The chamber of commerce has more than a new executive director in time for the holiday season — it has a new direction, and that points toward working to build up downtown shopping.

The chamber’s Oct. 25 meeting was about “how to keep money in town for the holiday season,” said Syvia Ettefagh, board president.

Rather than spending much of its time on community events such as the Halloween Pumpkin Patch and Fourth of July games, as it has in past years, the chamber wants to “build a cohesive front” to promote and help the business community, particularly downtown businesses, she said.

That means looking for ways to keep more of people’s spending in town.

“We’re going to help members accept and adopt and adjust to change … to help businesses learn how to keep up with the world,” Ettefagh said.

Wrangell shoppers placed orders totaling more than $7.5 million online, by phone or mail in the fiscal year that ended June 30, based on the math of borough sales tax receipts. That generated about 12% of municipal sales tax revenues for the year.

The chamber’s redirected efforts will focus on year-round sales in town, not just the summer tourist traffic.

The chamber last month named Wrangell resident Lora Lee Mason as executive director to replace Tracey Martin who retired at the end of August.

“Lora Lee comes to us with a strong background in business development, communication and fundraising. She will be working a mix of in-person at the office and remotely,” according to the organization’s late-October announcement.

“Beginning after the holiday season, Lora Lee will contact all members and initiate an outreach program in order to identify member needs and develop new programs.”

In its first steps toward putting more of its efforts toward downtown, the chamber later this month will roll out a holiday shopper card that when filled out with purchases will get the shopper a chance to win $1,000 in “chamber bucks” to spend at participating businesses.

“It’s like having a $1,000 gift certificate,” Ettefagh said.

It will take $100 in spending to fill out each card, she explained. For example, a shopper who spends $100 at participating businesses would get a chance to win the $1,000 drawing, and someone who fills out three cards would have three chances at the prize.

Businesses will start issuing shopper stamps for the cards on Black Friday, Nov. 28. Chances to fill up cards for the drawing will end on Sunday, Dec. 7.

The program is open only to chamber members, and will cost members $100 to participate.

Businesses that want to participate can sign up at the chamber office in the Nolan Center or send a text to 907-305-0685.

Moving into the holiday season, the chamber will promote Small Business Saturday on Nov. 29, part of a nationwide effort to draw more shoppers to local businesses rather than online shopping.

The annual Christmas tree lighting and Midnight Madness stores sales and other activities are planned for Friday, Dec. 5. To keep more people on Front Street, Santa Claus will be ready to meet and have his photo taken with children that day at the Elks Lodge rather than at the Nolan Center, Ettefagh said.

“I want people downtown,” she said.

To continue with its planning work, the chamber’s annual meeting is set for noon Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Nolan Center.

As seven people have volunteered for the seven-member board, the annual board election is not contested but the bylaws require a vote. An email ballot went out over the weekend to members. The chamber had almost 120 members as of late last month.

In addition to Ettefagh, the current board members who volunteered to continue serving are Ellen Jellum, Alesa McHolland, Jake Harris, Greg Clark, Dwane Ballou and Angie Flickinger.

Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Mason first arrived in Alaska in 1993 after a cross-country drive from Florida to Anchorage. She said her career spans tool-and-die work, journalism, nonprofit leadership and international operations.

In 1999, she co-founded the Delta Discovery Newspaper in Bethel, and later directed operations for a newspaper in St. Maarten. She said her global experience includes work in the Turks and Caicos, St. Thomas and the Marshall Islands, where she founded MIOAW, an animal welfare nonprofit that brought veterinary care to underserved communities.

She’s also served as regional business development director for CoastAlaska, the consortium of public radio stations that includes KSTK.