Tri-City Regional Chamber Withdraws From River of Fire, Cool Desert Nights

After completing a long and thorough evaluation of their future goals and plans, the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce has announced Wednesday they are stepping away from from their role in organizing the River of Fire 4th of July Fireworks show as well as Cool Desert Nights in Richland.

The Chamber issued a statement saying while they "greatly enjoyed" their partnerships with these events, they apparently do not align with what is called their Chamber 2020 Strategic plan.

In February of this year, the Chamber approved the plan, whose goal was to "align the Chamber resources with it's mission" and to "divest itself of of programs and events not aligned."

This plan performed what they called a "comprehensive review of quality, effectiveness and value of all Regional Chamber programs and events."

Apparently the River of Fire and Cool Desert Nights did not meet this strategic vision plan going forward, so now there is an opportunity for other groups to step forward and take the leadership role in the River of Fire Festival immediately. The Chamber will stage the 2018 Cool Desert Nights, after which there will be an opportunity for other groups to take the leadership and organization role.