Ben Gould recently joined Discover Kalispell as the new group sales manager, a position he hopes he can assist in boosting the local economy.  

“We have this very historic, unique, fun place in Northwest Montana,” Gould said of Kalispell last week. “It is a great place to visit if you're coming to the valley.” 

As group sales manager, Gould leads efforts by Discover Kalispell to drive revenue growth by securing new conferences, reunions, tour groups, sports events and more by working closely with industry partners to promote Kalispell as a travel destination, ultimately reinvesting back into the local economy.  

Gould grew up in Southeast Pennsylvania and attended West Chester University where he majored in geography. Throughout his time in school, Gould grew to love skiing and mountain sports in general. After he graduated in 2015, he moved to Kalispell and worked as a lift attendant on Big Mountain.  

As his passion for snow sports grew, Gould soon found himself working in the mountain’s reservation office starting in 2018. From there, his interest in sales kickstarted. He ultimately worked in the sales department for Whitefish Mountain Resort.  

In his new job with Discover Kalispell, Gould highlighted his background in sales, account management, destination promotion and lead generation.  

“Working for a designation market organization, which is what Discover Kalispell is, they have a lot of really community-minded efforts that have spoken to me,” Gould said.  

Gould was lucky, he said, to shadow former manager Dawn Jackson who retired earlier this year, during his first few weeks.  

“We’re delighted to have Ben join our team at Discover Kalispell,” said Diane Medler, executive director of Discover Kalispell. “Dawn has been instrumental in growing year-round group business and we look forward to Ben continuing those strategic business-to-business efforts.”   

One of his goals, as he begins his work with Discover Kalispell, is to maintain the partnerships and relationships Dawn made while expanding Kalispell’s reach. One way to do this, Gould said, is to loop in local athletic directors and coaches about holding more sports events in the area. Conferences are another good option to expand on as well, specifically during shoulder seasons when tourism is down. 

“The important aspect of my job is to promote Kalispell’s unique appeal as a destination,” Gould said. “It’s about growing the local community and promoting stewardship, all things within a sustainable focus.”  

Discover Kalispell is a destination marketing and stewardship organization that manages sales and promotion strategies to strengthen the local economy while protecting community value and assets, according to the Discover Kalispell website.  

As a division of the Discover Kalispell Chamber, it is funded through both bed taxes and the Tourism Business Improvement District fee, both of which come from people visiting and investing into the community.  

“I’m looking forward to helping sustain and support Kalispell’s economy, especially as we bring in groups and events that support local businesses year-round,” Gould said. 

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].