New Missoula Chamber of Commerce chief Bob Boschee to wrangle 710-member business group for ‘unified message’

Getting linerboard out of the maze of
pipes and towers at Smurfit-Stone
Container’s Frenchtown mill has well
prepared Bob Boschee for getting
unified messages out of Missoula’s
Chamber of Commerce. http://www.missoulachamber.com/

By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian

Boschee began a one-year term as
president of the 710-member
business organization this month,
with a mission to review how that
group can best mesh with an equally
multifaceted community.

"If we don’t create value to a community, then why do we have the organization?" Boschee said. "We
need to create a clear message about why to have a chamber of commerce."

The chamber is close to resolving a debate on tourism promotion that recently had some Missoula
businesses ready to form an independent convention and visitors bureau outside of the Missoula
Chamber. Boschee said it was an example of how the diverse needs of seasonal, retail,
manufacturing and professional service members sometimes can struggle to agree on a common
strategy.

Theresa Cox of A Carousel for Missoula was one of the people who raised the tourism-promotion
issue. A former chairwoman of the Missoula Chamber’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cox said the
issues revolved around how to raise money for promotions, how to oversee those activities and how
some businesses could concentrate their efforts on tourism rather than more general Chamber of
Commerce activities.

A group of business owners registered the name "Missoula Convention Visitor’s Bureau" with the
state in a preliminary move to create an independent tourism promotion agency. Outgoing Chamber
President Vicki Judd of NorthWestern Energy started talks with the business owners in February to
reconcile the differences.

"We’ve decided we’ll do everything we can to make the CVB work within the Chamber of Commerce,"
Cox said. "He (Boschee) has been very active in all the negotiations."

Judd said Boschee will probably build on that experience as the chamber begins an extensive review
of how it relates to the community at large.

"I think what Bob wants to do is continue something we don’t often have time to do, and that’s get
everybody in town communicating," Judd said. "I think we are really looking at ourselves and asking
‘Are we doing what we should be doing, or are we doing what we’ve always done? Does it make
sense to be doing that? Does it promote Missoula and a healthy business climate?’ "

Boschee said he wants to find ways where a wide range of people can help keep the chamber up to
speed on community interests.

"We’d like to hear what the nonprofit community is up to, what the Missoula Downtown Association
is up to," he said. "We want to be able to support activities or take leadership where it’s needed."

Another major focus will be a review of the chamber’s political activity, Boschee said. In the past, the
chamber has endorsed office-seekers, sponsored political debates and lobbied on issues such as the
city’s living wage ordinance. Boschee said the chamber needs to clarify its mission – should it be
taking specific positions, or acting as a forum for others to debate issues?

For example, Boschee said it’s common to have a business group address a business issue such as
state bed tax policy. Many members have a direct interest in bed tax promotions and spending. But
it’s another, more difficult task to take a stand on something like the proposed removal of Milltown
Dam, he said. While the dam’s future would affect many businesses, it could be tough to find
consensus among the chamber’s membership for a single position.

"I think sometimes we weren’t understanding what our role was before we got involved in some
things," Boschee said. "This kind of renewal of understanding of who you are and what you’re doing is
important."

The Boschee file

Age: 54

Resume: He has been general manager of the Smurfit Stone Container Pulp and Paper Mill in
Frenchtown since 1996. http://www.smurfit-stone.com/content/location_Missoula_Mill_1058.asp

He has worked for that company and its predecessors for 30 years,
including 12 years at that plant when it was known as Hoerner Waldorf Corp. and Champion
International. For the past three years, he’s been on the Chamber’s Board of Directors as well as
being a Missoula Chamber Ambassador and Montana Ambassador. Current volunteer work includes
the Kiwanis Club, the Community Medical Center Board of Directors and First Lutheran Church. He
has also served on the United Way Board of Directors and the University of Montana Bureau of
Business and Economic Research Advisory Board.

Personal: His wife, Dana, teaches preschool at the First Lutheran Church. They have three children.

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