Chamber gets grant for new website, part of 'The Kootenai' rebranding effort

The Libby Area Chamber of Commerce has obtained a grant to upgrade its website.

Chamber President Jim Hayes announced the grant last week in a letter to chamber members.

He declined to disclose the amount of the grant from the state Department of Commerce, but Daniel Iverson, communications manager from the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development, said the grant is for $46,200.

In August, the Lincoln County commissioners voted to support the website upgrade by contributing $23,000 to the effort.

Hayes said the chamber will be working with PartnersCreative in Missoula on the website.

Upgrading the website, which Hayes wants complete by the end of April 2017, is the “next logical step” in rebranding efforts for the area, he said.

The new website should have richer content and be responsive to mobile devices and tablets and will become the “hub” for the newly-developed “The Kootenai” brand, Hayes said.

His goal is to move the Libby area beyond its past economic and environmental issues.

“Libby’s moving and we’re gonna try to do something and get rid of this negative stigmatism sitting over us,” he said Saturday.

A chamber committee, Kootenai River Valley, has been focused on the rebranding efforts.

Lincoln County recently completed a year-long rebranding project focused on “The Kootenai.” The Kootenai River Development Council, the University of Montana and PartnersCreative were also involved, Hayes said.

The upgrade of the website will include the rebranding message, which Hayes said presents “an opportunity to refresh and re-establish our local identities (for both internal and external audiences) and set the stage to create a more aspirational future for us.”

Hayes, who was elected chamber president in June, said the chamber will be designating a project manager for the website upgrade in the near future.

He noted that the chamber will get funded grant monies by the state after it makes expenditures, which is a way of showing accountability.

He added that PartnersCreative has worked with state funding before and has designed other city websites, including Kalispell.