It’s not always easy to quantify success, but the Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce put it in writing in its 2024 Annual Report. Chamber Director Anna Woodward presented an overview of the organization’s 2024 performance for the City Council of Webster City at its meeting Monday night.

And, when pressed to sum up the Chamber’s 2024 accomplishments, outgoing board President and Brand Ambassador Mark Ferguson boiled it down to just three words: growth, collaboration and innovation.

Bearing all that in mind, here are some highlights from the 2024 annual report:

Growth

— The Chamber hosted 12 Market Nights in summer 2024. The successful event, in its third summer, attracted 30 new vendors who wished to sell their products or services.

— In 2024, the Chamber promoted 60 events, more than one a week; 537 hours were logged by volunteers to produce and support the events.

— In 2024 the Chamber added 39 new members, an 8% growth in total membership.

Collaboration

The Chamber ramped up its promotion of Webster City as a tourist destination by partnering with Hamilton County and Wilson Brewer Park on joint promotional efforts. Three separate initiatives ramped up efforts to bring tourists to Webster City and Hamilton County:

— An attractively illustrated, professionally written Webster City and Hamilton County Destination Guide. The guide is distributed in 17 visitor and welcome centers across Iowa, and is an important tool in developing tourism across Hamilton County.

— A booth at the Iowa State Fair’s Varied Industries Building put Webster City and Hamilton County in front of thousands of fairgoers. While it sounds simple enough to say “we’ll have a booth at the Iowa State Fair,” few realize what a big commitment that takes. The fair board requires the booth to be attended all 11 days of the fair’s run.

— Wilson Brewer Park and the Chamber co-sponsored a booth at the Travel Iowa Marketplace in October 2024; 30 group travel planners attended the annual event. Group travel focuses on bringing people here on an organized itinerary, often traveling by tour bus.

— Economic development was a key Chamber activity in 2024, as in every year. The Chamber held nine successful morning networking events, an opportunity for local businesses to share ideas and work together. It also held 22 ground-breakings and ribbon-cuttings, events designed to call attention to new businesses and business expansion.

— Local businesses and attractions, including La Perla Jarocha, Bannor’s True Value Hardware, Webster City Community Theatre, The Cat Hut, Eekhoff Motors, Country Twist Boutique, The Hamilton County Fair, and Boone River Financial, received design grants from the Chamber to improve their businesses. Again this year, $5,000 was available for this program.

Innovation

— In the spirit of seeing what’s worked elsewhere, Chamber members took a walking tour of downtown Jewell in May 2024. Jewell is an accredited Main Street Iowa community that has consistently applied innovative practices to improve its downtown.

— One of the Chamber’s big objectives is the stabilization and growth of retail trade in downtown Webster City. In May 2024, Donna Ryder successfully converted her baked goods stand at Market Night into a restaurant at 727 Second Street downtown.

— Similarly, Happily Homemade, a thrift and vintage retailer, took the step from a successful presence at JunqueFest to a downtown brick-and-mortar retailer at 526 Second Street.

— The Chamber announced, in 2024, it was the proud recipient of a State of Iowa tourism grant to promote the city’s growing art scene, especially its public art initiative which, in recent years, has seen large sculptures placed in West Twin Park and City Hall Plaza.

If you’d like to know more about the Chamber’s 2024 success, visit the Chamber office at 628 Second Street downtown or phone them at 515-832-2564.