Meg English
The Belle Fourche Chamber of Commerce is very pleased to announce that a new chamber director has been hired. Michaela Horn will assume her responsibilities on May 28th.
Originally from Casa Grande, Arizona, Michaela attended Montana State University in Bozeman where she earned a degree in organismal biology. Her career path in a biology field brought her to the Black Hills for an internship with the Game Fish and Parks. Here, in 2017 she spent an enjoyable summer of hiking in the hills and studying the survival rates of the Merriam turkey population.
After meeting husband Darren at the Days of 76 Rodeo that summer she was happy to stay.
The job market for biology majors is limited even in the Black Hills so she turned to a new career, teaching at the Badlands Head Start. Soon after, Michaela became the coach for the Belle Fourche High School cheerleading team.
Working with small children and high school kids has agreed with her.
Although Michaela has been content with the rewards of teaching preschoolers and guiding high school athletes, the Belle Fourche Chamber of Commerce Director position appealed to her.
She was familiar with the Chamber from some volunteer projects she initiated with the cheerleaders. Michaela has certainly demonstrated the ability to diversify her skills. She appreciates education, children of all ages and backgrounds, and she is always up for an adventure. Last summer Michaela participated in a 28-day rafting adventure. It was the first all- women team to raft the Yellowstone River from Yellowstone Park to the confluence in North Dakota.
Michaela likes living in Belle Fourche and likes getting to know more people. She has always felt welcome here and she appreciates the unique characteristics of the town and the community.
She is aware of the changing demographics as the town grows. Michaela appreciates the culture of Belle Fourche and cited events such as The Roundup, and Fourth of July festivities that define the culture.
She is interested in keeping the town thriving while maintaining and celebrating the things that are going well in Belle Fourche.
Michaela is eager to learn as much as possible about the community. Building relationships is essential to building community and the best way to do that is to venture out to meet people.
She plans to continue working with the high school athletes but will miss the children and the staff at Head Start.
Michaela is ready for something new. “I feel that I’ve done a good job of being a part of the community. People have really taken me in. And to some extent I think it’s an advantage to have lived in other communities.” It helps her to appreciate Belle Fourche more and focus on her goal is to help Belle Fourche move forward as while preserving its culture. 
