Veitengruber named Park Falls chamber director

PARK FALLS — The Park Falls Area Chamber of Commerce has a new executive director. Kortney Veitengruber was appointed by the chamber board and she officially started on April 1.

The interim directors did a fabulous job of pulling the chamber up from a dark period, she said. But these are people with full time jobs and businesses to attend to who could not possibly dedicate the time and energy of a full time director.

“I’m committed to this role,” Veitengruber said.

The Park Falls chamber has always played a central force in the city and that role has waned through the pandemic and the mill closing. The city is now in a vibrant time and moving forward in many areas and the chamber is ripe to resume an important role.

“Our board that we have now is great,” Veitengruber said. “All of our board members are executive board members. They’ve had experience. We actually were fortunate enough to have former board members come back and join again, and they have that experience and that knowledge of how things were and to help rebuild and make everything as good as it was before. So, it’s gonna be a building year.”

It’s early to talk about a lot of the things being put together, she said. There will be more announcements as projects come into place during the year.

The chamber plans to add an office assistant so that Veitengruber can go out to the businesses and community without having to close the office during those times, she said. Both staffers will be there to assist visitors with area information and business owners about what the chamber can offer them.

“So that’ll be my next big step here now that I’m getting settled in and getting things updated and organized here at the office,” she said.

Their effort this year to reach out to former chamber members and encourage them to return involves showing the value of membership. Restructuring membership levels to accommodate different types of businesses is part of that process to define the value of that need, she said.

“We are kind of revamping our membership options for people and making those structurally better for our community,” Veitengruber said.

That is especially important right now after a very difficult winter season and the chamber needs to position itself to help alleviate some of that stress.

“This winter was awful for businesses, we had no snow,” she said. “Our area is so based on our natural resources, and when you don’t have snow, there’s really not much people are going to travel for because everyone just stays at home.”

Working in combination with the Phillips Area Chamber of Commerce on key promotion items will help Price County as a whole, she said. The chambers are not just about Park Falls and Phillips but incorporate all the towns and villages in the county and surrounding area such as the seasonal recreation activities, the motorized and silent trail systems.

There are a lot of calls from surrounding states asking to recommend a place to stay when they come to ride the trails. They want to know the other interesting things to visit while they are here.

“It’s getting people to come up and visit because once they see how great it is they do share that information, obviously, with family and friends,” Veitengruber said. “Because of that we’re getting all these calls and inquiries.”

Veitengruber has lived in Park Falls for nearly seven years. She is originally from Wisconsin Rapids but moved around quite a bit with her husband’s job. Along the way she worked at credit unions and most recently as a universal banker with Forward Bank. She has always gravitated to the chambers of commerce as a way to get to know people and get involved.

“I’ve always volunteered with chambers in every city that I’ve lived in,” Veitengruber said. “That’s how you get to know your community.”

Coming from one mill town to another felt very natural, she said. Her family worked in the Wisconsin Rapids paper mill and she was raised in the mill community.

“So we finally landed here in Park Falls and this is our permanent home now,” Veitengruber said.

Veitengruber graduated from UW-Green Bay with a degree in social work. One of her first jobs out of school was as a social work service coordinator for an adult daycare program that served individuals with dementia or traumatic brain injuries.

After working for a credit union her interest turned to the world of finance, she said. Working in the financial industry and opening new accounts for local businesses is also a good way to learn small business needs based on what the owners are telling her, a skill that transfers well to a chamber director.

“Because I know what businesses are going through and I’m going to try and help promote them and promote the area as much as possible,” Veitengruber said.

The chamber is aware of resources that can help and provide information to direct businesses to those resources, she said. As a banker, she understands the importance of simplifying complicated information and forms so that the people who benefit from it will understand it.

The lunch and learn and business after hours events are meant to be networking opportunities and business training, she said. The challenge is getting people together when many don’t want to leave their business during hours of operation. One solution might be creating virtual events that provide the same interaction but without having to leave the place of business.

“Continuing educational opportunities for businesses is something we definitely want to do as well,” she said.

Veitengruber also serves on the board of Catkins Animal Rescue, Inc. She has two rescue dogs herself, an 11-year-old border collie pointer mix, and an 8-year-old labradoodle tripod with a missing back leg after getting hit by a car as a puppy while with the original owners.

The chamber office is now located at 154 4th Ave. N., in Park Falls. The chamber board meets the second Wednesday of the month at 8 a.m. For more information, contact Veitengruber at director@parkfalls.com or call 715-762-2703 ext. 225.