2026: Building What’s Next—Together
As we turn the calendar to 2026, there is a shared sense across the Walla Walla Valley that we are entering a year that asks us to be present, attentive, and purposeful. The past several years reminded us—sometimes forcefully—that adaptability is not optional. During the COVID years, flexibility helped our businesses survive. Today, it is what will fuel growth, resilience, and long-term sustainability.
The Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce begins this year reaffirming a clear commitment: to support a thriving, forward-looking economy that serves all Valley businesses, entrepreneurs, and employers. Strong economies do not grow in silos. They grow when businesses work together, learn together, and invest together in the future of their community.
In 2026, you’ll see expanded learning opportunities—many offered at little or no cost—designed to help businesses sharpen skills, adopt new tools, and better leverage the ones they already have. We’ve enhanced benefits at our Visionary and Community Partner levels, and we’ve introduced a new Solopreneur Membership Tier, created specifically for solo entrepreneurs and early-stage startups. This is not simply a lower-cost option—it is a guided pathway that connects business owners to mentoring, SCORE and SBDC resources, peer networks, and practical support designed to help businesses grow the right way, from the start.
You told us what matters, and we listened. Many of your favorite programs from 2025 are returning—refreshed and expanded—along with several new initiatives launching soon in partnership with community organizations. One important shift this year is the return of most sector roundtables to a quarterly schedule, allowing us to add new sectors and broaden participation across our business community.
In addition, the final Chamber Café of each month - held the last Wednesday from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m.—will now be open to all community businesses, regardless of sector or membership status. These conversations are designed to hear what matters to you, what challenges you’re facing, and how the Chamber can help. There is no cost to attend, though registration is required. Coffee, water, and snacks are always included. Details are available at wwvchamber.com/events.
You also asked for more opportunities to connect—and we’re delivering. Speed Networking events are expanding, the WWV Young Professionals cohort continues to grow, and we’re entering the third year of Women in Business Masterminds, a powerful women-supporting-women program that continues to shape leadership across the Valley.
Another topic you raised—and one we are approaching thoughtfully—is the future of the Chamber’s physical space. Our current building, completed in 1956, reflects a very different era: a staff-heavy, pre-technology organization built around typewriters and rotary phones. That model no longer reflects how chambers operate or how businesses engage today.
For now, nothing is changing. The Board is carefully exploring what a future-ready Chamber home might look like. One possible step—still under consideration—would be to place the building on the market to gauge interest. In today’s commercial real estate environment, it is not unusual for a property to take a year or more to sell, and if the Board ultimately moves forward, there would be ample time to identify the right next location. This is a conversation that has surfaced periodically throughout the Chamber’s long history, and it will be approached with transparency and care.
What will not change is this: the Chamber is not a building. It is the people, the partnerships, and the work that for nearly 150 years has helped guide this Valley through change, growth, and opportunity. The Chamber remains a pillar of stability—focused not on reacting to the future, but on shaping it.
Finally, if you’re looking for a way to get involved, now is the time. We are launching a Young Professionals Task Force and a Film WWV Task Force, and we welcome those interested in helping grow these sectors. These are low-commitment, high-impact opportunities designed to bring ideas to action.
2026 will bring challenges, as every year does. It will also bring tremendous opportunity. Together, by staying engaged and working collaboratively, we can continue to grow our economy, strengthen our businesses, and enhance the quality of life that makes the Walla Walla Valley such an exceptional place to live and work.
