POCATELLO — The Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce will launch a new Hall of Fame program next month, selecting former chamber CEO and local community pillar Sam Nettinga for the inaugural honor.

Nettinga’s impact on the Gate City has been far-reaching, and his decades of work behind the scenes helped shape two of the region’s most visible institutions: the local chamber and the auditorium district.

The event is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Mountain View Event Center, 1567 Way to Grace.

Tickets are $10, and organizers say every dollar raised will be split evenly between two nonprofits chosen by Nettinga himself: the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Idaho and the Aid for Friends homeless shelter. Sponsorships are available for $200 and include five tickets along with recognition at the event.

Chamber CEO Matthew Hunter said the idea for a Hall of Fame had been on his mind for some time before he brought it to the chamber’s board. Hunter said the honor will not be given annually but that inductions will be based on those truly deserving of recognition, who often have served the community diligently for years or even decades.

Nettinga moved to Pocatello from Boise in the mid-1990s after retiring from a leadership role with a union organization there. He was soon hired to run the Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce, a post he held for roughly four to five years before Tim Anderson succeeded him in the early 2000s. Anderson, who had worked under Nettinga as the chamber’s membership manager, later led the organization himself before Hunter took over in 2005.

According to Hunter, Nettinga’s most lasting civic contribution came after his chamber tenure, when he led the campaign to establish the Pocatello-Chubbuck Auditorium District.

The district is a governmental taxing entity, authorized in Idaho since the 1950s, that allows communities to levy a hotel-room sales tax of up to 5 percent to fund facilities designed to draw tourism and events. Pocatello’s district was only the second such district in the state, following Boise’s.

“He was on the cutting edge of getting something like that done in Idaho,” Hunter said. “It took another 10 or 11 years before Idaho Falls finally passed one, and then Nampa passed one just a couple years ago.”

Nettinga chaired the Auditorium District’s board and guided the complex legal and logistical work needed to build the Mountain View Event Center, including securing Grace Lutheran Church as a project partner. He led the district until his retirement in December 2025, after nearly three decades of involvement in local tourism infrastructure. The Mountain View Event Center, the facility his leadership helped create, is fittingly serving as presenting sponsor of the Hall of Fame event.

Beyond the chamber and the auditorium district, Nettinga has been a longtime member of Rotary and played an instrumental role in establishing the Chief Pocatello statue near the city’s visitor center. He was also involved with high school rodeo and the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo over the years, among other community endeavors.

Hunter said Nettinga, now 89, remains active and continues to drive and engage with the community. He recently celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary, which coincided with his birthday.

The Sept. 8 program will include remarks from Hunter, a slideshow of photographs from Nettinga’s life and reflections on the family’s history from his sister, Jean Hanneke, a co-founder of the Boys and Girls Club. Anderson is also expected to speak about working alongside Nettinga, and Nettinga himself will have the opportunity to address attendees.

Chamber officials say they are using Nettinga’s record of sustained, multifaceted community involvement to help write formal criteria for future Hall of Fame honorees, including years of residency, chamber involvement and demonstrated impact on the Pocatello-Chubbuck area.

Tickets and sponsorship information are available through the chamber’s website.