Hoquiam residents can provide input about the city’s top priorities for the future at a Department of Commerce open house Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Hoquiam Elks Club.
It’s part of a pilot project developed by the Department of Commerce, New Approaches, where three cities were chosen to work closely with the department to find two projects that could benefit from Commerce’s long list of community-development programs. Hoquiam made the cut, along with Chewelah and Toppenish.
Stephen Dunk, community outreach specialist for the Department of Commerce, announced the open house at the Hoquiam City Council meeting Monday. It will be held at the Hoquiam Elks lodge at 624 K St. from 3-7 p.m.
Attendees of the open house will be met just inside the Elks lodge door, where they will sign in and get an idea of the yearlong pilot program from staff. A second station will give staff a chance to find out what each attendee loves about Hoquiam.
Dunk said Commerce and the city met previously and came up with a list of about 23 priorities for the city. Those priorities will be shown at the third station at the open house.
“We’ll ask the community, what is missing from this list?” said Dunk, and their ideas will be added to the list. A visual artist will be on site to sketch out a concept the conversations had about new ideas.
When Hoquiam announced the city’s participation in the pilot project in October, Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff called it a prime example of the public getting direct input into a government project, “as it should be.” Commerce public relations manager Penny Thomas said the department is “thrilled to be working with the City of Hoquiam on this important and valuable effort.”
There will be food and drinks available at the open house, and the more community members that participate, the more ideas Commerce and the city will have to narrow down to the top two.
This is just the first community event for the project, and the most structured. Dunk said he will set up a table at the YMCA Dec. 17 and plans to be there from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to gather more information for the pilot project. He said this will allow for more one-on-one engagement, as the day’s traffic and the wide range of people who use the facility pass through.
The following day, Dec. 18, Dunk will be setting up at the Hoquiam library for more one-on-one interaction with the community. Hours are still being discussed, but at the meeting Monday the hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. were tentatively set.
Dunk said Commerce will “sift through” the priorities identified by city leadership and the community “to see what Commerce can and can’t affect, then recommend two or three to the City Council to decide the top two.” Once the top two are selected, Dunk said Commerce will match the city up with Commerce leadership in the programs that best line up with those priorities to see how the department can assist in those priorities.
Commerce, which acts as a statewide chamber of commerce, administers more than 100 programs designed to help communities grow, including business and other grants and connecting potential investors to communities with available, suitable properties for expansion and development.
