Holien new Ronan chamber director
Megan Strickland
Mick Holien, award-winning announcer for the University of Montana Griz, is now the director of the Ronan Chamber of Commerce.
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RONAN – The award-winning voice of the Griz is now the voice of business in Ronan.
Mick Holien, sports announcer for the University of Montana’s basketball and football teams, is the new executive director for the Ronan Area Chamber of Commerce.
Holien, who lives in Polson, said he wanted the job because he felt Ronan was a city where he could make a difference.
“Promoting kind of comes second-nature to me,” Holien said. “I’m concerned business has declined. I think if we put a few people’s noses to the grindstone and get creative and innovative, maybe there’s a way to attract more business or get people to stop on Main Street instead of driving by on their way to Missoula or Kalispell.”
Many local businesses are worried about the impact of the recent opening of a Walmart Supercenter in Polson, Holien said. The key for a small business to survive the arrival of a new box store is to provide products, services, and customer service that box stores can’t compete with.
“You need to grasp at something that’s different,” Holien said.
Holien looks forward to working with people in the community. He is the first Chamber of Commerce director to have regular office hours. He is available on Wednesday afternoons at the Access Montana building on Highway 93.
“I don’t have any problem with someone coming to me for their complaints or their help in the business community or whatever,” Holien said. “I probably don’t have the answer to why we don’t have any cops in Ronan, but I bet I can maybe get an answer for you. One result of working for the Grizzlies so long is that people take my calls. They might not know what I look like, but they know my voice.”
Holien has been a University of Montana broadcaster for 29 years. He has been named the Montanan Sports Broadcaster of the Year 13 times, by the National Assocation of Sports Broadcasters and Sportswrtiers. He worked for newspapers, including the Missoulian for 35 years. Prior to his career in media, he owned a bowling alley. He has written three books about the University of Montana football program.
He is a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a hospital corpsman with the U.S. Marine Corps. He has volunteered or is currently volunteering with the following local organizations: the Lake County Tax Appeal Board, the Solid Waste Management Board,the Mission Valley Chapter of the Grizzly Scholarship Association, Glacier Country, CASA, Cheerful Hearts, and the Polson Board of Adjustment and the City-County Planning Board.
