The Camp Verde Chamber Business Alliance has appointed a new president with goals to expand the town’s arts and entertainment options and drive tourism to local businesses.
David Love, who has been on the chamber’s board since early 2020, and has most recently served as vice president, took over as chamber president after Sheri Hauser stepped down in mid-August.
Love opened his business, Mystic Muse, which offers services like psychic readings, reiki healing, and metaphysical and meditation classes, in downtown Camp Verde in May 2020. Love spent around 45 years living in Tucson before he relocated to Canada for a decade. He then returned to Arizona to live in Camp Verde.
As a lifelong peace activist, Love wants to shift focus from what he calls an “old energy” in Camp Verde and bring in a “new energy” consisting of more arts, entertainment, tourist attractions, events and festivals. He eventually hopes to bring in some holistic fairs and healing events as well.
“Our idea was just to bring some new energy here and maybe more art, more music,” he said. “This is a very eclectic city ….There’s people from all walks of life. … I think that we need more culture in this community.”
Not only would the increase in entertainment benefit residents, Love said, but he anticipates it will drive tourism to the area and bring people into local businesses as well.
“My biggest thing, because we actually own a shop here downtown, is just to get more people to come downtown and spend time down here, not just drive past,” he said. “Until we give tourists a reason to come downtown … until we give them a reason to want to just go there and not just for gas, I want to see more touristy type of attractions: More gift shops, more entertainment for people to do.”
One of the chamber’s ideas for bringing more tourists to the downtown area involves adding more signage and beautification near the freeway that encourages visitors to check out the local shops and restaurants.
In fact, Love is currently working on launching his first campaign as president, Level Up Camp Verde. The goal of the program is to clean trash off of local streets to help beautify the town. His plan is to schedule a day every month or so for members of the community to come together and pick up trash.
He decided to start the campaign after noticing large amounts of litter along the street during his daily walks to work and decided to do something about it.
“Litter is always around, but we need people that are more responsible that can go out and actually pick it up instead of just looking at it all the time or ignoring it. It’s all part of that awareness,” he said.
Love is currently in the process of accumulating the bags, gloves and other materials needed for the project and hopes to kick it off as early as mid-September.
Another one of Love’s goals for the chamber is to grow the number of businesses involved. He cited the benefits of joining a chamber as being part of a larger group of reputable businesses and having a sense of community.
“It’s good to have that group support to be able to know that you’re not just one business, but you’re part of a coalition of many businesses,” he said. “They’re kind of recognized with this responsible organization that way.”
For more information about the chamber, visit campverdebiz.com.
