Rosa Anne Howell is the new face of the Fort St. James Chamber of Commerce.
Howell is now the manager of the chamber and tourism information building, and was just four days into her new role when she spoke to The Courier last week.
Originally from the Boswell/Kootenay Lake area, Howell moved to Fort St. James in 1975 after marrying her husband Allan Howell, who was originally from Fort.
“He just really missed Fort St. James. He’s a lifer, what can I say,” she said.
While she said initially she was a little homesick, after she had children and became involved in the community, she settled into it.
“I’m a lifer now too,” she said.
Recently retired after 23 years with the Ministry of Forests (now the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Management), Howell is just settling into her new position at the chamber and will be doing the job part time.
“This is my baby steps into retirement,” she said.
The Chamber of Commerce office will be open Tuesday to Thursday from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and closed for lunch.
The chamber also plans to hire a summer student to keep the tourist information office open to the public full time throughout the summer.
While Howell is still formulating how she sees her role at the chamber, she said her main goals going in will be to meet with the businesses and build up relationships and to get to know the District of Fort St. James staff, as she knows they will be working together a lot.