Economic Alliance of Lewis County highlights retail efforts in quarterly report

May 29-Members of the Economic Alliance of Lewis County and the Centralia Downtown Association emphasized their efforts in bolstering the local retail industry in a recent report to the Centralia City Council.

Economic Alliance leaders Executive Director Todd Chaput and External Relations Manager Eric Sonnenberg along with Centralia Downtown Association Executive Director MacKenzie McGee provided a quarterly report to the Centralia City Council during its Tuesday night meeting.

The group presented updates on recent activity with a big focus on retail in downtown Centralia and along Main Street.

The Alliance and Downtown Association recently attended a major retail show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which they referred to as "The Big Retail Show."

The Downtown Association recently held a revitalization roundtable event for local residents and business owners and is set to hold another Monday, June 29, at The Station in downtown Centralia.

"What we heard most was we heard a strong pride in our historic downtown, our local businesses, the momentum people are beginning to feel," McGee said.

Chaput also gave a brief update on the Alliance's lobbying efforts on behalf of the city during the 2026 legislative session and preparations for the 2027 session. The local government contracts with the alliance for lobbying services to the Washington state Legislature.

The group of three presenting to the council were the same that recently traveled to Oklahoma to attend the trade show focused on recruiting retail businesses.

Sonnenberg said the Alliance attended the trade show in April as part of its contractual commitment to the city and brought along McGee to help in its efforts to revitalize Centralia's Main Street corridor.

According to Sonnenberg, the event hosted more than 2,000 attendees and more than 50 vendors including the Economic Alliance, which set up its own booth for tabling and engagement. Sonnenberg and Chaput said they would attend another similar event in January and at that time focus on setting up meetings with retailers they would like to bring to the Centralia area.

"We are very much ready for our next adventure, which will be probably moving away from the booth side and more attending and visiting the booths," Chaput said. "We're starting to make plans and find ways to maximize the impact we can have when we go there."

McGee and Sonnenberg spoke briefly about the March roundtable event. For McGee, takeaways included lots of pride and excitement around the Centralia downtown area, but also concerns primarily around what McGee referred to as "the P word" - parking. Other concerns included safety and cleanliness.

"But, more than anything people care deeply about the future of this community and want to be part of shaping it," McGee said.

Chaput, as a board member of the Downtown Association, also weighed in on the roundtable events, emphasizing that the group wanted to drive home to the community that positive change can come from residents and business owners and not just at the local government's direction.

"We need to make sure that we're not overburdening the city and making sure that the residents realize real change also comes from them," Chaput said. "The city has a role, but each one of us has a role as well."

Centralia Deputy Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston added to that sentiment at the close of that presentation, offering what she referred to as a "reflection." Smith Johnston commended the Economic Alliance for its local involvement. She also pushed back against sentiments that she has heard that the council has not invested in economic development, pointing to partnerships between the city and many others to draw more retail to the area and improve city revenue from local sales taxes.

"We can't develop our economy with one strategy or one solution," Smith Johnston said. "Main Street can't do it alone, you know. Centralia Station there at the port can't do it alone. You all can't bring in a business as a one-off."

With some of his final comments, Chaput provided a brief report on the Alliance's lobbying efforts, which he described as having "minimal success." Chaput emphasized that the Alliance was successful in lobbying for capital budget funding recently, including its role in the efforts to fund relocation efforts for the Bob Oke Game Farm.

However, he added that many of the city's lobbying efforts were focused on policy, which was a harder sell.

According to Chaput, the Alliance has already begun work on lobbying efforts for the state's 2027 legislative session, including working closely with local state Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Chehalis.

The Alliance is also working on grant applications for other economic improvements to the area, including money for a rail spur to split off near Reynolds Avenue to serve local industrial parks. The Alliance also recently received a grant from TransAlta to invest into the local Bioeconomy Development Opportunity Zone to find a way to better utilize natural resources in the area, such as timber byproducts.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 11:23 AM.