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Chamber chairman puts down roots here By GREG STILES Todd Thoreson was a man on the move, transferring city to city from the mid-1980s until arriving in Medford eight years ago. Since then, the Red Lion Hotel general manager and regional director has sunk his roots deep into Rogue Valley soil. "Moving, moving, moving - seven times in nine years," says Thoreson, 41. "We wanted to get out of California before Tyler (his oldest son) started school. But frankly, we didn't expect to stay." Thoreson plunged into Chamber of Medford/Jackson County activity, serving first on the Visitor & Convention Bureau advisory committee and later on the Chamber's board of directors. On Sept. 1, he became chairman for 2001-2002. He takes the gavel from predecessor Bill Anderberg at Thursday's annual dinner and awards banquet at Rogue Valley Country Club. "Todd is a fantastic administrator and great at pulling people together and getting them to work on the same page," says Anderberg. "Being from the hotel industry, he has a great grasp of the tourist industry." The Chamber grew by a couple hundred members to more than 1,400 last year as Anderberg emphasized growth. It was also a year when the Chamber lobbied the Legislature for regional projects. "I'm not goal-oriented as much as person-oriented," Thoreson says. "My thing is to share your passion. If you're passionate about something, you're going to do well. Nine years ago, I would've never imagined doing something like this." But through his involvement in chamber and related activities, he saw business and personal benefits. Thoreson grew up in southern Minnesota and spent six years in the Air Force. During his time in the service he was trained in non-commissioned officers' club management. He began his career with Red Lion in 1984 at Spokane, Wash., moving on to Bellevue, Wash.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Richland, Wash.; Pasco, Wash.; and Modesto, Calif. "When Medford opened up, we knew very little about the area. We had traveled through, but didn't know the community. But we fell in love with the area and got involved." Soon after Thoreson, his wife Melissa, 39, and son Tyler, 11, arrived, extended family on both sides moved to the area. A second son, Tanner, was born three years ago. In February 1999 Thoreson took on a corporate role with Red Lion. "We had been talking about potentially relocating," Thoreson says. "Then I got a promotion and was able to stay here. You couldn't do better." Thoreson oversees nine Red Lion properties, ranging from Coos Bay to Austin, Texas, and from Pendleton to Sacramento, Calif. While lodging taxes aren't always popular among motel operators, Thoreson says Medford's benefits tourism. "The VCB has had a string of pretty good years and the lodging tax has consistently been strong the last five years," he says. Thoreson helped shape the latest contract between the Visitors & Convention Bureau and the city, guaranteeing about a quarter of revenue generated by the 8 percent tax. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.