Ocean Shores needs a stronger business voice
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Ocean Shores is a tourism community. We’re also a residential community, a retirement community, and a real city with real public needs. But tourism is one of the major engines of our local economy.
Visitors support our hotels, restaurants, shops, events, vacation rentals, gas stations, and many of the small businesses that give Ocean Shores its character. Visitor activity also supports the city through tax revenue, which helps pay for public safety, streets, parks, facilities, and basic services.
That means tourism isn’t someone else’s issue. It’s a community issue. And for local businesses, it’s a bottom-line issue.
I believe Ocean Shores would benefit from a strong, professional, business-led organization focused on promotion, coordination, advocacy, and community identity. Whether that’s called a Chamber of Commerce, a business association, or something else matters less than the need itself.
The city has a role to play. We can support tourism, improve public spaces, invest in infrastructure, consider events, and partner where appropriate, but the city can’t be the business community. It can’t organize private businesses from the top down, and it can’t speak for every business owner. That leadership has to come from the businesses themselves.
A strong business-led organization could promote Ocean Shores more effectively, coordinate events and seasonal campaigns, welcome new businesses, maintain a business directory, share visitor information, and give local businesses a clearer voice when decisions are being made.
It could also help solve a problem many residents talk about: the lack of one central place to find out what’s happening in town. We don’t have a true local newspaper serving that role anymore, and information is scattered across social media, flyers, business pages, city agendas, and word of mouth.
A chamber-style organization wouldn’t replace city government, local journalism, or individual business marketing. But it could serve as a practical community information hub, with a shared calendar, visitor information, event promotion, links to public meetings, and a clear front door for both residents and visitors.
That helps businesses directly. Instead of each business trying to market itself alone, businesses could work together to promote Ocean Shores as a destination. When the community is promoted well, more people come here. When more people come here, they stay, eat, shop, explore, and spend money.
We do have Greater Grays Harbor, Inc., and I’m not dismissing the value of a regional organization. A regional chamber and economic development organization serves an important countywide role, but a regional organization can’t replace a local one. An Ocean Shores chamber would wake up every day thinking about Ocean Shores first.
Aberdeen, Westport-Grayland, Montesano and Elma each show the value of having a local chamber presence: business information, events, promotion, visitor resources, and community identity. Ocean Shores should have that same kind of focused voice, not instead of regional partnerships, but in addition to them.
I understand there may still be hesitation because of the history of the former Chamber. That history should be acknowledged, and any new effort should be built with professionalism, transparency, and accountability. But Ocean Shores shouldn’t let the past prevent us from building something useful for the future.
As a City Councilmember, I can’t create a Chamber of Commerce or force businesses to participate, nor should I. But I can say clearly that Ocean Shores would be stronger with a serious, organized, business-led effort to promote our community and advocate for shared business interests.
If businesses want stronger tourism promotion, a stronger voice at City Hall, better community information, and more coordinated events, marketing, and visitor outreach, they should organize. The city can be a partner, but it can’t do this alone.
Ocean Shores needs a stronger business voice. The question is whether local businesses are ready to build one.
Examples worth looking at:
Westport-Grayland Chamber of Commerce:
https://www.westportgrayland-chamber.org/
Montesano Chamber of Commerce:
https://montesanochamber.org/
Elma Chamber of Commerce:
https://www.elmachamber.org/
Greater Grays Harbor:
The views expressed here are my own opinion and do not represent official city policy or the position of the Ocean Shores City Council. Questions or concerns? Please email me at cdooley@osgov.com; to help preserve city-related correspondence, I don’t answer substantive questions in comments, but I will respond by email.
