New board members elected at January chamber meeting

The monthly Murdo Area Chamber board meeting was held on Thursday, January 22 at the Rush Building on the end of Main Street. Krysti Barnes started with the treasurer’s report. She presented the bills due, and then shared a year-end treasurer’s report showing a detailed list of how the chamber received and spent money in 2025. She pointed out how the bed, board, and booze tax received from the city was used for advertisement and the promotion of Murdo. She further explained what the chamber did for advertising in 2025. This year-end report will be presented at the next city meeting. The treasurer’s report was approved.

Members then reviewed the secretary’s report of last month’s meeting. The secretary’s report was approved. 

At this time, members discussed the two open board positions and filled those positions. Tami Flynn-Ryder has resigned from the President position due to family illness and no longer owning a business, and Jewel Bork’s term length has ended. The new chamber board is now Ashley Geigle, President, Samara Campbell, Vice-President, Le Ann Birkeland, Secretary, Krysti Barnes, Treasurer, and Mishayla Buchannan, At-Large. The board briefly discussed term lengths and bylaws. It was agreed that bylaws should be reviewed and revised soon, as the current bylaws are many years old.

Old Business: The board discussed rack cards for the All School Reunion Committee. The cards need to have the All School Reunion Facebook page and Prairie Paws added to them. Geigle explained that the All School Facebook link needs to be simplified for the cards. The board is looking at about 1400 rack cards for distribution. They will be around $300. It was approved to purchase the rack cards with those additions to them.

Next discussed was the legislative cracker barrel. It will be held on January 31 at 10:00 a.m. at the senior center. District legislators to be at the cracker barrel are Tamara Grove, Rebecca Reimer, and Eric Emery. Take this opportunity to talk to your local representatives about the issues that matter to you. There is legislation that will impact the school, and so a few school board members are expected to attend.

The board then discussed the South Dakota Magazine advertisement. They reviewed last year’s ad and agreed the ad could be updated with fresh photos of Murdo features.

Next discussed were swag items for the All School Reunion and America250 celebration. They considered whether to just do pens or to add in t-shirts as well to sell as a fundraiser for the chamber. Options will be looked at, so for now the chamber moved to just order pens and discuss the other options at the next meeting.

New Business: The Tourism Coalition of South Dakota (TCSD) membership is due. TCSD is a tourism lobbyist group, watching for any legislation that affects the tourism industry. Geigle updated the board on the payment status, and reviewed with the board bills that affect the tourism industry and economic development. She stated TCSD’s stance on the bills as well as the economic development board’s stance. Geigle volunteered to be the TCSD representative for the chamber. The board then discussed whether the legislative information received from TCSD should be forwarded to all chamber members, and the board agreed it would be vital information for local businesses.

Moving on, the board then talked about chamber membership. There were still businesses that are usually chamber members that have not paid yet. There was discussion on contacting past chamber members to renew interest in rejoining and also contacting businesses and persons that have never been a member. For membership costs, the first year is free, then it is $90 if paid by October 31st, $100 if after October.

Black Hills & Badlands advertising was addressed next. A new representative is needed to discuss and prepare advertising for showcasing Murdo. Geigle and Campbell agreed to do it together. The Minnesota Mailer advertisement will be done the same as last year’s, but the board decided against doing a front page ad for the Black Hills & Badlands travel guide again.

A financial request was received from the Ranch Rodeo Committee. Birkeland asked if they were chamber members, and discussion followed on if money was ever donated to any chamber members. No one could recall this ever happening. The board moved to table the request until they are sure they will still be receiving enough bed, board, and booze tax money from the city.

Scavenger’s Journey was conferred about. Many in the area are saying they would not participate this year. Geigle suggested to partner with White River and do a city wide garage sale on the same day as the White River city wide sale, rather than do the Scavenger’s Journey. She will contact someone in White River to discuss this possibility, and it will be on the agenda again for February’s meeting.

Bill board sign leases are up for the year, and the board discussed the state of the signs and the options moving forward. Both signs need to be updated, with one sign needing repairs as well. Quotes for the repair will be needed and the board will reach out to a few people who may be able to help with repainting.

The chamber website was then discussed. Geigle explained how the city is doing their website, with adding the development corp to the site with its own tab. The board discussed adding the chamber to this same site as well, rather than having separate sites. Someone will need to manage the chamber’s section and Campbell volunteered to do so.

Welcome bags for new residents were talked about next. 11 bags were given out in 2025. The welcome bags will be more chamber focused and is now a chamber-initiated activity. More bags will be made.

The board circled back to discussing the bylaws. Geigle suggested the board receive training on bylaws, and recommended getting the training from Kristi Wagner of Dakota Resources. She will get a quote for the cost of the training, and this will be discussed again at a future meeting.

Lastly, Geigle and Buchannan reviewed some items they learned from the 2026 South Dakota Governor’s conference on Tourism that happened January 20-22. They discussed the data shared on tourism and using storytelling elements in advertising. This led to a discussion on hotels in Murdo, and how very few of them are ADA compliant. With no more to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.