New chamber director sets eye on economic development

Published 1:47 pm Wednesday, January 13, 2016

It takes up a small but weighty spot on Julia Jordan’s desk.

And at the merest reference to that plastic Seattle Seahawks helmet resting there, the new director of the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce practically bolts from her chair with contagious enthusiasm.

Making it clear that even though Jordan’s a California girl, the blood in her veins runs Seahawks blue.

“I’m a longtime fan,” Jordan said. “It’s why my husband married me. I told him I loved the Seahawks, and at first he didn’t believe me. He goes, ‘That’s my team! I’m going to marry you!'”

Jordan’s first day was Jan. 4.

Jordan succeeds former CEO Nancy Wyatt, who retired late last year. As such, she oversees an organization that goes to bat for business wherever it can, particularly at the political level.

Previously, she was CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in Lincoln, Calif., 25 miles from Sacramento. Before that she was 13 years with the Grass Valley, Calif. Downtown Association.

Jordan is already working closely with Auburn Economic Development Director Doug Lein and others whose eyes are fixed on the same goal — to make Auburn strong in business.

“I really like the political aspect of the job, but I’m a little more economic-development driven,” Jordan said. “So I think that I am going to focus a little bit more on that. Nancy has really paved the way for the political piece of that with the South Sound Chamber Coalition, those types of things, but I’m really about economic development and education. There’s a lot of educational components that are already in place, but I’d like to expand our membership. One of the goals that the board has is that it’s our 90th year, and we’d really like to bring on 90 new members to be able to let them see how we can be a resource to them.”

Homesickness, in this case that of her husband, Daniel, an Auburn native and a member of the Muckleshoot Tribe, helped bring Jordan north.

“My husband was after me for about 10 years now to come home. He had the opportunity to be a planner with the tribe, and it so happened that the chamber job opened up when we were coming up here,” she said.

Learning about her new job has been a happy experience.

“Nancy Wyatt has been so supportive,” Jordan said. “She’s really an intrepid leader. The members love her, and everybody is so in tune here, and the community seems be growing ….

“It hasn’t happened for me in a while – to have someone so recently retired from the position willing to help you out, versus, ‘here’s everything, see you later.’ She’s very involved in the community, and has given me insight as to how everything works and how businesses appreciate the different educational opportunities we have around here. As long as you have support staff, which I do, it’s not difficult. I do need a bookkeeper, so if you know of anybody, let me know. I’m also going to look for somebody to do partnership development.”

To learn more, visit http://www.auburnareawa.org/