In today’s economic times, a chamber of commerce is a vital tool for businesses and the community, Shelia Lampe said.
Lampe, 50, assumed office today as new executive director of the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce. She replaces Jana Taylor, who resigned in August.
“This is a good fit for me,” said Lampe, who has worked for the past 2 1/2 years as a congressional aide for U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins.
“I loved my job with Lynn, and I still think the world of her,” she said. “But with my grandkids now reaching school age, I wanted to do more things with my family.”
The daily commute from her home in rural Piqua to the Jenkins office in Pittsburg typically meant drives of 150 miles or more, Lampe said.
“This is a good fit,” Lampe said of her new post. “Iola is home. I doctor here, I do my shopping here, I go to church here.”
A STRONG chamber can serve as a resource for business owners and an avenue for greater networking capability, Lampe said. It also promotes tourism and a community’s business potential to outside visitors.
“In a rural area like this, a chamber director has to wear a lot of hats,” she said. Like anything, a chamber is always evolving, something that has to happen for growth. And if you’re not growing, you’re going backward.
“We want to be that support system for the community,” she said. “I’m ready to step in and see where the board of directors wants me to go.”
Lampe’s experience includes a three-year stint as executive director of the Woodson County Chamber of Commerce.
Her duties there frequently put her in touch with the Iola chamber.
“Iola has had a good, strong organization,” she said. “I look forward to working with the members.”
Lampe, a one-time candidate for the Kansas House of Representatives (she unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Bill Otto in 2006), also served as an SEKA aid and case manager with the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center and paraprofessional and office secretary for Yates Center USD 366.
Lampe has served on a number of boards and agencies focusing on economic development, tourism and other issues facing Allen and Woodson counties.
IN HER SPARE time, Lampe is an avid gardener and canner on her family farm outside Piqua.
She also works with 4-H youth in the area, a task she finds even more appealing now that her grandchildren are 4-H age.
“Community involvement is a big thing for me,” she said.
Her husband, Don, works at the Piqua Farmers Co-op.
Lampe and new Iola City Administrator Carl Slaugh will be featured at a reception this afternoon at the Farmers Market in downtown Iola.
They will be at the southwest corner of the courthouse square from 5:30 to 7 o’clock to visit and make new friends.
The event is sponsored by Iola’s Take Charge Challenge, Iola Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Iola.
