A small-business owner, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and self-described “eternal optimist” will take the reins of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce next week.

The chamber announced Samantha Martinet as its executive director Monday. She will succeed Jenny Ford, who resigned in January to take a position as a business development officer with Idaho Central Credit Union in Moscow.

Martinet, 40, will assume her new role Tuesday.

“Right now is a really challenging time for our business community with COVID and everything that’s going on,” Martinet said. “So my main goal is really just to listen and learn and then really figure out where the most value would be added, and then kind of prioritize my goals from there. ... You can’t really advocate for people if you don’t understand where they’re coming from.”

Martinet, who moved to Moscow in 2017, owns and operates a consulting firm called Intuitive Sol LLC, which she started in January 2020 after working almost two and a half years as the University of Idaho’s associate director of corporate and foundation relations.

She said she helps people, especially military veterans, transition into their careers and lives.

“I wanted to work with people more on an individual level and I really feel like it’s exciting when you can teach people to be inspired by their own story,” Martinet said.

Martinet is also the director of marketing and taproom manager at Hunga Dunga Brewing Company in Moscow.

She said she will continue running Intuitive Sol but on a more limited basis and will no longer work at Hunga Dunga.

“Obviously the chamber’s going to be my No. 1 priority,” Martinet said.

She said running her business helps her understand challenges local business owners face.Martinet started Intuitive Sol right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and she said she learned to overcome challenges caused by the virus at her consulting firm and Hunga Dunga.

“I do see it as a challenge but I also see it as an opportunity to help people that are so important to what it means to be Moscow,” Martinet said of taking the chamber job during the pandemic.

Martinet served 13 years in the Marines and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in sociology and a minor in women and gender studies. She is also a graduate of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce Leadership Moscow program and a member of Moscow Young Professionals.

“She served our country and now she’s ready to serve our community,” Moscow Chamber of Commerce Board President Tim Helmke said.

Helmke said Martinet’s energy, excitement and enthusiasm about Moscow and the board’s belief she will help the business community through the pandemic and after it stood out among other candidates for the position.

“I wasn’t looking for another job because I’ve been really happy with what I’m doing,” Martinet said. “But when this opportunity came up I was like, what a great experience it would be to be able to use this knowledge to really help every business in Moscow and really cultivate a stronger community by bringing people together to leverage our strength more, because sometimes I don’t think we do that enough.”

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.