After a two-month search for a new leader, the Kenai Chamber of Commerce has found an executive director. Samantha Springer, who hails from Anchorage, started in her post late last month.
In her first few weeks on the job, Springer’s been working on posting spotlights of new and old businesses, getting the chamber’s social media back up and running, and combing through old records in the visitor center and museum.
"There’s just a lot of history in that building to kind of dig through, and decide what we want to do moving forward, and decide what we need to change," Springer said. "So it’s been a lot. But it’s good.”
Before coming to the peninsula in 2021, Springer worked at the Anchorage Museum.
“And so that was kind of my first taste at nonprofit. Really fun, long hours," she said. "Crazy, cause you’d come in early and late for events. But I loved working at the museum.”
She spent years in sales and marketing in the liquor and pharmaceutical industries. In 2021, Springer and her husband started Kenai Fishing Company. They lead guided fishing trips on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers.
She said she’s learned from that job that there’s strength in numbers — and finding community with other local businesses.
“And so I kind of want to bring that to the chamber,” Springer said. “And it is not just focus on the outside tourism piece, but also focus on bringing the community in, trying to establish Kenai again as a mecca, a place where everybody can come and enjoy activities and just … be together. And so that’s my goal, basically.”
Springer was also recently an area manager for Pepsi.
Springer said she’s excited to work with the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, also under new leadership this year.
The Kenai Chamber has been without a permanent director since October, when then-director Brett Perry resigned after a half year there, according to board president Greg Stein.
Stein said the board held off on hiring a new full-time director at the time, since the changeover came right before the chamber’s Christmas events. Michelle Walker, membership and sales coordinator with the chamber, served as interim director until March. She’s staying at the chamber in her membership and sales coordinator role, as is the center visitor services representative, Alice Heckert, Stein said. He said the chamber has one open full-time position and another seasonal job posted, at this time.
Before Perry, Brittany Brown, a friend of Springer’s, was on the job for a year and a half.
Springer said the period of transition is a chance to regroup. She’s already thinking about new potential upcoming events — both in the chamber itself, which she said has an underutilized event space, and outdoors, in town.
“The city is letting us use their large tents. We’ll be able to keep them on site, so when it’s a nice day, we can just pop up an event outside and bring people out. And we really want to get food trucks out there,” Springer said. “I have a million ideas in my head of what I want to do. And we’ll see what’s possible.”
The chamber is holding a “state of the city” lunch with the City of Kenai this Wednesday at noon.
