Chelan wins $75,000 grant to plan economy beyond tourism

CHELAN — Chelan has received a $75,000 state grant to study how the Lake Chelan area could develop an economic engine that relies less on a stream of tourism that can not only vary in length, but sometimes be subject to smoke conditions.

City Administrator Laura McAloon told the Chelan City Council on Sept. 22 that the Community Economic Revitalization Board unanimously approved the planning grant after she and Mayor Erin McCardle presented the city’s proposal in Lacey on Sept. 17.

“We want to be less dependent on the short tourism season,” McAloon said.

The city has already budgeted $40,000 for an economic development consultant, which will serve as its local match. Together, the grant and city funding provide $115,000 for the study. McAloon said city officials intend to ask regional partners to contribute more so the work can address opportunities across the Lake Chelan area.

The presentation asked board members to imagine Chelan with a blank slate and consider what other economic activity the region could support, McAloon said. Board members asked numerous questions about the opportunities the city hoped to examine, she said, and applauded after voting to award the grant.

McAloon contrasted the exercise with the city’s 1960 comprehensive plan, which raised tourism as a possible direction for Chelan. Tourism subsequently became central to the local economy.

“What would it look like if we were developing an economic engine in Chelan?” McAloon said, describing the question posed to the board.

The grant pays for planning, not a particular business or industry. The study would examine how the region could generate new economic activity; McAloon did not identify a prospective industry or a timetable for completing the work.

McCardle said later in the meeting that looking at Lake Chelan’s possibilities without starting from its existing economy generated excitement at the board meeting. McAloon said the city had already received its first notice of advance funding.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media