LA GRANDE — After four years of remote work, Saajan Chauhan is excited to exchange his days of virtual calls with far away clients for face-to-face meetings with local community members in his new role as the Executive Director of the Union County Chamber of Commerce.

Since stepping into the position on April 14, Chauhan has been working to get a lay of the land. He is eager to bring his skills and expertise in digital marketing to the role.

“I’m here to listen, I’m here to collaborate and I’m here to help us grow together,” Chauhan said. “My door is always open and I’m excited to work with the local community.”

After graduating from Eastern Oregon University in 2016 with a degree in communication and media studies, Chauhan began a career in marketing. During the last eight years, he found his niche within digital marketing. He said he likes to marry “old school” marketing styles with new emerging technologies.

Most recently Chauhan worked remotely for a Philadelphia based digital marketing agency called Seer Interactive where he helped nonprofits gather analytics and key performance indicators to successfully implement community outreach, digital engagement and marketing campaigns.

Now, he plans to bring this knowledge to the Union County Chamber of Commerce. He believes his marketing experience can benefit the organization, as well as the businesses the chamber serves.

“I wanted to do something to support my local community,” Chauhan said. “I grew up here, I went to college here and I’m raising my son here as well.”

He said he wants to take the chamber of commerce through a digital transformation — something he’s done for other organizations — and make sure the office is using up-to-date industry standards around things such as search engine optimization, email marketing and paid advertising.

The first order of business, however, is to listen and get to know the chamber members. That way, Chauhan said, he can learn the best ways the chamber can be a resource for local businesses and also support ongoing tourism efforts.

“Our main goal is to be the glue that establishes relationships between these businesses and to make sure that there is an opportunity to connect and to meet as a chamber,” he said. “But it’s also to make sure that we’re leveraging all of the assets that we currently have in our toolbox to create more tourism — to make La Grande and Union County a destination that people want to visit and stay at and live and work at long term.”

One of his main goals will be doing outreach to business owners throughout Union County, so he can connect with and provide support to people in Elgin, Imbler, Union, Cove and North Powder, in addition to La Grande.

Chauhan is succeeding Caitlin Harrold, who served as the chamber’s executive director for just more than a year. She left in January to take on ajob as the Sage-Grouse Local Implementation Team coordinator in Baker County.

Chauhan said he is excited to bring new ideas to the table and partner with local community members to make those come to fruition.

The executive director also handles tourism promotion for La Grande and the county. To Chauhan the Grande Ronde Valley is an “oasis” and “a little piece of heaven.” He said Union County as a tourism destination — not just for people from the surrounding areas, such as Pendleton and Baker City, but also for travelers from Boise and Portland.

“There’s so many different opportunities for outdoor activities that I feel like we’re not promoting,” he said.

But, Chauhan added, there needs to be a balance.

“We want to make sure that we’re driving more people here to town,” he said. “While still being true and honest to Union County.”

Get to know the executive director

Name: Saajan Chauhan

Age: 32

Occupation: Union County Chamber of Commerce executive director

Family: Chauhan lives in La Grande with his son

Hobbies: Spending time with his son, cooking and outdoor activities — especially kayaking

Favorite meal to prepare: Dal or lentil soup

What he’s watching: “Severance”

Fun fact: Chauhan speaks three languages — English, Hindu and Punjabi