Port Angeles – At Wednesday’s Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Chamber Director Marc Abshire presented to members an end-of-year breakdown of funds and expenses.
Notably, the Chamber made a profit this year of over $35,000, with a total income of over $812,000. That’s more than double the profits taken in 2021 and 2022. 2023 saw a loss primarily because the summer ice skating rink was a bust.
That said, the Winter Ice Village Skating Rink continues to be a money maker, as attendance continues to grow each year. Abshire said this year’s attendance was up a whopping 25% during the first two weeks.
In other news from the Chamber, membership dues will be going up on January 1 for the first time in years.
“Our dues rates have been the same since 1989 and they’re currently the lowest in Washington state. So, we were going to raise our dues in 2020, and then something else happened that year that didn’t allow us to do that. So now we are finally getting around to taking a look at our membership dues. They’re not going up dramatically, but they are going up a little bit, and we’re changing the structure.”
Abshire says they’ll be introducing a new, multi-level fee structure that will no longer be based on how many employees you have, but on your chosen level of participation.
“We’re not doing that anymore. Now, it’s a tiered structure where you can choose as a member what kind of relationship you want to have with the chamber. And there’s four different tier levels. And as a business or an organization, you get to choose what level you want to be at. So, if you renew in March, this won’t affect you until it’s time for you to renew. In March, we’ll contact you, and we’ll talk to you about which tier you’d like to be on and that sort of thing.”