New Chamber director sees economic potential

The new executive director of the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce has big ideas about the future and lined up Bozeman entrepreneur Greg Gianforte to speak here on June 1.

Anna Stene was selected by the chamber board to replace longtime executive director Carol Pike, who retired in May. A resident of the Flathead for more than a decade, Stene joined the Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board in January and appreciates the area’s economic potential.

“From Polebridge to Essex, this is a true gateway community for residents and visitors alike,” she said. “We can bring in year-round businesses, from high tech to recreation to the arts.”

Stene grew up on a third-generation homestead in southeast South Dakota with draft horses and tractors.

“My mother and father are still farming there,” she said. “I grew up riding horses, working cattle and pulling weeds.”

Stene earned a degree in creative writing with an emphasis on linguistics from the University of Montana. She worked for a time at the Montana Academy east of Kalispell, followed by a job as a data manager and technical writer for a security company.

She also worked as the business manager at West Glacier School for three years and for the Whitefish school district. Later as a consultant for entrepreneurial start-ups, she helped win a contest sponsored by Flathead Valley Community College.

“You could say I cut my teeth in business management,” she said.

Stene said she first heard about the Chamber position in February 2014 but spent that year visiting the family farm and traveling.

“I own property outside Columbia Falls and my daughter is in Missoula now, so by the end of the summer I had decided to make a commitment here,” she said. “I love this place. There’s something unparalleled here.”

Columbia Falls is becoming a bedroom community and needs a more diverse economy for both new families and established ones, she said.

“I see big changes now — younger families, new ideas, a family-friendly environment,” Stene said. “We’re on the cusp of influencing what kind of town we want to have here.”

Stene, who will work out of the Chamber’s visitor center at Marantette Park, said she wants to partner with other Flathead area chambers and other agencies to continue the work that Pike and the board set.

“I also want to get ideas from the community on how we can set ourselves uniquely apart as a community,” she said.

The Chamber’s visitor center, one of the busiest in the state, opened for business May 22 and will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Labor Day the weekend.

A $3,500 grant from Glacier Country will be used to pay employees manning the center for 25 hours per week, Pike said. The Chamber must match that to bring the total to 50 hours per week.