Dayton Chamber hires new executive director

When Helaine Morres decided upon the slogan “Do it in Dayton” to help the historic town change its reputation as a bedroom community, a friend asked, “Well, do what in Dayton?”

“I said, ‘I don’t know!’” Morres said. “But there’s a lot of secrets here.”

She had the line printed on brochures and T-shirts, and it stuck. She loved unveiling the valley’s hidden gems to curious prospectors.

But Morres retired in June as executive director from the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, feeling it was the right time “to hang up the spurs, so to speak.”

Heather Zendejas has taken over with the same kind of zeal to grow the community and focus on helping the area’s small businesses.

“I want to continue what (Morres) was doing,” Zendejas said. “I really want there to be a lot of community support. I grew up in a small town, so I experienced that firsthand. I think after COVID, a lot of things drifted away from that community idea, and I want to bring us back to it. That’s my hope.”

Zendejas, a mother of three, said she would like to help connect businesses with the resources they need to thrive in Lyon County, specifically in increasing their employee base.

“There are a lot of great businesses here,” she said. “Some of them can’t stay, or they don’t have the opportunity to stay, open as long as they would like. It’s hard to get people working here.”

The Chamber, typically a community’s hub for business gatherings, resources and promotion, has sought to maintain its relationships and diversification among incoming organizations from the north in Fernley to the south in Yerington. Zendejas would like to welcome back owners already familiar with Lyon and new franchises to Dayton. It might mean partnering with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation for workforce development opportunities or job fairs.

“I know a lot of people move to Dayton because it’s close to the industrial area and Sparks, and it’s not close but it’s easy access,” she said.

U.S. Census Bureau data indicates as of 2020 its population was above 15,000, and it’s growing.

With its location along the “Loneliest Highway in America” on U.S. 50, near the state’s capital Carson City, Gold Hill and on the way to Stagecoach and Silver Springs, Lyon, Douglas, Storey and Mineral counties all were looking to what Dayton might provide through its business events.

“We would need to entice people and show what we have to offer,” she said.

She hopes to include business owners and employees on social media and in live events and encourage them to facilitate their own activities for better community conversation, but to have the chamber’s support is a priority, which is her job, she said.

“Part of the appeal for signing up for membership is that we’re going to promote you,” she said. “Really growing that is one of our first goals. We do an e-mail blast every couple of days. I really want to get the Facebook page out there. Send me pictures of the area just so that the businesses in the community are also being promoted by the people in the community.”

Zendejas said while the focus for now has been on the upcoming Dayton Valley Days, she looks forward to getting started on some of her ideas beyond the September event and will keep Morris’ advice in mind. Morris, who is an avid all-terrain vehicle enthusiast and created a map of the local trails to ride in Dayton, told her when she began in June to keep a broader perspective on the position.

“When I started, (Morres) told me, ‘The world is your oyster — you get to come in here and come up with all these ideas,’” Zendejas said.