The Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce entered the new year with some big changes, the most visible being a new location. We are now located at 203 Broadway, just across the street from our previous location within the Runestone Museum building at 206 Broadway. One of the Chamber’s key pillars of operation is collaboration, and it’s interesting to see when looking back through the organization’s history that that was true from the very beginning.

In 1907, the Business Men’s Association was formed to promote the village of Alexandria. The group later changed its name to the Alexandria Commercial Club, and in 1928, became the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce. Also in 1928, 10 local businessmen purchased the Kensington Rune Stone and put it on display at the Chamber office, then located at 608 Broadway. The stone was later put in storage in the Chamber basement. Thirty years later, Chamber leaders set out to find a larger office for the Chamber that would include a permanent display area for the rune stone. In 1958 the Chamber purchased and moved to the location where the museum now stands. In 1962, the Runestone Museum Foundation was established by the Chamber “to own, operate, manage, expand and control a museum.”

Through the years, more collaborations came into play and more land was purchased. Fort Alexandria was dedicated in 1976 as an expansion of the museum, and in 1979 an addition was added to house the Douglas County Historical Society. In 1990 the Chamber entered a partnership with the Alexandria Area Economic Development Commission (AAEDC) to “establish a working relationship to achieve economic development in the Alexandria Area.” In the late 1990s, Explore Alexandria Tourism (EAT) formed as Alexandria Hotel and Hospitality to manage the lodging tax for the City of Alexandria and the townships of Miltona and LaGrand “for the purpose of marketing and promoting the city or town as a tourist or convention center.” Both the AAEDC and EAT were housed with the Chamber for a time at the 206 Broadway location.

Many great things happened and several strong organizations were formed because of those early partnerships and collaborative efforts. However, as the organizations grew and evolved focusing on different missions and needs, many challenges came into play that involved some strategic restructuring. The Douglas County Historical Society moved to its current location in 1986, and in 1991 the Chamber and the Runestone Museum Foundation became two separate entities. The early partnerships involved various levels of ownership in the property. It was eventually determined that ownership of all property was best suited to the museum foundation, and the Chamber entered into a lease agreement to continue operating out of that location along with the EDC and EAT. Space limitations later posed more problems and the EDC and EAT each relocated, with their most recent address being 324 Broadway.

Things have come full circle, as those entities will be moving this week to join the Chamber back on the north end at 203 Broadway. The offices for Alexandria Township and Hometown Planning will also be joining us in our new space. The Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, Alexandria Area Economic Development Commission, and Explore Alexandria Tourism will all remain separate entities with their own organizational structures and missions. However, these entities work collaboratively in many ways all year long, and being housed in the same location will allow greater efficiencies and lay the groundwork for even more collaborations to come, so that we may all continue our work to best serve the community of Alexandria and greater Douglas County.

As I close my term as President of the board of the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, I’m proud to say that Choose Possibility, What if? was more than a theme this year – it was something our community truly lived.

Because people chose possibility, incredible things happened. A new splash pad is near completion, a visual arts center opened its doors, and more art now brings life and character to our streets. Construction began on a 42-home Habitat for Humanity development, the Runestone Community Center expanded, and Alexandria College broke ground on a new transportation center. These milestones didn’t happen by chance; they happened because people said yes to collaboration, vision, and forward momentum.

The Chamber also embraced possibility in meaningful ways. We modernized the Chamber Bucks program by transitioning to gift cards – making it easier for businesses and consumers to support shopping local. We partnered with Alexandria College’s EDGE Center of Innovation and the Economic Development Commission to develop the EDGE Leadership Experience, investing directly in the next generation of leaders in our community. Check out this new leadership training opportunity at edge.alextech.edu. The first cohort begins on January 22, 2026!

Behind the scenes, significant work was done to position the Chamber for the future. I want to sincerely thank Tara Bitzan, Executive Director of the Chamber, and Nicole Fernholz, Executive Director of the Economic Development Commission, for their perseverance and leadership in moving the Chamber toward shared office space with the EDC and Explore Alexandria Tourism. Their hard work will carry us across the finish line in January 2026 and strengthen collaboration for years to come.

As this chapter closes, I’m filled with gratitude and optimism. Our community continues to prove that when we choose possibility—together—great things happen.

​My name is Tammy Welle (pictured in red next to the beautiful bride), and I am the new Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Visitor and Resource Coordinator. I have lived in the Alexandria area for over 30 years and truly love our beautiful lakes region. I earned my degrees in Supervisory Management and Dietary Management from Alexandria Technical & Community College. I later added personal training and group fitness to my education, where I focused on working with our area’s senior population.
 
I am looking forward to sharing our beautiful lakes area and everything it has to offer with visitors and residents alike.
 
I enjoy kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, biking and hiking. I am so thankful to live where I can enjoy all of this with my friends and community.
 
I live in Alec (as we all like to call it) with my husband, Tom, and our big dog Daisy and small cat Elsa. We have two sons, Eric and Nicolas, a daughter, Alyssa, and a son-in-law, Connor.

My name is Sadie Riedel. I have lived in Douglas County my entire life and easy to say, I am here to stay! I grew up in Brandon and graduated from Brandon-Evansville High School in 2017. I went to Alexandria Technical and Community College and graduated in 2018 with an associates degree in Business Administration. I have experience with a variety of roles such as banking, office management, and human resources. I am so grateful and excited for the opportunity to join the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce as their Program and Events Coordinator. I am most excited to be a part of a close-knit team, engage with members in the community and have great work/life balance!

My husband and I were best friends throughout school and shortly after graduating, we started dating. In 2022 we bought our first home on the edge of town in Miltona, got engaged in early 2023,  and tied the knot in September of 2023! We have two sweet, but crazy dogs – a yellow lab named Charlie, and a German Wire Hair named Winston. We recently welcomed our first son, Holden, into the world July of this year. He has been the biggest blessing in our lives, and we are enjoying all the ‘firsts’ that come with parenthood!
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I love spending time with friends and family, going on walks, playing bingo, and thrifting. Over the past couple of years life has been ever-changing from becoming a homeowner, marriage, becoming a mom, new career, etc. but I am so grateful for where I am in life! I am excited for this new adventure and the things I am going to learn here at the Chamber.

Graduates of the Leadership Alexandria program were highly visible in the community this weekend through two different service projects, both of which made our community an even better place to live, work and play.

Leadership Alexandria is a program of the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce that educates 24 participants annually on the various aspects of the Alexandria/Douglas County area – from history and business to education, government services and more.

At the end of each nine-month program, the class is tasked with deciding on and conducting a community service project. The intent of this project is to get the class to work together and utilize their leadership skills and the knowledge and social capital gained throughout the nine-month program to serve their community.

Here’s a look at the projects conducted by the 2024 and 2023 cohorts.
 
Class of 2024
The Class of 2024 decided to support local law enforcement by assisting with the 2024 Minnesota Tour de Shield616 event.

This was a 456.7-mile bike ride consisting of 30 riders who traveled from the Wisconsin border to Owatonna, Minnetonka, St. Cloud, Alexandria and finished in Moorhead to raise money to purchase all day rifle armor for first responders.

The ride took place June 19-23 and raised funds for the Alexandria Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Department, Glenwood Police Department, Pope County Sheriff’s Office, Starbuck Police Department, South Lake Minnetonka Police Department and Perry, Iowa Police Department.

A total of $79,200 was needed just to outfit the Alexandria and Douglas County officers, with a total of $192,800 needed to outfit all entities noted. At the time of writing this, the final figures have not yet come in.

Members of the Leadership Alexandria Class of 2024 got involved by conducting their own fundraising efforts for the cause, assisting with a welcome event in Alexandria on Saturday, and by providing breakfast to the Shield616 riders and support team before they headed out on the final leg of their ride Sunday morning.
 
Class of 2023
While most projects are conducted during the summer after a class graduates, the Leadership Alexandria Class of 2023 needed an additional year to complete their project due to its complexity and magnitude.

Because this was the 30th class to graduate from the program, members wanted to do something big. They landed on a community sculpture project.

They started with a blank page and a whole lot of questions – what should the sculptures be? What materials should they be made of? How do we find artists to create the designs? How and where will they be erected and displayed? How do we ensure they last a minimum of three years? Where do we store them during creation and how do we transport them to their final locations? And, most importantly, how are we going to pay for them?

Through many meetings, emails, and phone calls, class members began finding answers to every question that popped up, and enlisted help from a variety of community partners. Minnesota sculptor

Hans Gilsdorf designed a steel sculpture that served as the blank canvas for artists to showcase their work. The Alexandria Art Guild served as fiscal host and assisted in identifying artists for the project. 3M of Alexandria donated 18 steel panels, which were cut into the shape of outboard motors by students in the Alexandria Area High School Cardinal Fab program. The sculptures then went to Protainer for sandblasting and TWF Industries for powdered coating. Duininck Concrete donated the concrete bases on which the sculptures will be erected.
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Members of the class gathered with artists and members of the community at Big Ole Park Saturday to celebrate completion of the project with a ribbon cutting. The sculptures are being installed in their final locations throughout the community this week. For photos of some of the sculptures and a map to their locations, visit explorealex.com/sculptures.