising side, the production side of producing a community newspaper. Uh and the first paper that I actually published was my hometown newspaper. Oh so uh, you know, I grew up in this hometown, I published this hometown newspaper, and then the career opportunities opened up. I moved to a bigger city in Arkansas, uh, bigger newspaper uh got involved with that community as well. Because when you're running a local community newspaper, they come to you for everything. You're you're asked to be on numerous nonprofit boards, you're asked to be involved with the chamber and and things like that. So published a newspaper in uh Arkansas for a few years, got pulled back to Oklahoma to publish uh a newspaper in Claremore, Claremore, Oklahoma. It's a city just outside of Tulsa. Uh Tulsa, uh second largest city in in the state of Oklahoma. And um Claremore uh was actually a really cool community for my career because it's the hometown of uh Will Rogers.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 7:55

So um I was publishing Will Rogers newspaper.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

Okay, hey mom, this part's for you.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

So Will Rogers. Um my mother loves Will Rogers. Many people don't uh remember Will Rogers, but I do. And uh especially him being an Oklahoma native. Um, you know, it was uh, you know, a proud time in my career. I was sitting at the desk that ran the newspaper of Will Rogers. Outside of my office was a statue of Will Rogers sitting on a park bench reading a newspaper. So um published that newspaper, moved into a corporate position with that newspaper group, and then in 2008, two late 2008, early 2009, uh the opportunity came open to make a big move for me and my family. And we moved from Oklahoma to Idaho for me to run the Idaho Business Review, the state business newspaper. Yes. Uh so it was a good move. Uh, we fell in love with the area. Um, both my girls, I have two girls, they were at the right age. One was entering middle school, the other was still in elementary, and it's like, okay, we've found home. We're we're gonna stay here. And um published the uh Idaho Business Review for five, almost six years, went out to the press tribune for a couple years, and then just decided to get out of the newspaper industry. I'd been in it 21 years, it had changed a lot in those 21 years. As I was talking with you before, um, when I started my newspaper career, it was before the internet.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

It's so wild to think about that.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah, it was, you know, people got their news from your newspaper and things. I still remember having conversations from at my first newspaper when the internet came about, is hey, the internet's this new thing. We should find a way to put our news on there. So um, it changed a lot in that in the time that I was in it. So I wanted to get out. I didn't know what I was gonna do. I just knew I wanted to get out of the newspaper industry. I didn't want to do that for the second half of my work career. So the um actually a good friend of mine um uh here in Boise gave me the opportunity to uh get out and um went to work actually straight from newspapers in uh back in marketing, and I was the uh marketing uh VP of marketing for the Idaho Stampede. You remember the Stampede? Oh yes, yeah, the basketball team.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

So for their last season, I was uh the VP of marketing for the Idaho Stampede. Uh that's a young guy's job, though. Late night based basketball games and and things like that. But uh it gave me an opportunity to get out of the newspaper industry and then really figure out what I wanted to do. And throughout my career uh in the newspaper, I mentioned I'd always served on nonprofit boards, been engaged with chambers and things. So I thought, uh, hey, I need to work for a nonprofit. I need to do something that I'm building community, giving back uh to a mission and a purpose. And so I got a job with Junior Achievement of Idaho as their president and CEO, and did that for three and a half years. And then the chamber opportunity at Meridian came open, and I joined the chamber in January of 2020.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

Yeah, which dun dun dun. That's its own story. Um, let's go right into that. Let's let's talk about I mean, because literally, so I mean, you know, I kind of imagine you've been all happy go lucky and here we go. And then boom, like what was it three months? Was it it probably wasn't even three months?

SPEAKER_00 11:42

So I joined uh January 2nd. I started as uh president and CEO at the Meridian Chamber. And um, you know, Meridian was a growing community even then. Yes, you know, a lot of things to to look at. We were uh when I was hired, I was told you're gonna have to hire some more people uh because the chamber's growing and things, and um came in, posted a job posting for uh our fifth employee uh at the time. And then uh I remember it vividly, it was March 12th. We were doing a luncheon at uh the West Data School District, and um the first case in Idaho actually was announced as being someone that worked at ISU right there in that building.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

So yeah, so basically that became the impact, and uh our community started shutting down and you know, being concerned. And at the time, our chamber was very event-focused, event-driven. And the board, we had emergency board meetings and we're discussing what is the chamber gonna do, and we just decided to pivot. Uh, we did unfortunately the same thing that a lot of businesses did. We had to lay off quite a bit of our staff. We didn't hire that position that I was interviewing for, and we we pared our staff down to me and one other person um by April 1. And then we said, okay, what are we gonna do? We we still have to serve the business community, and we launched a program called Keep Meridian Healthy and Open for Business. And it was we created online webinars, we uh tried to educate the business community and the public that you can reopen safely, and there are ways to still conduct business, even though all of this is going on and things. Now, the chamber, we didn't get to have an event until later that year, and it was an outdoor event. But for that entire year, we had to completely change our business model. I mean, basically overnight from March 12th to April 1st, we completely re-reworked our business model.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

That is amazing to me. And I I wonder, I think I know the answer to this, but um your the chamber members, so uh obviously their everything changes. Did they hold on? Did they stay with you? Were you able to keep keep most of the people?

SPEAKER_00 14:06

We lost members. I mean, you know, uh everyone was taking a serious look at their business and what they could uh do. We lost members initially, but then we started growing them back uh because they were looking for resources. Um, you know, the city of Meridian was uh very generous with some of the uh the monies they were getting from the federal at that time, and we worked with the city in uh a grant program for businesses and helping them reopen and things like that. So we helped facilitate some of that and um just really trying to educate the business community on how to manage, uh how to navigate this unprecedented time that you know the people uh running businesses uh at that time had ever seen. So yeah, it was it was a very interesting time. The only event we got to do that year was a golf tournament. Uh what better place to social distance than a golf trip? But um, yeah, so it was just me and one other employee uh that ran the chamber for that year. And by the by the second half, third uh fourth quarter, uh we started seeing membership grow back.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Yeah, and then um, of course, you know, as things started opening up and and people getting back to normal things, they were looking for those engagements. They were looking for activities that the chamber was doing. And so I had to start restaffing in 21. We started staffing back up and have just been uh, you know, growing since. And a lot of it is due to Meridian is a rapidly growing community. It it did all through COVID. I mean, we saw people moving in from other states uh during that time, uh relocating, and we saw businesses opening. Uh, we we really Idaho and the Treasure Valley really didn't see uh as big of pullback as some of the other parts of the nation did.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

And when I think about there's a period of time prior to COVID when I think about chambers and kind of what a chamber event looked like. And I don't mean this in an unkind way, it just things have shifted. It was a little stiffer back then. I remember um I was I, you know, was kind of new to my position. And so, you know, when I would go to chamber events, it was all you know, kind of the networking sort of like, but very a lot stiffer. That's you know, that's way that I can't think of any other adjectives. Um and then and then all of a sudden, and I think that we uh we kind of backed away from the chamber probably during that same time. All of a sudden I started hearing these things that were happening at the chamber. I'm like, not in the chamber, like the chamber's stiff. Like this is so there was a change that took place, and and you you were at the helm when that happened. I and I don't know if you're gonna take credit for this or not, but there was things there was a before and an after. And the after now is such a vibrant, interesting. The events are um, they aren't that weird, like you shake with a sweaty hand some other person and you give a card over. Like it's it much more interactive, and and you've created these these gatherings where it just feels vastly different. What can you think of can you can share with us like what the what the impetus was there?

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Yeah. So people ask me all the time if I had a hand in that. And I think it really comes back to the community. The community had a hand in it. Um Meridian has grown, 9,000 to 150,000 people, but it remained one thing. It remained a community that wanted to have that hometown feel. And growing up in a small uh community myself, working in a lot of small community newspapers my career, the the that was one of the things that I always wanted to make sure that we were doing is we we're a business community, we need to be professional in things that we do, but we've also got to treat people like family. So it's one of the things my team knows this, and I say it at every ribbon cutting, is um, you know, you're not only joining the chamber, but you're joining the chamber uh family. You're becoming a a family member of our chamber. And we try to treat our members that way. You know, you members come to us for, you know, different needs. Uh different businesses have different needs during their cycle and things. Some want to celebrate their opening, others are looking for ways to get their employees trained and educated on different things. Others are well-established businesses and they're looking for ways to get back and be supportive of of the efforts in the community. But we we're a small team. It's a team of four of us, and uh we try to know our members and and treat them just like family.

SPEAKER_03 18:48

Yeah. Okay, shifting gears just a little bit. Um, so I've been on a board with you before. And for our listeners who maybe don't know you, you are um you I don't know if you are left-brained, but the way when you look at numbers and when you look at like the details, like you, you get them and you you operate with them. They they guide you. But at the same time, you're this very warm communicator. So I have you has anybody ever pointed that out to you that you have this very interesting juxtaposition of these.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

I have people have pointed out to me that I'm different.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

I'm sure they mean it in the kindest ways. Um I find it fascinating.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Yeah. Um I I think it just has to do with my career. I mean, uh, you know, my I look back at my newspaper career, and you know, for 20 years, I was basically in an industry that we created a new product every single day.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

We started over. Every morning, we started over creating the newspaper for the next day. And um it was it was something that, you know, I look to be efficient, I look to be uh creative. I was always looking for what what do I need to share with somebody that they don't know, uh, and you know, bring information to the forefront. So that's how I've tried to approach my service on boards uh that I've served on is you know just pointing out things, pointing out, you know, things that I've observed or different ways to to look at it. Um so yeah, I think it it's it's unique. I I love being creative. Uh, you know, we get to create events, uh, create community uh activities and things like that. But ultimately, you know, it comes back to I'm also running a business. It may be a not-for-profit business, but I still got to make sure the employees are paid and that we can do the next event and you know, we keep the the lights on and and things like that, or we wouldn't be able to serve our members.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

Yeah. Well, I love it. It's you're a very unique balance of of the of the two. And I and it's been fun. It's been fun to to do things with you in terms of that.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Enjoyed serving on that board with you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:06

I I've learned a lot from you, just just from observation, just saying, oh yeah, I guess maybe I should have thought of that. So so there's that. Um so is there a part of your you just kind of gave us a quick part of your story. Is there a part of your story that maybe doesn't always make the bio that you don't want to share with us?

SPEAKER_00 21:22

I uh you know, I I share with my team sometimes uh, you know, when you're trying to break the ice with people and and things like that. Um so uh you've heard the the the game two truths and one lie. Sure. Yeah, so I always kind of share uh my my two truths and one lie. Um is that I've hit a hole in one playing golf, I have lived in a museum and I have served three presidents.

SPEAKER_03 21:54

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

So which one is my truth?

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Uh what was the second one?

SPEAKER_00 22:00

I've lived in a museum.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

Yeah, that one doesn't that's not true.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

That is true.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

It is true?

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Oh my gosh. Okay, so what's the lie?

SPEAKER_00 22:08

I've never hit a hole in one. I'm not that good at golf. I'd love playing, but I've never hit a hole in one.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

That seemed like the easy one. Like, of course you must have done that. Who even brings that up if you haven't done that? Well, neither have I. So there's that. But I I don't suspect I'll be saying that I do.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Trevor Burrus, no, everyone asks me, you know, you serve three presidents. Yeah. Presidents of what? Presidents of the United States. And so during my college career, uh worked at the Carl Everett State College. I worked in the uh food service uh section of the college. And um the univer the college had a national speaker series that hosted presidents. And I've uh met and served dinner to President Jimmy Carter, President Gerald Ford, and President George Bush.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Well that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Yeah. So I got to do that when I was young and in college. So but I I always joke that I've served three presidents and people look at me like, what?

SPEAKER_03 23:07

So you know what's interesting is I I can imagine you doing that and and being very good at it and not being the one who is like falling all over yourself, you know, because you you are poised. So I could see that you'd be the perfect person to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

And then my museum life, I lived in a museum. My girls love to tell this story because they got to live there as well. Uh when I moved to Claremore, Oklahoma to publish that newspaper, our house wasn't ready yet. And it was still construction was still being finished on it. And uh the community is the home of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum. And uh it had a um an apartment attached to the museum where the director would live, basically like uh like a parsonage and a church and stuff. And um we didn't have a place to live uh when I was coming to the community, and the uh director of the museum offered, oh, well, we've got this place in the museum you can live for a while. So we lived in the Will Rogers Memorial Museum for about two months.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

That's very cool. Again, my mother would love to pick your brain about that, I'm sure. How well I'll maybe I'll find the time for the two of you to get to that. Okay, so um let's let's change change directions here a little bit. Um, still talking about community. Um curious about your thoughts on what actually builds a community. I mean, as far as um, you know, what what do really, really strong communities that you are aware of, including Meridian, what do they have in common?

SPEAKER_00 24:40

They've got a good mix. Uh, of course, it takes businesses, it takes uh your schools, your educational uh entities, it takes uh a good government that uh is forward thinking and trying to plan for the future. Um it takes nonprofits, it takes the the nonprofits that are gonna serve the needs of the community, it takes a strong faith community. Um it it really does take it all for it to be a good uh vibrant community. It takes the people to understand too that there's gonna be growing pains. That, you know, that road construction that is disruptive right now, um, when it's completed, you're gonna look back and go, oh yeah, I remember how bad it was before, but now it's it's so much better. Um it it takes people just being understanding of that growth is going to have some some pain in it. Um the the communities that I've uh had the pleasure of working in uh over my career uh they've either their communities have two things. They're either dying or they're growing. No communities set stagnant. They they really don't. You're either it's either growing, it's either moving forward or it's it's dying, because a stagnant community is technically dying. Uh there's no opportunities, people are leaving. Uh there may be, you know, some growth that keeps it stable, but uh communities have got to be moving forward.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

That's really an interesting thought. And and for anybody who has has noticed the the influx of people, I don't can imagine anybody not noticing, um lots and lots of complaining, obviously. But when you put it that way, maybe it's all worth it because we would none of us want to be stagnant, i.e.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

No, you don't want to be stagnant in your own life uh and your your you know gaining of knowledge and your growth uh in a community can't be that way either. It's it's gotta be ever expanding, ever growing, um improving, you know. Um you know some communities do get landlocked and they can't necessarily grow geographically, but they're gonna find ways to improve. They're gonna find ways to grow, whether it's up or it's you know, just replacing things and and doing um redevelopment that uh makes the compute community better.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Yeah. I think one of the things that Meridian has done very well is welcome outsiders.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 27:20

We have had a massive amount. And you know, you you can you hear all the the grumbling and then the other, you know, so it's uh it's a very mixed bag. But in keeping with this idea of a community that's growing, I I'm amazed at how Meridian is is growing, but it's not like it's not massively changing its personality. Does that make sense? It's not um like I don't see a lot of like super downsides to having people who are not from this community who have entered. So somehow you've been able to acclimate them, bring them in, pull them in under your wing and say this is kind of how we do things here, and they've rolled with it a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

I mean, uh they're obviously they're growing pains, they're nothing's perfect, but it doesn't feel the community hasn't gone to hell in a handbasket, I guess, just put it so and meridian is is you know, I'll talk in a moment about some of the other things, but to your point about people moving in, yes, we've had a huge influx. We saw it really uh strong during COVID. I mean, uh the chamber when we were able to reopen, we had daily people stopping in, wanting relocation information, people calling for information about relocating to the area. And of course, you know, it's good for business, it's good for real estate, it's good for uh all of your businesses when people are here and and and uh wanting to come to the community. The one thing that we've always tried to tell the people uh that are coming to our community, um, you know, and we're not telling them to change their license plates right away, you know, that they come to that on their own accord, uh, is you chose to come here and come to Meridian for a specific reason. And uh if all that we ask is that you now become an Idahoan or you become a Meridianite. You chose to come here for that reason, now become that.

SPEAKER_03 29:12

So I really like that.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

That makes a lot of sense. Um has anybody pushed back on that?

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Oh, yeah, absolutely. People push back all the time because um, you know, they may have come from an area that they're still a little afraid that we're gonna become like you know, rapid growth or you know, resources being limited and and things like that. Um I just encourage them, you know, go to go to a city hall meeting, you know, go to one of our city council meetings, hear what's being talked about. You know, uh people talk about all the time that, you know, does the community really have a plan? Are are are they just building and there's no plan? There's a comprehensive plan. I mean, the the city has a a vision of how where it's gonna go for the next 10, 15, 20 years. Uh even our our agencies like Compass, uh, they have a plan. There's a transportation plan. It takes, you know, planning for many years in order to get some of the things that we're getting today. And um, you know, they're the they're the entity that's forecasting that, you know, we're 150,000 today, but we could easily be 200,000 people in the city of Meridian by year 2050.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

So, you know, there has to be a plan for all of that. And so people sometimes are just not fully informed. They need to go see that there are things in place, and it's gonna take a while to get there. I mean, Highway 16 road project is something that, you know, you're now seeing it near the end, but that's been in development for 20 plus years. The Linda Road overpass in Meridian is over 25 years. They've talked about doing that, and it's set to open next next fall. And those are gonna be things that help with the traffic congestion and and things. But some people they get here, and as I joke around, is they want to be the first to go dig the moat and pull up the drawbridge. And um that's not gonna happen. I mean, you know, in even cities, they can't stop the influx of of people. Uh cities have certain ordinances or they've got certain plans. Uh land can get developed certain ways. It's it's not like they can put a moratorium on, you know, just stopping growth.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

People are coming here and they're gonna continue to come here. Um, we've just got to embrace that uh that growth and uh get more people involved and helping solve the problems uh that it brings.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

Yeah. So how do you know when the community is healthy? Like how what are indicators to you that the community can be?

SPEAKER_00 31:56

You know, I I look at elections uh is one thing. Um the communities I've served in the past, you know, if you see a tremendous amount of turnover uh in your elected officials, there's something wrong. Um I don't see that in Meridian. No. Um, you know, previous to Mayor Simmonson, uh Mayor Tammy served uh four terms, 16 years. Um you know, our city council works well together. Um you've got you know opportunities to go meet with them and and things like that. You uh don't see a lot of people running to replace them and and things like that all the time. So um I think that is a good sign that a community is working well. Everyone's gonna have their their their issues and and pains and things like that, but I like to see a community that you know keeps uh elected officials in place for uh you know long term. Um I think you also have to look at that your community is getting diverse offerings. Uh as I mentioned before, Meridian was a uh bedroom community. Meridian is becoming a retail center for the valley now. Whenever you see, when you saw the village go up uh about 15 years ago, uh Shields now calling uh Meridian home, we're seeing Meridian become the heart of that uh that retail center in in the valley. And um that's because it offers everything. It offers a place to live, a place to go shop, a place to spend your time at Rowing Springs or you know, the different attractions around our community. So uh and then the office space. The office space in Meridian has been an amazing growth uh because it takes that balance. Um, you know, businesses before knew their employees lived in Meridian, but they were having to commute different places. Now businesses realize, hey, there's office space in Meridian. We don't have to have our employees commute. It makes your employee a much happier person.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

Yes, absolutely. Um have you noticed that um that there have been new businesses like that people have come to Meridian purposely to start their business in Meridian?

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um we joke all the time that uh Meridian is the uh incubator for so many uh new uh businesses to Idaho. And a lot of it has to do with the people that are coming to Idaho. Um they're coming from other markets, they're coming from other areas, and they uh had a certain service, a certain product, or a certain store in that area. And, you know, a lot of these stores are franchises. And so they've moved to Idaho, they've located they've decided to live in Meridian, and they're missing their favorite store, whether it's their favorite restaurant or favorite fast food, favorite, you know, uh beauty salon uh or uh things like that. And so they find ways to get into the franchise business. And we see so many franchises opening up in Meridian and across Idaho. And it's because the people that have come here, they are bringing the the ideas of, oh, I had this in my community before. It's gonna be a hit here.

SPEAKER_03 35:14

Yeah. When you think back to that fateful moment in July or January when you decided to to join up and you kind of look at the trajectory of things, as you look back, is there anything that kind of surprises you that that took place or that maybe continues to surprise you about about Meridian and about this this growth trajectory and your particular timing and all of it?

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Oh, uh you know uh the the surprise came in that my first year at the chamber was nothing what I expected it to be.

SPEAKER_03 35:49

Yeah. I can't even imagine.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

Absolutely. Yeah, it was it was a complete pivot um from what I came in thinking uh was gonna be able to do in the first year. Um but I guess the surprise that I look back now is and you know, this is this is hard to say sometimes, but I'm almost thankful for COVID because it it forced us to look at making a uh dramatic change in the way that the Meridian Chamber approached things. Um my newspaper career, I had usually spent a couple years in a newspaper and did a lot of changing in those couple years and and things like that, and then had the opportunity to move to another property that I could affect change. And um my career always showed me that uh to really do it well, sometimes you gotta take a long time to affect that change. Because it may mean changing people, it may mean changing systems and the way that things that you do it. And if you change things too rapidly with some people, it becomes too disruptive. But COVID gave us an opportunity to pivot quickly, make changes that honestly would have taken me a year to a year and a half to make some of the changes that we got to make due to COVID.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

Yeah, because you had the space to actually do it.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

Yeah, we we we were forced into it. And a lot of businesses will look back and even have that same thought of wow, it forced me to make changes to things that I knew I needed to change, but I was reluctant to because of maybe how disruptive it was gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 37:33

You know, you you say that, and I'm thinking to myself, I could use a little of that just to force disruption, right? Exactly. And then like force me to like just like block everything out and focus on one thing for half a second. So I, you know, because we just don't get to do that. And there's just there's the juggling that's happening constantly. So you bring that it almost strangely, as you describe COVID, it makes my shoulders relax and makes me think, wow, that that's true. You had that space and time to to actually think through some things and you know, take not necessarily that you had to take your time because you did need to quickly pivot to do some, put them some things in, but what a unique opportunity. And it does not surprise me that you look back on that time in a positive light because you you because you're you're that guy. You just turn things, you you make things what they're what they need to be, I guess. Which is great.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

Well, I I appreciate that, but it also takes a great team. Absolutely. I have an amazing team around me and uh an amazing board, uh supportive uh business community and the things that we do. And um, you know, we're and and one of the other things that I think is is turned the corner in the last few years too is the the entire Treasure Valley has gotten more collaborative. Um just earlier today I was at a meeting with the Boise Chamber on uh an initiative for uh transportation across the valley. Uh you know, I work closely with the other chambers uh uh across the the valley on initiatives and things. So I think, you know, we're also uh as Meridian, uh we I like to say that we're the center of it all. We're the heart of the valley, but we know that it it's really is a a metro area and a and a valley that's gotta work together on things. So that's one of the things that I've been pleasantly surprised is that seeing that that things start to work together as a valley.

SPEAKER_03 39:33

And and it and for people who haven't been here that long, there was a time when things were definitely very separate. And and really, you know, people joke about the great state of Ada uh in other parts of the state. And in some ways, it was like, you know, the great state of Boise because everything was Boise, Boise, Boise. But that but that has changed. You're right, very much so. And you always hear about now these collaborations between the mayors of of and you don't even consider them some some of these are small, much, much smaller cities, but they're being treated as you know, equals in amongst, which is, I mean, that's a fascinating study in and of itself.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

Our whole valley is growing rapidly. I mean, if you know, I mentioned the the Merdian uh population numbers, Cuna will blow your mind. I mean, Cune was, you know, less than a thousand people back in that 1990 census, and and today it's you're pushing 30,000. So Coldwell is almost 90,000 today.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

Yeah. I can't I can't even believe that. That's so amazing to me to think about that. Um one of the other things that you have have done with um as as the leader leader of the chamber is you're now putting on some pretty massive events, some pretty big, like so. It's not um, it's not like the I again, I think back to the like the luncheons that we might have once a month, whatever, which still takes place, those sorts of things. But you also put on like the state of the city address. This it was that just was this the first time or have you done that in the past?

SPEAKER_00 41:00

Um when Mayor Simmonson became mayor, it was something that he was looking for a partner, and so he asked the chamber, you know, would you all take this over? Prior to him, uh, it was the city putting it on themselves in a little different fashion. Um Mayor Tammy did a great job and and and uh I think she enjoyed it more than what Mayor Simmonson uh would enjoy it, so he found someone else to put it on. Um the um but yeah, state of the city is definitely, you know, something that the chamber has taken on and we've tried to elevate and bring to the forefront of the business community and the public um the the things that goes on in our city. It's a way to educate the public about, you know, the the goals of the mayor, the city and and things. So that's become a pretty big event uh for us. And then um, you know, one of the things I the purpose and mission of the chamber is to support, promote, and advocate for our business members. And um that spills over to the entire business community. You know, we we serve our members, it's our members that uh uh fund our efforts and things, but we're also trying to do things that help the entire business community rise because we're just trying to make it a better place to do business. That's part of our advocacy work, our economic development work. And um that also includes uh trying to put on events that are beneficial for the businesses, uh in particular downtown Meridian. Downtown Meridian um is a wonderful downtown. Uh you your business has been there located for many years. Um and it is such a a great downtown, but honestly, when the village was built, our downtown lost a little bit of its focus because people saw the village as the the activation area, the the place where retail was going and events and things like that. So uh the chamber uh has been working with our downtown businesses and the city and some other partners to try and um activate our downtown. And so we are producing for the fifth year in October uh the Oktoberfest event. It's an event that the chamber uh agreed to take on and produce uh five years ago. And uh, you know, our goal was to bring a couple thousand people downtown for a fun little festival in downtown. Our first year we ended up having 10,000 people come down for a one-day event.

SPEAKER_03 43:37

Blows my mind.

SPEAKER_00 43:38

Yeah. And the uh last year we had over 15,000 people down uh for a one day 12 hour event in downtown. We shut down several uh square blocks of downtown. We turned it into a uh very large beer garden. We've got activities, live music, uh vendors, food. Um, and it's just it's become a huge event for our downtown. Um, that was such a success for the first four years that last year we launched another event. It's the downtown car show. Uh last year was the first year. This year uh we had over 3,000 people down. We had 232 uh cars uh on display in downtown. We closed down the streets and just uh, you know, created an event. And these these are meant to be economic engines for bringing visitors into our downtown so that the businesses are able to engage, generates foot traffic for them. Um and I still remember one of the uh best comments that I ever got from somebody the first year of Oktoberfest was oh, this is a really cute downtown. This is quite uh nice downtown. I never knew Meridian had a downtown like this. Because, you know, Meridian has gotten so big, then there's different pockets around it. You can live in South Meridian now and not have to go to North Meridian for different things. You could live over by the village and never have to uh go into South Meridian for things. So um it it's really nice to be able to get people to make those type of comments of, you know, I never knew Meridian had this nice of a downtown.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

Yeah. It's been fun. It's been fun to see it evolve. And it's evolving even as you and I are talking. Absolutely. Um can you what you can share, can you share with us a little bit about what's coming up? Like what's going to be happening in our downtown?

SPEAKER_00 45:36

Well, that's another thing that I'm very excited about is uh downtown Meridian. Um many of you that have been to downtown Meridian, uh, you know, you saw uh the what we call the the tower. It's not our it's not the Boise Hole, it's the Meridian Tower, uh concrete towers. Um it's a project that was started uh during COVID that ended up going bankrupt and sitting vacant for many years. Uh that project is now under new ownership and it's in the right hands. It's it's uh gonna get done now. And uh that project also has uh ideas for really activating our downtown. Um, creating a festival square area, bringing, you know, things like a hotel, parking structures, and other attractions into downtown, besides, you know, more uh apartment space, more retail space, more restaurants, office space. These are all things that I think you're gonna see really reshape downtown meridian in the next five years.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

And it's being very thoughtfully done.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

Like some I some down to details of like w where people are going to walk and how how like it's been kind of a fun to I've only seen glimpses of it, but I'm amazed at the details that are being thought through as far as making it just a very walkable, enjoyable space, um, just right there in our heart of downtown, which is gonna be a a place that you can basically come and spend the entire day, uh, you know, from coming down and having breakfast to spending day of the day shopping uh to you know going to an event that evening in in downtown. So it it it really is gonna become a destination. And going back to my comments about a plan, there is been plans in place. There's been a uh a plan that was written more than two decades ago called destination uh downtown. And uh it's it's been in the works, and you know, the the one thing that always holds that up is money. Yes. If we could just had unlimited funds, we would have these things already in place. But you gotta find the right developers, you gotta find uh have the money for the roads and and things like that. So um that that's the one thing that that's it slows down some of these these plans and these ideas.

SPEAKER_03 47:53

Yeah. I do, I remember, and it's probably been I gotta think about how old my daughter was. So it was probably between 10 and 15 years ago that I was on the Meridian development board and talking about these things. And I remember kind of thinking it was a bit of a pipe dream, like some of these things, I'm like, eh. I mean, just the amount of money that's required. But then the planning and the and and how much, I mean, you have to you have to get a certain amount of agreement. You know, you've got to get some some you know, enough people that will agree to the plan and to so it's been an amazing thing to watch over these over these years, just how how the whole process has gone down and really how thoughtfully it's been done. It's I'm excited to see it unfold.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Yeah. I've I've been in Idaho for 18 years. Is that 18? Yeah, about 18 years, almost 18 years. Um, and the great thing about it is I've actually lived in Meridian almost that entire time.

SPEAKER_02 48:49

Really?

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Yeah, but only worked in Meridian since 2020. So I've you know, Meridian both my girls went to school in Meridian. Uh and so it it's been really uh fun to be involved in in all of the things Meridian now.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

Yeah. Well, we're lucky to have you. I can just tell you that. So let's talk about the people a little bit, the people behind the growth. Um, because obviously you've you've met probably with thousands of leaders, I'm guessing. At least hundreds. But perhaps thousands. So and this is throughout your career. So so what qualities, like what are the qualities when you think of like the best leaders that you have met with and have gotten to know? What what are the qualities that make them good leaders?

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Um, I think you know, one, they've got to have an open mind to uh different ideas. Um a good quality leader for a community embraces the history but understands that things have got to move forward and that it's gonna be change. You you can't keep the status quo on a lot of things. So I think a a good community leader recognizes that and um works within the the system to to to help that uh move forward. I think you know um Meridian's got some amazing uh community leaners. Uh one in particular that I admire and look at all the time. You know him well, Josh Everts.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

Uh, you know, call him the dawn of downtown. You know, Josh uh is completely invested in downtown with not only businesses, he lives down there. Um he very rarely will admit that he even leaves downtown for for different different things. So, but Josh is somebody that is, you know, thinking about it all the time. He embraces the history of the community, but he's working with people trying to move things forward. And um I think you know that that's sometimes hard for our community leaders because they they're comfortable in the way things used to be or uh the way it was. And um going back to that deal, you're either moving forward or you're or you're declining.

SPEAKER_03 51:13

Yeah. Josh is an interesting person. I remember so again, I'm back going back to MDC. I remember he came in front. And this is back when I think he was just trying to create the vault. I was that one of his very first things in and um he he he is a visionary, but he's willing to, and you you can tell that like he's he's already like eight miles in front of everybody, but he's willing to back up, slow down, and help you see the vision. Yeah. So that and I think there's a that's a wonderful trait because if we go too fast and people can't see the vision, they're not gonna follow. They're not, you're never gonna get what you want, and you're not gonna be able to make any changes. So that's a that's an interesting um just thought about about him and how he operates and and does things. Yeah. Yeah. He's uh Meridian's lucky to have him. He's we'll have to make a statue.

SPEAKER_00 52:00

And there's people like that all over that have got, you know, different passion areas of the community uh that they they believe in. Um so you know, we've got great leaders in our schools that are are you know continuing to make our schools better. Um we've got some of the biggest schools. Yes, yes. I mean, recently we were just shared by uh Dr. Bub at our board meeting that um West State School District led the state in test scores and and things. So, you know, we've got the quality uh here in our community, and um that's what we like to see. And it's that's what's gonna keep attracting people to our community, and it's gonna keep growing.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

Agreed. So as a leader, have you had any hard lessons that you would consider sharing with our listeners?

SPEAKER_00 52:48

Oh goodness. Um hard lessons. I I spent 20 years in the newspaper industry. It's probably a hard lesson. Um the um I I guess the the hardest lesson that I still have to try and uh swallow every day is you're not gonna make everyone happy. Um, you know, the we lose members uh for many different reasons. Uh sometimes we lose members because they joined just to get their ribbon cutting and that's all they wanted. They're not gonna be engaged and things like that. So I have to learn not to take those those things personal and and understand that they have other priorities and and things. So um other than that, you know, I uh the the some of the hardest lessons I've learned is you know, spend a lot more time in the hiring process so you don't have to deal with the the problems on the back end.

SPEAKER_02 53:46

That's that's great advice.

SPEAKER_00 53:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:47

That's very, very good.

SPEAKER_00 53:49

Hire slow, fire fast.

SPEAKER_03 53:50

Yes. Yes. Oh, yeah, that's fantastic advice. Um, how about mentorship? Is that something do you mentor people?

SPEAKER_00 53:58

Um I try to. I I don't, you know, let me answer that.

SPEAKER_03 54:04

Yes, you do.

SPEAKER_00 54:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 54:06

You have people all around you. I see it all the time. You mentored me.

unknown 54:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:10

So yes. I don't know if it's ever, you know, someone's come up to me and said, Hey, I want you to mentor me, but I do try to just convey my my experience, my knowledge. You know, I'm always trying to make my staff uh better and and find ways for them to find you know development uh in their role. It doesn't benefit me sometimes because then they grow beyond what they have at the chamber and darn it. They they find a better opportunity. But um no, you I think that's is uh a sign of of you know you being successful in that mentorship is when they grow beyond what you you have to offer.

SPEAKER_02 54:53

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 54:54

Um no, I I I you know I'll take a meeting with anyone, I'll share with them, you know, my perspective on things. We may not always agree, but I'm definitely um I'm also open to learning every day. So, you know, I've I think I want to be mentored uh still on a lot of different things.

SPEAKER_03 55:13

Me too.

SPEAKER_00 55:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:14

It's so funny how when I was younger, I was I kind of felt like that like being mentored made me feel like I was small or like I, you know, was somehow in not good enough or whatever, which was kind of true. Like that's why you kind of you want help, right? As you're trying to get there. Um, but yeah, but the process of eventually get to a point where you're like, yeah, I'm I realize I'm now to the point where I'm helping other people along, but I still very much so. And I and I think that's just the curiosity, right? I mean, if we're if we're living in a curiosity, curious state, then we're always going to be trying to seek advice from others or perspective, which is usually my own.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

Because uh it changes. That changes as you grow and and you are always open to new, new perspectives.

SPEAKER_03 55:56

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that is a challenge in and of itself. Because I think as I age, I notice myself getting you start to get a little rigid. Like I don't mean to, but then I'll all of a sudden, and you know, having kids is the great equalizer because they're the ones who put a mirror in front of you and say, Oh, yeah, you're being a little rigid there. And then all of a sudden you're like, I I am. My daughter's the best one for that. I'll be like, okay, well, so what are you seeing? Of course, I half the time don't want to hear what she has to say, but she's always very lovely about helping me see maybe the areas where I could be improving or, you know, considering.

SPEAKER_00 56:30

Yeah. And we always uh, you know, take the some of those criticisms the hardest. But yeah, but they're probably the most true.

SPEAKER_03 56:38

Yes. A little humbling. Okay. So um can we talk a little bit about just because you have seen so much business and you've seen you know so many different companies and and that sort of thing? How I guess maybe not said how. What what would make, or in like in your perspective, what makes a a business or or something that happens within the community? What makes it something that becomes beloved? Does that make sense? Like, you know, sometimes like things just rise to that, like, oh, like we can't live without it kind of stuff. Like there are certain restaurants that you know everybody flocks to and like it just becomes but it but it becomes more than just the restaurant. It's like it just becomes something even you know what I'm saying? Am I saying that in a way that helps?

SPEAKER_00 57:27

I I think I I get what you're looking at. And the first thing that popped in my mind is customer service. You know, it's you know, you want to go back to somewhere that you feel welcome, that you feel like they know you and and things. Um the I I'll share from my perspective, and uh this is something that just in the last couple years changed for me. I get a tea, hot tea every morning. I was going to this one place uh religiously for like seven, eight years, and um it ended up closing. And I, you know, they knew me. They knew my order. I mean, I didn't even have uh they knew my vehicle when I pulled up. They they placed my order for me. Um and they knew me by my name, they they made me feel comfortable and things like that. I, you know, felt like I was obliged. I felt like they were part of my family. And uh when they closed, I was like, wow, I'm missing something. I'm really missing something. And it took me a while to find that again. And I have. I found a new place to get my tea every morning, and it is they know my name. They uh bring it out to me sometimes if I'm in line longer than other things. So they make me feel special, and I think that's one of the things that businesses have to truly embrace is your customers are everything, and the the customer service and the things that you do to make them feel special builds loyalty, it builds your brand, and that's what's gonna keep them coming back on a daily basis.

SPEAKER_03 59:12

Yeah. Yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 59:14

And we try to do that at the chamber. You know, we embrace our members as family. I give more hugs than I do handshakes. And uh it it really is a a great feeling sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 59:27

Yeah. Well, so speaking of good feelings, uh, you know, if if there was somebody who is is is listening right now and maybe they're part of the writing community, maybe they're not, maybe they're just now they're like, well, I want to be, I want to be a part of that. I want to I got you know, what would you suggest to them as far as making, you know, feeling more involved with the community if they're not feeling that way?

SPEAKER_00 59:50

Look for the opportunities to get engaged. There's always organizations are looking for volunteers, nonprofits are looking for volunteers, ways to get engaged. Um, you know, Chamber, we've got two networking events of a month that are open to members and guests. Come meet some people. Um, you know, they may not be uh a customer for you, but they may turn you on to a customer or they may connect you with someone that um helps build your network in another way. Uh I think it's you just gotta get out and embrace the fact that you um you don't know what you don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:30

And the more you get out there and try and discover those things, I think you're gonna be pleasantly surprised that there are ways to get engaged. There's uh organizations that need your support, and um you're gonna find that right fit uh because there's every opportunity out there.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:47

Yeah. I it's it's been a theme lately, this business about being brave. Just to be brave. And I think sometimes it does take a moment with yourself to say, okay, I'm gonna go into the situation. I don't know anybody here. Uh I would encourage people that that the meridian chamber is incredibly welcoming, like incredibly welcoming. And I'm not sure exactly how you've created this group of people that are so welcoming, but it is if you're thinking about going somewhere and where you feel like they are going to embrace you almost instantaneo instantaneously, I would say a meridian event would be a meridian chamber event would be.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:26

Thank you, Cal. I appreciate that. That means a lot coming from you. Um and uh it does. I mean, it's not just the staff, it's our fellow members that exude that. I mean, we've got one ambassador that, you know, she has to hug everybody at an event.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:42

Uh so you know, I've been hugged by her.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:45

In fact, a women of the year thing, I walked in and she gave me a hug and I was like, well, that was who is this? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

Um but uh no, I think, you know, and that's the you know, uh we do. We try to make it a little bit different than uh some of the other communities. And not saying that their approach is wrong or anything. We just we feel like Meridian is still that hometown. And you know, when you go from 9,000 people to 150,000 in less than a generation, it's gonna keep some of that that history and the feel that it had before.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

Yeah. Well, let's so let's because we've talked really very much so about your city here, but let's let's widen it to the state of Idaho. What gives you hope for the state of Idaho?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:27

Oh goodness, uh there is tremendous uh opportunity coming to the state of Idaho. Um, you know, if you if you look in the news and you see the investments that Micron is making and the things that that's gonna be bringing to our community, the the job opportunities, not only for the the young people here that want to go into the right uh job fields and things like that, you know, I think we've got the best opportunity we've had in in many decades of retaining some of the the talent uh that go to school and and then look for jobs. Uh that that's exciting for our community. I think we've got um opportunities to embrace the fact that Idaho's now on the map. I mean, honestly, when I moved out here in 2009, I think I'd been through Idaho one time before, and that was going from Utah to Oregon for something else. So uh, you know, you know, the joke of Idaho, Iowa, also, you know, but Idaho's on the map. And I think that is uh an opportunity that we need to embrace. We need to uh find ways to preserve what Idaho, why Idaho is such a special place. Uh we've got uh some beautiful country, but we've also got some extremely talented people that uh see the opportunities to to build their business and grow it here.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:54

Yeah. It's funny when my daughter went off to college, I said, you know, be prepared because I was, you know, thinking about my own college experience, which was decades ago. Um and so I'm I'm giving her this advice that I of how I went through that. People don't know they're gonna call it Iowa, they're gonna call it the Midwest, they're gonna, you know, yada, yada, yada. And um, and she very quickly was like, no, mom, people know Idaho, they they know where it is. It's not and she's in New York. So, like, you know, it's not even just the Pacific Northwest that is beginning to know where Idaho is and what Idaho is. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:27

So yeah, lots of opportunities for our our state. Um, and I mean, we have a diverse state. I mean, you know, uh there's you know, three to four completely different regions in our state that have different feels and different um industry focuses and and things like that. So uh it is a very diverse state.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:47

It is. I remember my I interviewed my father, uh not in I think back in June, and I said, So you know, what's your, you know, what's your favorite place in Idaho? And he stopped and he said, Idaho. And then he because he's like, well, what are you gonna avoid? I mean, there it's vastly different up north than it is. And so he's like, well, where what are you gonna choose? And each one has its own beauty and its own, you know, gift that it gives you when you're there. And so yeah, he he I I I agree with that. It's it for the longest time I think there it's felt very disjointed, but things are beginning to kind of pull together a little bit. I it's still not where it needs to be. And it's still very it's a very long distance up to the panhandle.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:25

Yeah, I mean, it takes you uh more than eight hours to get from uh one part of the state to the other sometimes. But um I think that's that that's one of its uniqueness. It's large, it's it's vast, it has uh, you know, everything from moonscapes to sand dunes to beautiful waterfalls and lush forests. I mean, it it really is has it all.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:48

Yeah. Okay, as we're wrapping up here, I'm curious about um something that you're very optimistic about right now.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:58

Optimistic. Um I'm very optimistic about uh downtown Meridian is is is usually always top of mind. We've got a tremendous opportunity with the development, the redevelopment of of our downtown. Um, but I've also I I see you know Meridian has still got a lot of growth that can occur and um you know different things happening. Um, you know, we're we're the second largest city in the state, and we still don't have a large venue area uh for attractions or events and things like that. We're working in conjunction with some partners to try and establish some things in the community uh like an auditorium district that will help bring more of those things to our community. Um and, you know, many people will say you're looking to bring things to an already crowded community. No, we're looking to improve the life of our of our community. And we need these things in order to improve that life.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:01

Yeah, I agree. I agree. We we've we need to move forward and boy, the again, the planning. If this is not something that's flashing a pan here, this is something that's been going on for a long time and has a lot of thoughtful and and there will be so many people by the time this is all done who have had their fingers and and their brains in this project and and this and several projects that are taking place. So it's yeah, so it's an exciting time for Meridian. And uh, I'm grateful that you are leading the chamber right now. You're we've got the right person in that seat right now. So thank you for for everything that you do. Thanks for being the way you are. Thanks for mentoring me all these years you've been there.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:44

I've learned a lot from you.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:47

You have, absolutely. I've learned a lot from you. And and I've really enjoyed the time that we've worked together. So so thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:53

Well, I hope that continues. So uh Zamsos is a good chamber member, and and I know we've got a lot of things that we're we're continuing to work together on.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:02

Absolutely, absolutely. Thanks again.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:06

Hey, thanks for watching. If you or someone you know has a story to share, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out, share your story, and you could be featured on an upcoming episode. And remember, once your story gets shared, it will no longer be one that nobody knows.