Deb Sogge named director of the Chamber of Commerce
September 17, 2008
By J.B. Wogan
Deb Sogge, new executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, talks with Stanley Gunno, a small business owner interested in joining the chamber at the Sammamish Farmers Market. Photo by J.B. Wogan
Perhaps the statistic that best explains why Deb Sogge has the first full-time position at the Chamber of Commerce is its increase in membership. As the membership director for the last three years, Sogge has seen membership more than quadruple from 60 to 250.
“She’s really been the driving force,” said Dawn Sanders, board president for the chamber. “She just really appreciates small businesses.”
Every Wednesday, Sogge is a smiling fixture in the chamber booth at the Sammamish Farmers Market, offering a handshake or a map to passersby.
Sogge joined the chamber in 2003 as a representative for a small Redmond business. Within a year, she was marketing for the chamber and then became the membership director in 2005.
Before becoming the executive director this fall, Sogge was already getting paid to work for the chamber. For the last two years, she received commission each time a member joined. But the pay was part-time, leaving her to supplement her salary with other independent work.
In 2006, she spent a few months selling advertisements for the Issaquah Press (parent company of the Sammamish Review) before deciding to devote more time to the chamber. With her own small business, Deb Marketing, Sogge sold ads for a map publisher and for the Boys and Girls Club. For the last two years, she also worked as a marketing consultant for business members in the chamber.
Through it all, Sogge said she has relished working with local businesses.
“I know everything about local and I love local,” she said.
Sogge, 57, has three children: Kate, 17, Nick, 23, and Garrett, 21. Kate is a senior at Eastlake High School and both sons are Eastlake graduates.
She has lived in Sammamish for 25 years, 23 in the Timberline neighborhood and now two near the intersection of Inglewood Hill Road and Northeast 8th Street.
Born in San Diego, Sogge was a Navy brat, moving from California to Texas to Florida before settling in Edmonds at the age of 6.
She studied business at Edmonds Community College and then spent several years working outside the state, including a human resources job in Saudi Arabia working for a K-9 school.
At 32, she moved to Sammamish with her family.
“When we (first) lived in Sammamish, there wasn’t a lot here and we loved the trees. It was a good school district and we knew it’d be a great place to raise kids,” Sogge said. “I kind of feel like we’ve grown up with Sammamish. We’ve seen all the buildings go up from the beginning.”
Seven years ago, Sogge jumped into a sales career and never looked back.
Sanders said the chamber will pay for Sogge’s full-time position with savings accumulated over the last few years, plus funding from business seminars the chamber will offer this fall. Money from membership fees from business booths at the Farmers Market also help pay for the position. Sogge will also have a paid part-time assistant from that same set of funding sources.
“By having her devote herself full-time, we know our chamber will grow more,” Sanders said.
Along with increasing membership, Sogge’s task will be to oversee the chamber’s growing role in connecting home-based businesses with each other, Sogge said.
“She’s very comfortable in meeting new people and talking with people she doesn’t know,” said John James, incoming president of the chamber and current vice president. James has known Sogge for five years. “She’s also very friendly and caring.”
James said the chamber wants to play a larger role in shaping some local government decisions, too. The chamber supports the park bond and levy on the Nov. 4 ballot and it’s working with the city on economic development with Town Center.
Sogge said she hopes to attend a few more City Council meetings in order to keep abreast of current events in the city.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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Here we are in 2010, and what a great investment it has proved to be, having Deb Sogge running the Chamber of Commerce for us here in Sammamish. Anyone with an inkling to participate will be welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated by Ms. Sogge with enthusiasm and skill. – Nan Gordon