In more than a decade with the Ely Chamber of Commerce, Eva Sebesta fielded questions ranging from where to stay or visit in the Ely area to where can one find tater tot hot dish.
But those and other inquiries about Ely are being fielded by others, given Sebesta’s decision to retire from her post as the Chamber’s executive director.
Sebesta’s last day on the job was Monday, April 27 and that ended an 11-year stint with the local business organizations, including the last eight leading the group.
“I’ve been bouncing around the idea of retiring for a couple of years, and I think this was a good time,” Sebesta said Tuesday, during a visit to the Echo office.
After three years working as an administrative assistant and office manager for the organization, Sebesta moved into the director’s role and succeeded Cherie Sonsalla.
During her tenure, Sebesta navigated challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on Ely’s tourism and travel industry, and more recently a heated divide over the use of local lodging tax dollars.
She also led the Chamber’s efforts in greeting and advising visitors, supporting the roughly 180 members, receiving inquiries related to starting or buying a business here, and leading the Chamber’s organization of events including the Blueberry/Art and Harvest Moon festivals and the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race.
Dealing with those interested in Ely was a key part of Sebesta’s job and one that she said she will miss. “I think working with visitors and members of the community is something I’ll miss a lot,” said Sebesta. “The one thing the Chamber has always been good about is being on top of available resources, connecting people with things that can help them meet their needs... I always loved working the visitor window and answering the phone, and in the director role I always enjoyed meeting team members and helping them connect with resources. There are a lot of folks thinking about moving up here, or they’re thinking about buying a business or relocating. Helping them with the IRRRB or entrepreneur fund or just new business owners who bought a business was very rewarding.”
Sebesta said that in her role with the Chamber, she saw firsthand the devotion of those who own or start a business in the Ely area.
“It was always great to see that investment in our community,” she said. “It’s really a driving force in keeping the area thriving, and the businesses invest so much in just starting it up or maintaining it. It’s something a lot of residents don’t realize.”
In her roles with the organization, Sebesta also quickly discovered the impact the Chamber has - both as a first point of contact for visitors and would-be business owners, but for members and other organizations.
“If the Forest Service is doing a prescribed burn, they call us,” said Sebesta. “And we find out about so many things happening in our community. And then there’s the website itself which generates so many inquiries. We have folks looking through the website and the email directory and they contact us. One of the most frequently asked questions is ‘where can I get tater tot hot dish?’ It’s amazing the questions. You get people doing genealogy and they want to find out information about their family tree.”
While visitors come to Ely from across the country and beyond, Sebesta said she’s found that the highest concentrations come from not only the Twin Cities areas, but upper Midwest states such as Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana while adding “there seems to be a quirky connection with Texas associated with the website.
“We have a lot of folks who haven’t come up for years, and maybe they were up for a boy scout trip or a youth group trip and then they want to come back and visit the area again,” said Sebesta.
The Chamber’s webcams have also proven to be vastly popular, she said.
“The ironic thing is the most visited pages are the webcams,” said Sebesta. “There are people who love to live vicariously through those webcams and see what’s going on in Ely even when they can’t be here.”
One large part of her job was coordinating the Blueberry/Art and Harvest Moon festivals, which both are sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
Sebesta managed through the cancellation of both events in 2020 because of the pandemic, and an early cancellation in 2021 because of a damaging wind storm.
While the Blueberry/Art festival is much larger than Harvest Moon, both pump up the local economy and the Chamber has tracked the impact of spending by the vendors the last two years.
“This last year, for the Blueberry/ Art Festival, we found that vendors spend $151,000 in our community through lodging, shopping, dining, and different attractions, and it was upwards of $50,000 for Harvest Moon,” said Sebesta. “That tells me the things we’re choosing to focus on have substantial impact and really helped the business community.”
During her tenure, Sebesta has found that the habits of visitors have changed with less focus on fishing and more on “immersion” in the area and visiting locations such as the North American Bear Center, International Wolf Center and Dorothy Molter Museum.
She said she’s proud of Chamber initiatives including the organization’s networking breakfasts and the transition from “Smile, You’re in Ely” to “Celebrate Ely,” the Chamber’s annual dinner event each April.
Sebesta said she’s also looking to dispel rumors that the Chamber was in danger of going out of business.
“Nothing could be further than the truth,” said Sebesta. “The Chamber still has reserve funds and is fiscally sound.”
Another challenge in recent months is the continuing debate and divide over the use of lodging tax dollars, which has often pitted the Chamber against Visit Ely, also known as the Ely Tourism Bureau.
“The negative rhetoric has never sat well with me,” said Sebesta. “The Tourism Bureau fulfills an important role, as does the Chamber. There is room in the community for both organizations to thrive. Each organization’s work complements the other’s and supports the entire area.”
Sebesta’s ties to Ely date back to the early-1980s, when she came here to attend Vermilion Community College and got a job at Canadian Border Outfitters.
She and her husband Dave later moved back to Ely in the late-1980s and have been here ever since.
Now that retirement has arrived, she looks forward to swapping her work chair for a seat in a 16-foot Crestliner fishing boat.
“Over the last eight years, my fishing line has rarely been in the waters, so I need to brush up on my walleye jigging skills,” said Sebesta. “My gardens are absolute train wrecks too. I am looking forward to a slower pace and ticking off a bunch of bucket list items. This is where our friends and hub are. I can’t think of living in a different place.”
