Tourism, Trails, and Teamwork: Welcoming Visitors Through Community Partnership

As the weather heats up in Mason County—the Gateway to the Olympics—so does our tourism industry. Join host Tiana Dunbar for a conversation with Kerry Myers, President & CEO of the North Mason Chamber of Commerce, and Mendy Harlow, Executive Director of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group. Together, they discuss the launch of the new Visitor Information Center at the Salmon Center, the unique experiences that draw visitors to Hood Canal, and the important role environmental stewardship plays in supporting our local economy. The conversation highlights the power of collaboration, community pride, and protecting the natural resources that make Mason County a place people want to visit again and again. #MasonCountyStrong

Check out:

North Mason Chamber of Commerce - https://northmasonchamber.com/

Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group - https://www.pnwsalmoncenter.org/

Explore Hood Canal - https://www.explorehoodcanal.com/

Fjordin Crossing Event - https://www.fjordincrossin.com/

Sweetwater Creek Trail Info - https://www.pnwsalmoncenter.org/sweetwatercreek/

Union River Estuary - https://www.pnwsalmoncenter.org/restoration/current-habitat-projects/union-river-estuary-restoration/

Hunter Farms - https://www.hunter-farms.com/

Transcript

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 0:03

Welcome back, Mason County listeners. It's your host, Tiana Dunbar, and you are tuning in to the latest episode of The Economic Current, your economic development podcast of Mason County. Today I am joined by two very fabulous local leaders, Carrie Myers, president of the North Mason Chamber, and Mendy Harlow, Executive Director for the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group. Summer has started in the great Pacific Northwest, and it's during this time of year that our region experiences an uptick in travelers, and even more so with 2026 FIFA World Cup right around the corner. Washington State is about to experience one of the biggest tourism seasons to date, and that's what we're here to talk about today. When a visitor comes to Mason County and spends money on a hotel, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a gas station, a local event, or even a retail store, that's money that wasn't already circulating here before. That new money helps to create local businesses, help hire new employees, and more. The tourism industry creates jobs, generates sales tax revenue that in turn funds local services and infrastructure, helps attract future residents, entrepreneurs, and investors, and even strengthens the quality of life amenities that locals enjoy, such as parks, beautification projects, festivals, and more. I could not be more excited to talk tourism with both of you, and thank you so much for being here today. And without further ado, I'd like to dive in and just get to know you both a little bit better and the organizations that you serve. And Carrie, we'll get started with you. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became to be involved with the North Mason Chamber.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 1:41

Definitely been a long journey. Um I'm a local resident of Union, Washington. So the shores of Hood Canal are very, very, very important to me. I was practically born and raised there. We moved from Michigan, but I was nine years old when my father, Chet, brought us to Union. And what a magical world that has been since childhood. I never thought over all of these years that I would be able to not only raise a son, but also have a career. And I started very young in the restaurant industry when it was Victoria's at Robin Hood and kind of started with, you know, busing and supporting Victoria Rice when she owned Robin Hood, and she was there over 15 years. And then decided to pursue anything but restaurant industry, got my college education at the University of Washington, and then started to work for lawyers, a personal injury attorney, and then went on to do marketing for some corporate law firms in Seattle, but only to come right back to Union and own Robinhood myself. And so that was in 2004. Doesn't seem that long ago, but it is. Definitely. I think it was meant to be. And so being the president of the chamber, there's tourism elements, and then there's our membership with whom most of the people I already know. And it allowed me to maybe step away from Hood Sport and Union and maybe check out Belfair and broaden my scope a little bit. I just get so caught up in the beauty of the Olympic mountains and just Hood Canal and the oysters and clams and the people, our music scene, everything. So it's really good to be a part of the chamber to broaden my scope of tourism.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 5:10

And Mendy, with your journey to the Hood Canal Summit Enhancement Group, I know that we've had the privilege of talking before, but for the listeners who haven't heard that story, can you briefly tell us a little bit about that? Sure.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 5:21

So I grew up in Eastern Oregon. My dad worked for the Bureau of Land Management. And so I kind of started out my young life as a person who was outside a lot doing a lot of volunteer projects with him. And when I graduated, I went to the University of Arizona. And my kind of initial thoughts were that I would get a degree and eventually go on to law school to do environmental law. But, you know, things happened throughout life. I had a lot of different interests. So I kind of dabbled around in veterinary medicine and did a lot of wildlife rehabilitation. And then eventually settled on a degree in wildlife, watershed, and rangeland resources, which after I graduated from college in 2003, that's what landed me up here on beautiful shores of Hood Canal with the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group. I was actually an AmeriCorps member for the first year that I was with HCSEG. During that year, I really learned to fall in love with this environment. It's just such a unique area. It's, you know, a marine environment, but it's part of Greater Puget Sound. So it has a lot of different elements of, you know, marine life than other ocean environments do. So I continued on that journey with the Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, got hired on full-time, started out as a finance person within the office at HCSCG, then got hired on as a biologist when that position opened up and then project manager. And then eventually our executive director retired and I was able to fill his shoes. So I've been the director at HCSCG since 2013. And it's been such an amazing experience to, you know, have the opportunity to work with so many amazing, passionate people who care about the environment, but then also have the opportunity to work with young kids who are on their own journey through college or in high school, moving on into college, because there's, like Carrie was saying, there's so many different opportunities right here on Hood Canal in Mason County that a lot of folks who are in high school or just starting out college don't realize that they have. We can have really good jobs right here in Mason County for kids that grow up here. They don't have to move on to Seattle or somewhere else to have a good job and good career.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 7:39

And so for the listeners who may not be super familiar with the Salmon Center, can you kind of talk about what the work that your organization does throughout Mason County?

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 7:47

Sure, yeah. So our organization focuses on habitat restoration, environmental education, and ecosystem research. So we are not just in Mason County, but we also work in Kitsap County and Jefferson County. And so kind of the bulk of our work is habitat restoration. So we go and we remove levees, replace culverts with bridges, do a lot of work that basically makes better habitat for salmon so that when they return to the rivers and streams, they have places to spawn, or the eggs as they hatch and the juveniles as they move downstream have better habitat so that they're have a better chance of survival before they move off into the ocean. And then our environmental education, we have several different after-school programs and summer programs for kids. We also have adult classes focused not just on the environment, but also on organic gardening. So the Salmon Center is a 38-acre certified organic farm that's right at the tip of Hood Canal and it's right on the edge of the Union River estuary. So our goal there is to show how you can have an active farm immediately adjacent to a salmon estuary and not have any negative impacts on that estuary. So then we also do a lot of research as we do our habitat restoration projects. We are constantly monitoring the populations of salmon utilizing those habitats. So for one example, we restored the Union River estuary back in 2013. And since then, we've been, we had been counting salmon in the Union River since 2000. And so we were able to see that there was an incredible increase in the number of salmon returning to that river system after we did the estuary restoration project. And that's because chum salmon utilize estuaries for a long period of time after they emerge from the freshwater systems. So they'll spend a lot of time in the estuary kind of getting those physiological changes that need to happen before they move on into the saltwater. So from the freshwater into the saltwater, they have to change their bodies in order to adapt to that different, different uh salinity. So that monitoring is really, really critical to show that we can actually have improved salmon populations when we're spending all this money on habitat restoration.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 9:59

You help to keep Mason County green and healthy. Thank you so much for that work. And I'm very familiar with what a chamber does, but maybe there's some folks who don't understand the benefits of being a part of a chamber. Can you explain maybe what the chamber does and some of the benefits of being involved with one?

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 10:16

Definitely, definitely. Community, community, community. We support on a membership level. I've been there a year and I've been actually assessing along the way to improve what the benefits would be. But right out of the gate, there's so much networking and bonding between all of our members. For instance, when we talk about creating a new visitor center, for we'll talk about later, but I have members that would step up and help me get the lumber or help me get the shed or help me paint it or give me uh the support for the chamber to help tourism. So our members collaborate together in such a way that we all kind of rise with the tide. We also do a lot of community events. So all of the members, I want to say, have important community missions and objectives. So we support that as much as we can. And then we have the tourism element where a lot of them are in the industry of tourism. So we support, we have after hours where we encourage our members to come and join, and we network. So networking is very important for a chamber of commerce. And just to fully understand how we can support their business mission and objectives and to make sure that we're all connecting with one another and passing referrals. So there's a very definite business side to a chamber, but we're all very immersed into our community and keeping chambers alive and moving forward through a tremendous amount of collaboration. And then we do ribbon cutting. So we celebrate our members when milestones come up or they're opening a new office somewhere. So there's ribbon cutting to celebrate their achievements. And then we have some annual events, galas, that sort of thing, where we take a look at member of the year, business of the year, new business of the year, that sort of thing. So it's really important to stay connected with your local chamber. We have two in Mason County. So I do rely on my colleague Deedra from Shelton Chamber, where we find that we collaborate a lot to make sure that we represent an entire county, not just North Mason and Shelton only. So you'll see a strong connection there and more collaboration so that we can represent an entire county.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 12:33

I do appreciate all the opportunities that you make for businesses to be able to come around each other and network and maybe help each other solve business issues together. You know, having those groups of people who are going through similar things is really helpful to entrepreneurs and small business owners. So thank you. At first glance, a Chamber of Commerce and a salmon enhancement group might seem like very different organizations, but both of you are deeply connected to what makes Mason County a place that people want to live, work, and play. So I want to talk a little bit about that more. So when you guys hear the word tourism, what does it mean to each of you? And I know we started with you, Carrie, last time. So maybe Mendy, let's hear from you on that.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 13:15

When I think of a tourist or tourism, I think of an opportunity to interact with someone to help them understand a little bit more about our environment. So we have lots of trails down at the Salmon Center and in, you know, Mason County, where we have staff out there who are able to kind of chat with people as they walk the trails so that they can help those visitors understand like what they're looking at, kind of the different plants and animals that they're seeing. And then, you know, also how unique Hood Canal is. So I really kind of see tourism as an opportunity to help educate folks about the world around them.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 13:52

For me, I wear many hats, but from a chamber perspective, um, tourism definitely means visitor centers. And so we each have visitor centers that are important for the county so that we can have all of the information for people that are passing through to walk in and have an actual paid person staffed by my chamber. And so we have Hunter Farms. It's very critical to keep our little 12 by 12 schoolhouse out there stocked with our local brochures. And then also we collaborate with you know Rachel Hansen from Explorerhood Canal. You know, on a tourism level, she's providing so many different resources for us to share with the tourists. And so for a chamber level, having those visitor centers are still very vital, even though people seem to be getting a lot of their information more online. We're also going to be providing that, but we're still physically personally there to have that conversation and have that experienced, knowledgeable staff person to have someone know that there's a hoodstock or there's a fjord and crossing or there is a salmon center to go and and hike and go and learn about salmon restoration to all the numerous different hikes with our Olympic National Forest in our backyard. And so we need the the skilled people to connect all of those things so that they want to visit again.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 15:25

So, Carrie, beyond the obvious, you know, when we have tourists come in and they're eating at our restaurants or buying gifts from, say, Hood Canal gifts, beyond that, what are the benefits that tourism brings to communities like Mason County?

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 15:42

Well, definitely uh I'll I'll just go into my brand is travel in red. So I'm very passionate with Be the Traveler. We have the traveler on Mount Washington that many may not know about, which is an apparition of a traveling person, maybe a little Gandalf-ish kind of, but it's how the snow melts, um, creates this traveler that's a legend to and a vantage point right here in Union, but you can see the traveler from all over. But he he he or she comes out, you know, in the springtime throughout the winter. And it's kind of this notion of storytelling for me. Having the traveler is the best of dining, the best of hiking, the best of music, best of poetry, the best hikes, all of that. And so I try to capture that for the tourists, and so that when they do come and they want to shop, we can say the best of shopping is Cameo Boutique and Hood Canali, and then let's get them to Belfare and really shop at other locations to have that full experience and not to miss Hood Sport, which is only 20 minutes away. So concierge for me is really important when it comes to tourism. And I take that on a different level with property management when I do vacation rentals. The experiences can be very unique and should be really put front and center and be celebrated. But the traveler is kind of a big thing, even though it's my brand. But a lot of people really have it in their own heart of what it means. Um and it has also a Native American folklore to it as well. So when coming to visit our area and you see that traveler on Mount Washington, it's it can be emotional and people love to see see that. I hope I hope that answered your question in a roundabout way.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 17:41

Yeah. Mendy, I had a question for you, especially as it pertains to like environmental stewardship. How does environmental stewardship and protecting the natural resources support tourism?

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 17:53

Very good. Yes. So the more we have opportunities for people to enjoy the outside, the more we're going to have tourists come to our community. So if we don't have salmon in our watershed, or if we don't have snow in the mountains, or if we don't have trees in the forest, then we're going to definitely see a decrease in tourism because we really have those attractive elements in our community that people want to come out and see. So they come out to Hood Canal because they want to enjoy the water. They want to enjoy the mountains, the hiking that's right in our backyard in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park. So, you know, if we can work to protect those assets in our community, we will definitely have an opportunity to increase tourism in our community. So there's definitely a balance though, because we definitely want to make sure that uh the folks that are coming to our community know that the natural resources are precious and they're also a great economic driver for our communities, not just for tourism, but for, you know, shellfish resources and for the forests themselves too.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 18:57

Like Hamahama has done a really wonderful job, really, with their marketing and the whole experience to go out there. I mean, they are beyond even just countywide. They're drawing people from all over the world, I want to say, but it's a destination place that's sought out. And so now we're able to leverage that. When you stay, you know, even at Alderbrook Resort or Robinhood or a vacation rental, we can definitely get them in the right direction to make that drive along US 101 to go and visit Hama Hama. Um, and it's those efforts that really help us with tourism.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 19:38

So you guys have an event on the horizon that I know you guys are both preparing for that that includes maybe paddling across to a certain water, certain very unique um destination that's here in Washington. If you guys want to talk a little bit more about the fjord crosset. Fjord and cross it. Yes. And can you explain to listeners what a fjord is? Oh, yeah. Yes, I can do that.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 20:04

So a fjord is a unique waterway that was formed by glaciation. So um the Hood Canal is actually the only fjord in the lower 48 states.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 20:14

So we call it Hood Canal, but there is this notion of fjord. And so it's been kind of in marketing for the last several years. And my colleague Jan Morris of Hardware Distillery, she and her husband Chuck 10 years ago almost. We had COVID that kind of messed us up a little bit with when we say eight years, we've really been doing it almost 10. But they are the founders of Fjord and Crossen because of their heritage of being Scandinavian. And so they make aquavit from their distillery. And the Aquavet process is very historical. And so they would transport the Aquavet from Norway across the West Indies, I guess. But it was the motion of the water that added to the whole taste of the Aquavet unbeknownst to them. And so we thought instead of crossing an equator and that sort of thing, we're just going to cross the fjord and back. And that became the fjordan. So we're kind of paying homage to an old, very old Nordic tradition that takes the barrel of Aquavet across the equator and back. So we are only going a couple miles over and back, but making it even more unique, that's very special to celebrate. So it's celebrating the release of hardware distilleries Aquavit. And uh we have a little procession where we carry the barrel. It's very heavy. And uh every year it crosses the fjord and back. And it's the next year after it's been aging that we crack it open and have our Aquavet grotto. So we actually have a bar underneath the pier at Port of Hoodsport, and we set that up with Beast Road. Tables and all kinds of cool stuff. And you can actually have Aquavet. And we have three different types of Nordsky, Nordskis. Nordsky? Oh gosh, Jan will not be happy with me. Three different types of cocktails that'll be featured, along with our IPA from Cody Morris from the brewery, Potlatch Brewery. And uh he has made a new IPA, so that'll be featured. And we have our poster and our little logo on the canned beer, and it was released last May. And then we'll have uh local wine. So it's really an Aquavete grotto celebrating the release of the Aqua Vit. So Chuck and some other volunteers carry the Aquavete barrel all the way from hardware distillery down the pier. And it boards our sailboat Vikings that come from Union, our lovely captains, and they roll in in rare form and they dress up and it's really fun. And they actually load the barrel so that it can cross the fjord and back. But they actually position themselves so that, I don't know, 175 paddlers. Impressive. We'll also follow this boat. So there's a paddle the canal challenge, um, which is the second part of this whole celebration. And um they register, so registration is still open. I'm at about 150 already with less than two weeks to go. So I feel like we'll hit 175, maybe 200. But that's a lot when it used to be 20. So it's grown in size exponentially. And that's because of Explorerhood Canal and Rachel Hansen really taking that event and helping us market it on a statewide level or even nationwide. Um, but we definitely had the support, you know, to get that uh event up and really front and center because of it's it's so unique. And uh now we have a timed race company that will come out and help because it's just a nightmare. We have so many volunteers trying to record times for over 150 people. So we have a timed company this year, which is exciting. And uh they all take off to the horn of the Viking sail ship, and they set sail with that Fjordan crossing, and they're taking it across while 175 paddlers follow and go around. Uh YSS Dive is out there, our sheriff is on the water as well. Our local fire departments. We have a lot of safety and a lot of support on the water, but then they come back. So it's about a two-mile trip to go out. You don't really cross the entire canal because you have private property and it would take too long. And we have to do it. It's very tide dependent. That's another funny thing. So the date changes a lot because we need the tide to be pretty far out if you want to have vendors, which we have about 20. So you can get food here also. You can just relax and be a spectator. You can participate in the paddle and really make it competitive, or maybe you're with your family and you just want to go out for a leisure paddle and just be in the moment of following the Vikings, is fun too. But it's very family-friendly, pet friendly. We're on the beach at Port of Hood Sport celebrating this barrel of Aqua Vete every year, and it's become a pretty big community event. I am probably where we're gonna see maybe a thousand people pass through, I'm pretty sure, which is great for Little Hood Sport. Nearly every business has supported us in sponsorships and they're excited. So we're seeing a bouncy house over at Market Fresh. We see kid activities, everyone's doing all kinds of really cool things to support it.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 25:47

The excitement is very tangible. And one of the most exciting recent develops in the North Mason community is the launch of a new mobile visitor center. So definitely the star of the show today is talking about that visitor center. And visitor centers are often someone's first stop when they arrive in a community. And so I'd love to talk a little bit about that. And maybe we'll start with Carrie. Tell us about this new visitor center. What inspired the move? Because it was recently at um home base.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 26:17

Yes. So we for years have had our visitor center at my Bel Faire office right off of Highway 3. And it's just in the year I've been there, I can see that the access wasn't very good. And our numbers were kind of low. And so I felt that we needed to do something different. And I felt having a destination and something really touristy and cool uh tied to it would probably have better numbers and really make a difference in Mason County for tourism. So Mendy and I started to kind of brainstorm, and we thought, gee, the Salmon Center, as you've heard, is amazing. So maybe a visitor center there would be a wonderful collaboration. And that's what's so beautiful about this is the collaboration that we found between both organizations where we need to capitalize on tourism and get this going. And she already has a number of people already coming out and hiking and really embracing the Salmon Center with all of your great work. And then hopefully we can bring more people then to learn more about the Salmon Center. So this collaboration is really something special. So we decided that's the route to go and to use our lodging tax dollars that we get would be best spent that way. And we already have a small 10 by 10 little shed going up. And we're uh painting it, outfitting it, making sure there's power. We'll have a little slideshow to showcase upcoming events and uh other really cool things about the Salmon Center or Cross Market or Hunter Farms Visitor Center. I have the staff ready to go. So we're we're still fine-tuning some of the little minor construction things, but we'll be up and running here shortly in the next week or so, I believe.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 28:08

Okay, so you guys did have a ribbon cutting for it, and it's not open quite yet. No ribbon cutting yet. Oh, okay. Yeah. So that's ribbon cutting.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 28:17

I think I was mixing that up with Feller. So we had a ribbon cutting for our Sweetwater Creek trail. Yes, paper one. Yeah. So that was definitely an amazing ribbon cutting event for just a short one mile trail that we have now in Belfair, just right around the Sweetwater Creek area.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 28:34

And that will absolutely be our team trained to talk more about all of that to make sure that they know that there's this amazing new park coming or already started. So that's the beauty of having a new visitor center out on the location where it's absolutely stunning. And we think that it'll be more successful for our travelers. So you'll be definitely hearing from North Mason Chamber. I've already been kind of giving some early peeks at our progress. And we also have Hunter Farms, and that's already open. It's kind of turnkey. But again, I'm putting a TV there too for a slideshow and just to keep, you know, current information immediately in that area so that we can always be on the forefront of everyone's events and trying to be stewards of tourism so that we can have people finding all of these wonderful experiences, events, music, all of that.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 29:28

And it's really mutually beneficial to both of our organizations. So for the Salmon Center and the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, it gets people down there who have never been there before. And, you know, I am constantly hearing in the community, uh, oh, where's the salmon center? Like people just live in Mason County and they've never been to our location. So, you know, this will provide an opportunity for folks to really drive down the road and see what's going on at the salmon center.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 29:55

Definitely. We'll probably do our ribbon cutting later. I just have to look at the calendar and have a couple other construction type things that we're still trying to wrap up and then get the team trained. We'll be doing that this Thursday, walking the grounds, really immersing ourselves into the salmon center so that we can speak about it. Get people in the right direction, also know the team to cross-market our hunter farms and make sure that we're getting the word out for all of our efforts for tourism.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 30:26

And it's also really perfect timing, too, because of the ramp up in activities that we have at the Salmon Center during the summertime. So we just opened our UPIC garden last Monday. And so, you know, having the visitor information center down there now is just a perfect time because of that new opportunity for folks to pick fresh vegetables and donate if they can.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 30:46

So now there's a destination tied to the visitor center. I think not that we won't have brochures and you can still come to will still be listed, you know, as a visitor center and the office off a highway three. I have a feeling though, that people will really want to go to somewhere like the salmon center to see all of these amazing things and to check us out. Uh, so we're excited for this new venture. You have goats too, don't you? We do have goats, yes.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 31:12

They're our neighbor. They're really cute too. And sheep and alpacas and llamas and goats and bunnies. It's a great spot.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 31:21

What kind of questions are visitors asking when they stop in the visitors' center?

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 31:26

What is there to do, pretty much? Where to eat. They pretty much have their stay figured out, but it's the experiences and they know it's a smaller town. So we have to or that they're just so far, maybe they're out of state and they really have no concept of what the Olympic National Forest means. And they end up way too far north, you know. They didn't realize the hike that they picked was two hours away when there's others that are closer. Uh, and then there's some updates from our fire from last year, you know, so that we have to stay on top of to make sure if things are even open. So we have a lot of questions where people just can't figure out exactly where union is or where Hood Sport and trying to explain how to find certain things for them to go and see.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 32:16

You know, one thing that you did mention, which I think would be interesting to hear about, is this move was not cheap. This required some capital. So how I you did mention that you guys went after LTAC funding. Yes. Can you kind of talk about that funding and who was all involved in helping fund this endeavor?

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 32:35

It is a responsibility of the president at a chamber. Uh, my colleague Deedra also has to support her visitor centers. So we carefully together, because I serve in the capacity of the lodging tax advisory committee. I'm also a member of that. So I learned quite a bit. But I wanted to make sure that when we asked for X dollars, it's really going toward tourism. So it made sense then to request the funds needed to buy a 10 by 10 shed to have the contractors get electricity, paint it, put the insulation in the walls and do all of those cool things. Try to be resourceful with desks and all of these things that we need, but we also need the kiosk from WildSide App there as well. And so I had to put a budget together in front of the lodging tax advisory committee. And then together with everybody else that's making requests, you know, for the funds as well, and how best to utilize on behalf of Mason County. I wanted to represent our chamber a little bit better by making this decision to have a visitor center out at the Salmon Center, would be the best use of the dollars that I requested and I was awarded. And I will be doing that throughout the course of 2026, and then we'll reapply again. And that might look a little different because I won't be buying a shed and doing all of these things. It might be just staffing. So our monies go toward the staff that we employ, which is great. That gives opportunity. I have a lot of people that are excited to be a visitor center employee. The lodging tech's advisory committee, LTEC, wants more hours of operation, not just Saturday, Sunday or something like that. I heard that. And so we've added at least five days out at Salmon Center and four out at Hunter Farms and maybe more. I definitely have the people willing to do that. We're excited to take it to the next level and get the marketing for it. So I actually commissioned a local artist, Lauren Feldman. She did our artwork for Fjorden Crossen. She really gave me a beautiful perspective of what the Feller wetlands would look like. And maybe when you see it, you'd go, that's the Salmon Center. That's a visitor center. I want to go there. And then she illustrated Hunter Farms, the actual building. It's very cute. So those efforts are important, although marketing isn't really a part of how you request your lodging tax, but it's also important. So right now we've we requested the money. I have to report quarterly on how it's being spent and it's monitored. And I sit in front of the commissioners to let them know that we're being responsible and it's exciting. And now I can't wait to start capturing how many guests or visitors we have come through. So I'm responsible to do that too and show them it was 100, 200, 1,000. So we have quarterly reports that we have to provide.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 35:43

So, question for you, Mendy. Since this visitor center is going to be located at the Salmon Center, are there projects that you want the visitors to learn more about when they come to visit?

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 35:56

Yeah. So a big one is the Union River estuary that we we restored back in 2013. That's one that's a great showcase because it's right there and it has a ADA accessible trail all the way around it. So folks can walk and see the new estuary as it's forming. It's been 12 and a half years now, and so it's really come a long way. The vegetation's growing back, there are new tidal channels, and so we actually give tours. My staff will take folks out on the estuary trail and talk about the estuary restoration project and why it's important to salmon. We have birding tours as well. So folks can check out binoculars and come and meet with my staff and then walk out on the trail and they can get some help identifying birds along the way. So, and then also our just our operations there at the salmon center. So, like I mentioned, the UPIC garden, and you mentioned the farm animals that are there. So we have amazing summer camps for kids. And so maybe some of those folks coming into the visitor center will spread the word that we have summer camps for kids that are age six through 11, and then another, a different group of uh camps for kids that are age 12 through 14. So it's definitely a great experience for us to get that word out about what we're doing down there.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 37:15

We'll definitely have to link some of those opportunities maybe in the show notes below because I'm always looking for a cool opportunity in Mason County. Who isn't? Even if you're a local, it is cool to know that there's cool places like, you know, Hunter Farms or the CMN Center that have really hands-on activities that you can do. And I don't know where else you can do bird watching in Mason County. That is a first.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 37:37

Yeah, a guided birdwalk is definitely a rare thing.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 37:41

Yeah, yeah. Thank you. So a question for both of you. Feel free, whoever wants to jump in on this first. But what do you guys think that the biggest attractions are that bring people to Mason County?

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 37:53

Oysters. Definitely the shores of Hood Canal, its beauty, the Olympic National, or excuse, well, that the Olympic National Park, but also the Olympic Mountains. Definitely some of the restaurants, but I'm so union focused. But you have cook and fork, because that's an amazing experience to sit outside with rustic cooking and to have that sweeping view of the Olympic Mountains and Hood Canal. Alderbrick Resort paving the way, you know, having a beautiful resort and spa. So having that spa and um everything that they're providing for their guests is pretty spectacular. And the marketing that they do really elevates all of Union because we feel people start to shop when they come here. And so having that is pretty amazing.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 38:38

Yeah, I would definitely say the recreation is the big draw to our community. Uh so folks want to enjoy the water, they want to enjoy the trails in the forest.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 38:47

As we aim to wrap this up here, we've talked a lot about tourism today, but I'm curious what excites you most about the future of tourism in Mason County? Definitely.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 38:59

As I see the area grow, Airbnbs in particular, I manage uh nearly 20, which is a lot for me, but there's like a hundred just in the immediate area. There's a need for that. So I'm seeing us grow in such a way definitely tourism related. I also have my office at McCreevy House. So we have a historic mansion sitting up there, just waiting as it's getting restored, you know. So that'll be something that will create some experiences and tie into what's down below us with two margaritas and hook and fork and the country store. So that synergy I see is definitely growing to connect us all to have that united experience for people to visit up and down the shores of Hood Canal, all the way to Lilliwop and to Hama Hama. So I see us all collaborating better, knowing that this is a hospitality in particular, is on fire.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 40:04

Yeah, and I would say what most excites me about kind of the increase in tourism in our area is again just more opportunities to engage people in the environment. We really want folks who come and visit our area to have an appreciation for the unique Hood Canal that we have, also the unique wildlife and fish species that we have here. So in Hood Canal, we have five different species of salmon, and it's just really something that a lot of people don't know. So it's great to get engaged with those people and help them understand like what's going on underneath the water, what's happening up in the trees. All right.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 40:36

And if there's one thing that listeners could take away from today's conversation, what would that be? Come visit Hood Canal. Come visit the visitor center at the salmon center. Well, and I will say that Mason County is definitely a place that is a resource-based economy, and we really need to take care of our natural resources that we have. But it's not just for living and working, it's also for playing. And I think we do a really good job here in Mason County of relaxing and appreciating and enjoying the nature that's in our backyard too. It's a really good draw for us. Definitely. It's really great to share that with other people too. Yeah. Yeah. Come and enjoy it with us. What's one thing about Mason County that you guys wish more people knew about?

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 41:18

I would say just opportunities that we have. I think that this visitor information center is really going to help us communicate that to people. I don't think that people really know all the amazing things that we have going on in our community.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 41:33

I do want to plug also that you guys have an after hours that's coming up, a joint after hours. Can you guys fill in the details on that? I'm pretty excited for that.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 41:42

In fact, a lot of the members just already know the date. I don't have to really much. They just look forward to it because it's Hood Canal Communications and Cameo Boutique. So we'll begin at Hood Canal Communications on June 10th, I believe, from five to seven. And Darren, as always, rolls out a spectacular social. Uh, and there will be catered food from the deli, and then we'll make our way over to Cameo Boutique with Pam Hansen. And then a lot of the participating businesses there also kind of open their doors and we get to kind of go and support. And they they have little games and raffles and that sort of thing. But it's really well-tended, I would say anywhere from 80 to 100 people, but that's two chambers really coming together, which is nice to see. That's the joint part of Shelton Chamber and North Mason.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 42:34

Right on. Any other events or upcoming promotions that you'd like to plug?

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 42:40

So there's a ribbon cutting on Friday evening that is at fourth generation contractors. And there is actually an amazing mural that one of my staff members has been working with the North Mason School District students to paint. And it's the Secret Wetlands Garden. So it's an amazing, beautiful mural with a lot of wildlife and some of the beautiful flora that we have in our area.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 43:08

That'll be at 5 30 Friday, June 5th. Yes. And Beth with Hood Canal Art and Gifts has put a lot of energy and details into it. So I believe it's going to be really well attended, and she'll have many of her vendors that support her shop there too. And there's some exciting raffles and refreshments.

Mendy Harlow, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Executive Director 43:32

And we also have our 5K salmon run on Saturday. So it's a great opportunity for folks to come out and support the Salmon Center in our education programs. So I think we already have 75 runners that are competing.

Kerry Myers, North Mason Chamber President & CEO 43:46

And there's always historic tours at McCreevy House on Saturdays, Sundays from one to four. Oh, good to know. I didn't know that. Yeah, it sits right above the Hood Canal Marina. You can't miss it, but it is a little challenging to find because it's down a little bumpy road. But we open up and you can come see just how far the leadership has taken a decrepit home and made it really what it is today. And there's so much more coming from that organization as well.

Tiana Dunbar, MasonEDC 44:16

Thank you both for joining me today and for everything that you do to help Mason County a place where people want to live, work, play, and visit. And with that, thank you so much to the listeners for tuning in again to the Mason EDC's The Economic Current, your number one podcast for economic development in Mason County, Washington. We'll see you next month. Thank you. Thank you.