Guest column : Company is coming … Are we ready?

I love Havre in the spring and summer, and this year it’s so green and beautiful. A kind of new beginning. New calves in the field, robins and meadowlarks singing on the fences, budding trees, the spring and summer flowers are making their showing and the burst of color from the wildflowers carpet the hillsides in Beaver Creek Park.

We are so fortunate to have this natural beauty and abundant fresh air right out our back doors — we sometimes take it all for granted. Our community is blessed with a great heritage and beautiful surroundings that bring people to see us. Yes, we have wonderful attractions in Fort Assinniboine, the Buffalo Jump, Havre Beneath the Streets and the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum, but we have even more we can offer the visitors an experience that is authentic and represents the people and the history of our community.

We all travel and take notes of things we like (or don’t like) about communities we visit. Points that always stick with me are the communities that are clean, that have well maintained buildings and extra touches like flowers and colorful flags. These towns have a “shine” about them. The storefronts and buildings may not be new, but the grounds are clean, the sidewalks are swept and the glass on the front door sparkles. There is a feeling of community pride — and the desire to stop and explore prevails.  

Over the next few months, a very large number of visitors will be coming through our community on 1st Street going to or coming from vacation destinations. These visitors will be spending money in our businesses. Yes, gas, lodging and food are the top three areas visitors spend money — and number four is shopping. But shopping is the number one activity done by visitors to our area. Tourism is important to the economic health of our community. In a study done by Montana’s Institute for Tourism Recreation and Research over a two-year average, it was determined that tourism represents a $39 million boost to Hill County’s economy. This is a huge economic hit to our business community. Do our front-line employees understand how important the tourist dollars are to the Havre business community?

The Havre Area Chamber of Commerce’s Tourism Committee has been working hard to market and promote our wonderful community; the Montana Office of Tourism is predicting another increase for nonresident visitors to explore the wonderful natural beauty of our state. The key draw this year is the 100th anniversary of our national parks. We have already seen travelers heading that direction and expecting to see many more. We are lucky to be on one of the main roads to the park. Let’s leave our visitors with a pleasant memory of their visit and a desire to return.

(Debbie Vandeberg is executive director of the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce.)