MONROE — The city is losing its marketing guru.
Monroe Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Una Wirkebau is leaving the job effective Dec. 31. She has held the post, building support for events and bolstering business. since February 2013.
Wirkebau makes it a point to get to know people, quickly making friends and building an encyclopedic Rolodex. She has a charismatic way of bringing the right folks together to get a project off the ground.
“She’s certainly been a great source of energy here in town,” Mayor Geoffrey Thomas said. “She’s done an amazing job for our community.”
Wirkebau will be representing the Washington State Lodging and Restaurant Association in Snohomish, Douglas and Chelan counties, starting Jan. 4. She’s also helping the Machias Food Truck Marketplace get going.
Mike Buse, president of the chamber board, said Wirkebau took on more work than was expected, putting in too many hours for what she was being paid.
“I would love to somehow come up with the money. It’d behoove us to keep her,” he said.
Thomas credited her for coming up with new events and zealously promoting traditional ones. She created a buzz about her undertakings on social media.
Wirkebau was behind Light Up Monroe, the Fair Days Parade and Oktoberfest, to name a few. She put on six concerts last summer at Lake Tye.
“There were so many things that needed to be done,” Wirkebau said. “I’m very type A. I can get more done in a 40-hour workweek than most people can in 60 hours.”
The city has been pumping money into revitalizing its downtown so she worked to get new businesses to move into spots along the spruced up streets.
Wirkebau guided the owners of the Main Street Cafe and Big Daddy John’s restaurant through their recent openings. She attended City Council meetings on Tuesday evenings to voice concerns on behalf of the city’s business community.
Wirkebau pitched manufacturing companies on moving to Monroe. She toured decision makers around the growing Fryelands area.
Wirkebau served on more than 10 city and regional boards. She saw to it that the old Carnation milk condensery steam stack was painted in hopes of making the city more attractive to travelers on U.S. 2.
Over the years, Buse said, she turned business owners who disliked the chamber into friends. She built trust by treating everyone equally. “That’s why she was so well loved,” he said.
Monroe’s nonprofit chamber has a volunteer board of directors and two employees, a director and an operations manager. It is funded primarily through membership fees and lodging taxes, which each account for about half its annual budget.
In 2015, the chamber received the lion’s share, $65,000, of the money distributed from city lodging taxes. Next year, it is slated to receive $55,000.
The board is interviewing candidates to replace Wirkebau. A decision is expected by mid-January, Buse said.
“Whoever we put in her shoes will have a lot to live up to,” he said. “She was instrumental in us being where we are today.”
The board wants the new director to double the number of businesses the chamber represents to about 600 by the end of 2016, Buse said. It has changed the position’s pay to $25,000 a year, from $33,000, with performance incentives to earn more. The director will be expected to work at least 20 hours a week.
Wirkebau said the chamber and the city need to commit more money to marketing Monroe.
“You can’t be a business that’s ho-hum about it,” she said. “Running a community is like running a business. All hands need to be on deck.”
Before she leaves Monroe, Wirkebau is determined to wrap up projects, such as putting up wayfinding signs to direct travelers from U.S. 2 to downtown.
“That’ll be the last thing I do if it kills me,” she said.
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports
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