Knotwell named Director of the Year

In March 2021, Amanda Knotwell joined the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce (SPVCC) as their newest CEO. She stepped into a role which had been held by Stacy Crimmins for nearly two decades in the midst of a pandemic.

Knotwell, however, appeared to rise to the challenge. If her recent experience at the Wyoming Works Together Conference in Lander is any indication, she is making her own impact on the chamber of commerce. On September 22, she was named the 2023 Wyoming Chamber Director of the Year.

The award caught Knotwell by surprise. According to her, while she knew that all the organizations involved with Wyoming Works Together were presenting their awards during the conference, she didn’t know she had even been nominated until her name was called.

“Apparently, people I’ve spoken with since the moment knew for two weeks. There were (SPVCC) board members who knew that was happening,” said Knotwell.

According to Knotwell, nominations for Chamber Director of the Year can come from other chambers of commerce in the state, members of those chambers’ boards, members of the state chamber board and even other organizations working with the chamber of commerce. Knotwell said she had been told there had been “more than a few nominations from different areas.”

For her, the award came as validation nearly three years into her role with the chamber of commerce.

“It validated knowing that when I come to work I have people that are paying attention because I’m trying to get people here on that visitor aspect. I’ve had businesses call and say ‘I need help with this’ and I research it and give them information from the state business alliance,” said Knotwell. “It puts into perspective that people on a larger scale are noticing.”

There’s been no shortage of hardships for Knotwell since she stepped into the role. While the impacts of the global pandemic were still being felt when she became the CEO of the SPVCC, arguably the biggest hardship came in her second year. At the 39th Annual Saratoga Lake Ice Fishing Derby, a number of competitors were catching yellow perch in Saratoga Lake, a designated trout fishery managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD).

The state department ultimately decided the only option in regards to the illegal introduction of the yellow perch was to kill the entire lake. In September 2022, the department applied rotenone to the lake killing all the fish. This also meant that the 40th Annual Saratoga Lake Ice Fishing Derby would need to be rescheduled for 2024.

Earlier this year, the WGFD restocked the lake with various trout. According to Knotwell, who recently spent four hours on the lake with the state department, there are big and beautiful trout in the lake waiting to be caught in January.

Knotwell said she hopes that her award from the Wyoming State Chamber Board will show both current and potential members of the SPVCC that she is looking out for them. When it comes to the successes of the chamber of commerce, however, she is quite humble.

“We had a very successful chamber before I stepped into the role. There are chambers around the state that have dispersed. Ranging all the way to even before Chuck Box was chamber director, basically from the start, it’s been a very successful entity in itself,” said Knotwell.

Knotwell said she has access to the files kept by Crimmins—who now serves as an ex-officio member of the Wyoming State Chamber Board—and tries to mimic what she did while putting her own spin on things.

One success Knotwell may be able to count as her own is the replacement of the marquee in downtown Saratoga. Standing right next to the municipal parking lot, the digital marquee for several years served its purpose of displaying messages and images in orange and black. The new digital marquee is full color and easily seen day or night when driving down 1st Street in Saratoga.

“I have a love/hate relationship with that thing but what that has allowed is for a lot more imagination,” said Knotwell.

In addition to being awarded 2023 Wyoming Chamber Director of the Year, Knotwell was also nominated to serve on the Wyoming State Chamber Board in a vacant position once held by Crimmins. Knotwell accepted the nomination and her term on the state board will end in 2027.

In being awarded, Knotwell joins chamber directors from much larger communities such as Rock Springs, Cheyenne and Sheridan who have previously been named Wyoming Chamber Director of the Year.