Ridgeway council renews one-year tourism contract with Chamber, orders competitive solicitation for 2026

The Ridgeway Town Council on Feb. 12 unanimously approved a one-year renewal of its Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with the Ridgeway Area Chamber of Commerce and directed staff to hold a competitive solicitation for tourism promotion services in late summer or early fall 2025.

Staff said the town designates 50% of lodging-tax revenue for tourism promotion and that the one-year renewal will give the chamber continuity while allowing the town to solicit competitive proposals for the FY2026 contract. "We would advise option three as perhaps the best way to go given where we're at in the year," a town staffer said, recommending a one-year term with procurement next season.

Chamber director Ashley Harkins described the chamber's 2024 deliverables, including a 13% increase in active website users, a 41% increase in social media engagement and a statewide grant that funded the gravel Adventure Field Guide. "We continue to work with incredible staff and volunteers," Harkins said, listing outreach, visitor-center hours and promotional campaigns as accomplishments.

Several business owners and councilors urged more clarity on how lodging-tax funds are used and whether public dollars should subsidize an organization that also provides member services. "The main question we need to decide is what the town's goal is — increase visitation, support businesses, assist nonprofits — and then align funds to that mission," a resident and business owner said during public comment.

Council members noted overlap between the chamber's tourism work and existing town programs — including Fuse (the Creative Main Street program) — and emphasized the need to separate membership services from publicly funded tourism promotion. After discussion, the council moved to renew the PSA for one year and "direct staff to pursue a competitive solicitation process as described in option three," the motion stated. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will implement the procurement timeline and return with a solicitation that may allow multiple providers or split scopes (marketing, events, visitor services). The one-year PSA will allow the town to retain continuity while producing a competitive process to inform the FY2026 lodging-tax allocation.