Promoting “Destination Flathead” is the No. 1 agenda item for the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce in 2014.

The monthly luncheon meeting of the chamber was held Tuesday at the Red Lion Hotel, and Chamber President Joe Unterreiner and others used the occasion to tout nearly a half-dozen major events in the coming year that will bring thousands of visitors and millions of dollars to the valley.

The upcoming inaugural Montana Pond Hockey Classic tournament already has 40 teams registered from across the U.S. and Canada and 1,500 participants are expected for the three-day event on Feb. 21-23.

Looking further ahead, the second year of the Montana Spartan Race already has 2,800 participants registered for the May 10 event. The goal is to see as many as 6,000 participants, and the chamber hopes to exceed last year’s mark of 65 percent out-of-market participants.

The state high school rodeo finals will be held at Majestic Valley Arena north of Kalispell from June 3-8. This is the first time in 35 years that the finals have been held in Kalispell, and will bring thousands of participants and family members to the region. This event will return by contract in 2015 and Kalispell has an option to host it again in 2016.

Flathead Lake will be the site of the third annual Montana Dragon Boat Festival on Sept. 13-14. The festival is already one of the 10 largest dragon boat festivals in North America. More than 100 teams are predicted to sign up for this year’s event with 46 percent of participants coming from out-of-market areas.

Lastly, Kalispell’s first air show in nine years is coming to Glacier Park International Airport. Mountain Madness is an air show featuring the Air Force’s elite Thunderbirds flying team. The chamber anticipates bringing at least 30,000 spectators to the area for the show, which will be held Labor Day weekend.

Those combined events are estimated to have at least a $7 million impact on the local economy.

Other local business news on the chamber’s radar screen includes:

q Securing the completion of the Kalispell highway bypass. Estimated completion for the $33 million project is on schedule for November 2016.

q Improving commercial air service at Glacier Park International Airport. The chamber and its partners have made $28,000 available to spend on this effort, and they also have a $200,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to help develop nonstop service to Los Angeles.

“There’s probably not an activity that beneficially impacts tourism, business and residents more than our ability to expand commercial air service,” Unterreiner said.

q Promoting small business in the Flathead Valley by expanding the Manufacturers Alliance, launching the Ag Promotion committee, and boosting Small Business Saturday to include even more participants.

q Backing development of the Victory Commons commercial development south of Costco on U.S. 93.

q Applying for a federal grant to promote commercial development at the new Kalispell Rail Park located between Whitefish Stage Road and U.S. 2.

The chamber also has plans to help educate and grow the community.   

“Our schools are so important to our overall efforts. We want to continue to support Kalispell Public Schools and their dual credit program and the efforts of Flathead Valley Community College,” Unterreiner said.

“There’s a lot of research that indicates students who enter college with some complement of college credit have higher completion rates and success rates and it’s an important part of Kalispell Public Schools’ curriculum that we want to continue to support.”

Plans were also discussed to increase the number of bachelor degree offerings at Flathead Valley Community College.

Reporter Sam Campbell may be reached at 758-4446 or by email at scampbell@dailyinterlake.com.