Erin Bemis

Beth Anne Piehl, Special Sections Writer
 
To Erin Bemis, it’s not only Charlevoix the Beautiful, but Charlevoix the Generous, Charlevoix the Collaborative and mostly, Charlevoix — home.

“It’s home. There’s no other way to describe it,” said Bemis, who at 32 holds one of the community’s top leadership roles, as the executive director of the Charlevoix Area Chamber of Commerce.

A Charlevoix native, it’s more than appropriate that Bemis was a high school cheerleader; today, she’s one of the region’s most spirited supporters, working to draw attention to the amenities offered throughout the waterside region.

“I firmly believe it takes an entire community to be a community,” said Bemis. “My parents instilled in me the importance of giving back and working hard for what I wanted. I’ve always been very involved in my community from the time I was young.”

In eighth-grade, she started stuffing, sealing and stamping envelopes for the Keep Charlevoix Beautiful petunia-planting campaign, and she is now president of that organization. She also serves as a volunteer mentor with Decisions to Actions, a group associated with Northwest Michigan Community Mental Health that works with setting troubled youth on the right path.

Bemis has also enjoyed coaching cheerleading and officiating with MHSAA during competition cheer events.
Her ability to wear many hats in the community became evident to the chamber board when it began searching for a replacement for long-time chamber executive Jacqueline Merta, who retired last year.

Since taking on the new role in January, Bemis has risen to the challenges. She has watched as East Park improvements come to a close to reveal a “beautiful, top-notch, first-class, under-budget” park. While there were some in the community who resisted the change, in the park and elsewhere, Bemis, as a Charlevoix native, can understand.

“Change is difficult for a lot of people,” she said. “We’re a close-knit community and we all want to keep it the way it was when we grew up here. However, change can often be wonderful.”

Keeping an eye to the past but heading forward to take on new challenges is part of her role, not only in the downtown but within the overall Charlevoix borders.

As chamber executive, Bemis plans to introduce more educational opportunities for business owners and the chamber’s 500 members, and she has been working with the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance on the recent opening of its business incubator program. A business resource center at the Charlevoix Area Library also recently opened under her leadership.

“It provides a huge database of books and journals and information to check out and read for those who want to start a business or learn about how to improve a piece of their business that is weaker,” Bemis said.  

Back home

A good portion of her work involves promoting the community for tourists and businesses looking to locate here when an opening does arise in the near-capacity downtown, or elsewhere in the city limits. That means she often works with the Downtown Development Authority, city staff, business owners and chamber members to create a cohesive approach to touting the town.

“I feel strongly about communicating and collaborating,” she said. “A lot of things we can do collaboratively that we could not do as one. Other communities are saying to us, ‘You’ve really got it together.’”

Helping to coordinate the city’s hallmark events, including the fall AppleFest, Taste of Charlevoix, Easter Egg hunt and Christmas-time events, is another chamber responsibility (the signature Venetian Festival has its own community committee, she noted).

It’s a part of the job she particularly enjoys, getting out in the public, meeting people and hearing their thoughts on why Charlevoix is special to them, too.

“The best thing about Charlevoix has got to be the community spirit,” Bemis said. “In the end, it’s all about the good of the town.”

The statistics:

Who: Erin Bemis, 32
Position: Executive director, Charlevoix Area Chamber of Commerce
Family: Husband Jim Bemis; children Addison, 7, Jackson, 6, and Garrett, 4 1/2, attend St. Mary’s school
Education: Marketing degree, Hillsdale College
Hometown: Charlevoix, 1994 Charlevoix High School grad (maiden name, McNamara Wright)
Interests: Boating, reading, gardening, time with family, kids’ sporting events