Kingsland Chamber reports robust 2023, expects more for 2024
Kingsland Chamber of Commerce President Melody Yanniell gives a presentation during the inaugural chamber Coffee and Conversation event at the Kingsland Library on Jan. 17. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The Kingsland Chamber of Commerce reported significant growth in the lakeside community during 2023, with expectations of more in 2024. Chamber President Melody Yanniell presented the information during an inaugural Coffee and Conversation event on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at the Kingsland Library.
During the event, the chamber positioned itself as a resource for local businesses and a potential information hub for residents of the unincorporated community.
Over the past year, the Kingsland Chamber has seen a 9 percent increase in membership, gone through a complete marketing overhaul, and launched a new event, the Taste Highland Lakes festival. Yanniell also led a conversation about managing the growth that Kingsland is experiencing.
“We are currently working with media all over the state to plug all things Kingsland and help boost our tourism,” she said during her presentation. “I have had some folks in business go, ‘Stop. We don’t want anymore,’ but y’all, that’s our bread and butter and we have to embrace it.”
The chamber is seeking locations for promotional billboards in West Texas and potentially near Fredericksburg to draw more visitors. Kingsland already has a billboard on Texas 71 near Spicewood and another one going up on U.S. 281 between Marble Falls and Burnet. And the chamber’s new website is collecting valuable data that can be used to help local businesses strategize for the future.
“We can try to manage the growth or let it run over us,” Yanniell said. “If you sit back, you really don’t have a right to complain about what’s going on.”
The chamber is focusing on tourism, but local projects were also at the forefront of past and future plans. In 2023, the chamber donated $10,000 to Packsaddle Elementary School, held a five-year anniversary event remembering the 2018 flood, and made significant improvements to Kingsland Community Park.
In 2024, the chamber plans to install “Welcome to Kingsland” monuments on RR 1431 and RM 2900, remodel facilities at Kingsland Community Park, expand its marketing reach, and upgrade its events and programs. The chamber is also paying special attention to the April 8 total solar eclipse that will pass over Central Texas and plans to hold a Coffee and Conversation session regarding it on March 20.
“We’re seeing exponential growth, and we want the community to come along,” Yanniell said. “If we’re not going to incorporate, then we need to try and manage that growth and make sure it’s the kind of growth that we want.”
The chamber pulls double-duty as a resource for promoting local business growth and as a source of Kingsland-centric information for residents who don’t have a city council to represent them.
“The chamber has all the knowledge and the history of Kingsland and are the representatives of all of the businesses,” said Llano County Precinct 2 Commissioner Linda Raschke in an interview with DailyTrib.com. “They are essential, especially in an unincorporated area like Kingsland.”
Raschke and Precinct 3 Commissioner Mike Sandoval, who is retiring at the end of this year, are the sole government representatives of Kingsland as a community. The Llano County Commissioners Court is the governing body responsible for making broad-stroke decisions that affect street maintenance, hotel occupancy tax fund allocations, subdivision platting, law enforcement, and general regulations.
“The chamber has its finger on the pulse of what is going on in Kingsland,” said Karen Shaw, a current candidate running for Precinct 3 commissioner. She has two opponents: Bull Guthrie and Brent Richards.
Shaw agreed about the value of the chamber as a local information source.
“I think that the Kingsland Chamber of Commerce is a very important entity in Kingsland since we don’t have a city government,” she said. “The chamber sort of acts as a substitute for that.”
Another candidate in a different race, Hatch Smith, who is vying for the Republican nomination for Texas House District 53, was also in attendance at the chamber meetup. He was there as a local business owner, running Midcoast Health System, but also in his capacity as a potential representative for the community. He has one opponent, Wes Virdell.
“I would encourage anybody interested in making Kingsland grow and keeping it prosperous to get involved with the Chamber of Commerce and make sure that everything is being done for the benefit of the greater need,” he told DailyTrib.com.
To keep up with the Kingsland Chamber’s coming events, visit kinglsandchamber.org or contact [email protected] or 325-388-6211.