When Lisa Schaffer left her hometown of Boise, Idaho, she wanted to go to a big city.

She never realized she would become a champion for small-town life and economics.

“I thought Boise was a small town and always complained about leaving,” said Schaffer, director of the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce. “But I really like the small-town atmosphere here. Everyone is just so nice.”

Schaffer was introduced to the Valley, from which her husband, Jim, hails, while working a brief stint as a reserve police officer for the city of Snoqualmie. She left the job and went to work in 1992 as a police agent for the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad company, but a back injury forced her to quit in 1995 and she stayed at home.

Her restlessness grew and she looked for ways to volunteer in the community. She started to lead local events such as Alpine Days, where she met and interacted with the heart of the Valley’s business community.

When the director position of the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce opened up earlier this year after Susan Hankins retired, Schaffer was courted by local business leaders to take the job. She started last month. Karen Youngblood served as the interim director.

“I want to help the businesses get together,” Schaffer said of her focus as director. “They all want to succeed and help each other succeed as well.”

Schaffer’s desire to help small businesses came from growing up around the small hobby shop her parents ran back home. Having helped her own family’s store through recessions and fires, she is familiar with the perils of economic uncertainty.

“It breaks my heart to see these businesses suffering now,” Schaffer said. “I want to help them all build a strong base.”

Despite being a fan for strong business, Schaffer is aware that creating jobs in the area is not an easy task. Balancing land preservation and prosperity in the Valley is a challenge Schaffer knows she will have to face. She knows she wants to coax businesses and people into the Valley while not encouraging a land grab at the same time.

“If you truly want to keep that small town, you have to make sure growth is managed,” she said. “We don’t want to be overwhelmed.”

Schaffer does want to build a solid base of business that will help the Valley survive in lean times. When State Route 202 was closed after the Nisqually quake in February, cutting off a major thoroughfare for the Valley, Schaffer said local businesses were kept alive by local residents – a trend she hopes can sustain the Valley in these lean times as well.

She hopes to some day get her master’s degree in human services, but she said there is plenty for her to do right now networking with businesses and other chambers in an effort to boast the economic vitality of the Valley. Locally, she hopes to plan more year-round events that can involve the businesses and community throughout the year, not just during the summer festivals.

“I want to see the types of events that bring the community together,” Schaffer said. “It’s an exciting time in the Valley.”