Space Coast Alliance for Technology & Innovation with Cory Skeates

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability and to correct obvious transcription errors while preserving the meaning of the original conversation.

Brandon Burton (00:00.962)
Hello, Chamber Champions. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm your host, Brandon Burton, and here on the podcast, I introduce you to people and ideas to better help you serve your chamber members and your community.

Our guest for this episode is Cory Skeates, president and CEO of the Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce in Florida, where he leads efforts to advance economic growth, business advocacy, and community development across Florida's Space Coast. Cory brings extensive chamber leadership experience, having previously served as president and CEO of the Oviedo-Winter Springs and Lakeland chambers of commerce and as vice president of community development for Accelerate Brevard.

He is a past chair and current board member of the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals and serves as chair-elect of the Southeast Board of Regents for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management. Originally from Scottsville, New York, Cory holds a political science degree from Grove City College and a law degree from Barry University.

Cory, I'm excited to have you with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. I'd love to give you an opportunity to say hello to all the Chamber Champions who are listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can get to know you better.

Cory Skeates (01:16.881)
Thanks, Brandon. I appreciate it. We were talking before we started recording that this has been a long time coming. I've seen a lot of my friends on here, so I'm thrilled to be on your show today.

I've been in the chamber industry for 20 years now. It's hard to believe. It seems like it was just yesterday. I've been at four different chambers, so I've gotten to experience different parts of Florida, all within the state.

We're renovating an office right now, so I'm putting my handyman skills to work, doing some painting, flooring, and all that good stuff. Next week, I get to go to Washington, D.C., and be sworn in as chair of Southeast Institute. I've been looking forward to this opportunity. It's great for our community and our chamber. At this point in my career, I'm looking forward to giving back more to the industry that has done so much for me over the years.

Another quick piece about me is that I worked for six years in the Florida Legislature, so advocacy is a huge part of everything we do. When I was hired in Lakeland as the chamber president, I was hired mainly because of my advocacy background.

Brandon Burton (02:26.902)
That makes a lot of sense. Very cool. Like you said, it has been a long time coming. In the past, you did a podcast at one of your previous chambers too, right?

Cory Skeates (02:38.471)
We did. It was fairly successful. We did it for probably a year or so, right during COVID. It was a great time to do a podcast because I could be locked in a room with myself and maybe a couple of other people. People were listening to podcasts a lot back then because there wasn't much else to do.

Brandon Burton (02:57.858)
That's right. This is also my 20th year in the chamber industry. I celebrated 20 years last month, so we've been at it about the same amount of time.

Cory Skeates (03:03.930)
Congratulations.

Cory Skeates (03:09.423)
This month is also one year at this new chamber for me. I started last October, so that's another anniversary.

Brandon Burton (03:15.896)
Tell us a little about the Greater Palm Bay Chamber to give us an idea of its size, staff, scope of work, and budget.

Cory Skeates (03:25.509)
We're located on Florida's beautiful Space Coast, so we get to go outside and watch rocket launches. It never gets old. We love watching each and every one of them.

We're about a 600-member chamber with approximately a $700,000 budget. We're thrilled that our sixth staff member is starting on Monday. We had an administrative position open for a while, so the staff is excited to have somebody be that gatekeeper. We're calling the position director of first impressions. A lot of chambers use that term because this is the first person everybody will meet, either on the phone or in person. We think we've found a great candidate and are thrilled to have them join us.

We are a smaller chamber compared with some of the larger regional ones. When I was in Lakeland, we had about 1,500 members. A 600-member chamber is small, but we do really big things, and I think we're going to talk about some of those today.

Brandon Burton (04:27.596)
You can probably breathe a little better in your current position.

Cory Skeates (04:32.761)
You can. As I'm starting, I'm already thinking about retirement. That's kind of scary. I see all my friends beginning to retire from the industry. I told the committee when I was interviewing that I could see this being my ride-into-the-sunset position because I love the community.

When I was a kid, I grew up in western New York near Rochester. We used to come down every Christmas, and sometimes Thanksgiving, to visit my great-aunt and uncle. They lived in a retirement community called Barefoot Bay, which is about 10 minutes south of Palm Bay. When I visited them, we'd always go to the big city of Palm Bay and shop at Winn-Dixie. Now, full circle, here I am running the chamber in the place that gave me my first impression of Florida. It's a cool story.

Brandon Burton (05:23.938)
That is really cool. Today's topic is one of these big programs for you: the Space Coast Alliance for Technology and Innovation. Before anybody tunes out because they don't have a space industry in their community, it isn't only about that. It's about finding a gap in your community, identifying where the chamber can help, and determining what is unique about your community that you can lean into and amplify. I'm excited to dive deeper into that after this quick break.

Brandon Burton (06:21.816)
Cory, we're back. We're covering one of the areas where you have leaned into a community gap with the Space Coast Alliance for Tech & Innovation. Tell us what it is, how it came about, and how it has evolved.

Cory Skeates (06:37.745)
I give my predecessor complete credit for all of this. She left us with an incredible baseline to build from.

It started eight years ago, and we just celebrated our eighth annual Space Coast Symposium & Expo. There wasn't an event in our community that celebrated the technology, innovation, aerospace, space, and everything we do as a community here on Florida's Space Coast. The chamber came up with the idea of holding panel discussions and a one-day symposium that brought in the best of the best in these areas.

This year, topics included advanced manufacturing and workforce. We also talked about Golden Dome, which is the new version of what we heard called Star Wars during the Reagan era. We had leaders from L3Harris and Northrop Grumman come to town, with one flying in from Virginia just to discuss the topic.

Workforce is a huge issue across the country. We were thrilled that our final keynote speaker this year was Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator. We got him to come down from Washington, D.C., and keynote the event. It has continued to grow.

Because of the event's success, people kept coming up and saying, "You need to do this every month." That would be a huge undertaking, especially for a staff of five, soon to be six. They decided we needed something monthly, and that's when the chamber developed the Space Coast Alliance for Tech & Innovation, or SCATI.

These are smaller monthly versions of the larger expo, featuring different guest speakers. Last month, we had a speaker from Embraer. The company isn't new to our community, but it is newer than some of our other companies. It's an international company, and the speaker was from Brazil. Next month, a speaker from United Launch Alliance is coming from Colorado. We do these monthly as a primer and to keep people interested in our work leading up to next year's symposium, which will be next August.

Brandon Burton (09:00.792)
As you hold these smaller teasers leading up to the big expo, are you specifically bringing in businesses tied to the space and technology fields?

Cory Skeates (09:17.015)
Yes, both for guest speakers and for our audience. Many people there either work in the space and technology world or are looking to get a foot into it. It's a huge ecosystem here, and we always joke that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to be involved in the space program.

Many different industries are involved. We have HVAC companies providing services, and NASA, Blue Origin, and SpaceX need janitorial contractors. We have all these players in the room.

That was exciting about this year's symposium. We had all of those players as sponsors, panelists, or attendees. People heard from Blue Origin about advanced manufacturing and learned more from SpaceX about launches and Starship eventually being based here on the Space Coast. They could learn what was happening in the industry and about the factors affecting its success, including workforce and how we could manufacture more things here.

That's something we've leaned into through SCATI. Since I've been here, we've created several offshoots. We held our first SCATI Manufacturers Council event, bringing area manufacturers together with companies that want to provide services to them. It allows manufacturers to learn from each other and hear guest speakers.

We partnered with the Manufacturers Association of Central Florida and FloridaMakes, the statewide organization focused on manufacturers. Our EDC president and CEO, Lynda Weatherman, provided a briefing on the state of manufacturing. We're going to hold these every month or every other month as an opportunity to bring manufacturers together.

Nobody was talking about manufacturing because it has sometimes been considered a dirty word. People assume they don't want manufacturing in their community. However, light industrial and advanced manufacturing are very different. When you visit manufacturing floors at companies like Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, or Boeing, you could eat off the floors.

Brandon Burton (11:47.854)
It's like a clean room. You could do surgery in there, right?

Cory Skeates (11:50.770)
It's cleaner than my house. My wife probably won't like me saying that, but it isn't a dirty word anymore.

We see everything happening with the launches here and ask why we aren't manufacturing what's being launched and what goes into the launch process instead of manufacturing it in California and shipping it here. We're trying to make sure that becomes a priority.

Another SCATI-focused program we started this year is our AI Business Lab. We hold these monthly and invite guest speakers who work in that field. Nobody is truly an AI expert because it changes so much, but these are consultants and people who conduct AI training regularly.

They focus on different platforms, creating agents, or other ways our members can learn. Every couple of months, someone will say, "I have this issue," and the guest speaker can explain how AI might help address it.

That was another gap in our community. Nobody was focused on it, and many people are afraid of it. We're trying to bring people in, help them get used to it, and get them using it so they can see it isn't that scary. It can help them become more efficient in their daily work.

Brandon Burton (13:16.771)
I'm trying to make this relatable to communities across the country. Maybe it isn't space. Maybe it's energy production or data centers. Data centers are going in everywhere. Any community can hold discussions around data centers, AI, and other important developments. Each major industry has an ecosystem that follows it.

If a chamber can recognize those gaps and leverage the opportunity so that the rest of the business community can benefit, that's exactly what I see your chamber doing.

Cory Skeates (13:56.626)
A small chamber and a small budget don't have to mean a small impact. There are many things smaller chambers can become known for, and that's what we've done here.

We're in the southern part of Brevard County, and the rocket launches are about an hour north of us. There are three or four other chambers between us and where the launches occur and where companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have facilities.

We leaned into it. People ask, "Greater Palm Bay isn't in Cape Canaveral or Titusville. Why are you known for this?" It's because we saw an opportunity and a gap, and we've been successful with it. People are starting to associate our chamber with all things space, technology, and innovation, which is exciting.

Some other chambers in the area are beginning to focus on those issues, and rightfully so. Because we've been doing it for so long, however, we've become one of the organizations people turn to on these topics.

Brandon Burton (15:16.374)
I'm in Texas, and Bastrop is a chamber I'm familiar with. SpaceX has gravitated there, and Elon Musk has several businesses in the area, including The Boring Company and X. Why Bastrop? It's somewhat close to Austin, but it isn't in a big city. You don't need to be in a big city. You need a strong community that can support the growth and development that comes with these companies. You don't have to be in the center of everything. You just have to pay attention to it.

Cory Skeates (15:56.070)
A good piece of advice is to look at your community and write down what it needs and where the gaps are. Then determine where the chamber can fill a gap. It doesn't necessarily have to be another event. It can be a roundtable discussion.

We're not the experts on most things, but we know where the experts are. Being able to convene those experts and get them in a room together is one of the most vital roles chambers play. We've successfully brought people into the room, facilitated conversations, and become known as the organization that does that in our community. We're incredibly proud of it.

Brandon Burton (16:47.352)
I'm always curious about how chambers communicate this to their membership. There will always be members who say, "Cory, I have nothing to do with space and technology. We're a janitorial company." You've given good examples, and there's a place for them in this work. How do you help them bridge that gap and see that it's for them too, so they don't feel ignored?

Cory Skeates (17:19.133)
It requires constant conversations. We talk about workforce all the time. When we hold these panels, we try to make workforce a priority. At most of our luncheons, regardless of the overall topic, we turn part of the conversation to workforce so people understand there is a way for them to become involved in these industries, even if they never thought they could be.

The Florida Chamber created its Prosperity Initiative several years ago. It has become a statewide initiative that chambers are adopting. It looks at youth poverty at the ZIP-code level. The initiative identified 10 root causes of poverty, and communities find leaders to focus on those root causes in ZIP codes with high rates of childhood poverty.

L3Harris is located here in Palm Bay, and some communities with high poverty rates are right around it. I drive past houses on one side of the road and see L3Harris on the other. I think many people living in those communities never imagine they could be involved with L3Harris.

Chambers need to help people understand that there is an opportunity for them to participate, even when they can't yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's why we've adopted the model and created the Brevard Prosperity Initiative. This year, we're trying to bring in the other chambers and make it a genuinely community-wide initiative.

A rising tide should include people who may never feel like they're part of the conversation. There are ways to participate in the space ecosystem other than being a rocket scientist or working directly on the Orion capsule. Many other services are needed.

Our staff impresses me. I've been here for a year, and they sit down with every new member for at least an hour. They discuss the opportunities, where the business can plug in, and whom the member should meet.

We've also adopted a software platform called MemberBoost AI. Craig Turner is fantastic. We give members an AI-generated success plan, and they're blown away. It identifies who they should meet, where they should go, and what they might sponsor.

They leave with a plan and a direct connection to our staff. I hear from many new members that we're different because we take the time to have those conversations, allowing them to understand where they can be most successful.

Brandon Burton (21:01.538)
I love your point about helping people move out of poverty by bridging the gap and helping them recognize community opportunities. Someone living in poverty might think they need a degree or need to be a rocket scientist. There are opportunities at many different levels.

Even for a position that traditionally requires an accounting or finance degree, there may be an opportunity to receive training, start elsewhere, and move up. There are all sorts of opportunities, and I love making that connection.

Cory Skeates (21:47.666)
Our EDC has done a fantastic job. It conducted a workforce impact study by interviewing CEOs at some of the biggest companies in our community and asking where the gaps were. Then it went to our local colleges and asked whether they could create certifications or programs that would move people through quickly because jobs would be waiting for them on the other side.

I want to leverage the Prosperity Initiative to share that information in the community. I also want to build up our foundation next year. If chambers aren't using their foundations, they can be an incredible avenue for getting things done and attracting charitable, tax-deductible contributions.

We could use the foundation to provide scholarships for these programs. If someone from one of the ZIP codes we're trying to serve wants to become a machinist, we could help scholarship that person through the program, hopefully using funds from businesses trying to fill those workforce gaps. Then we could move that person into a position and see where it leads.

A couple of years ago, I met an individual during a workforce panel. He described himself as "just a stupid roofer," although those were his words, not mine. He knew he wanted to be involved in the space industry. He got an entry-level job with Lockheed Martin. The company paid for him to attend the University of Central Florida and earn a logistics degree. Now he's managing its largest logistics facility here on the Space Coast.

He said, "You never know from where you start where you're going to end." Those stories excite me because I think everybody should have the opportunity to participate if they want to.

Brandon Burton (23:55.971)
I love that story. It needs to be on a poster somewhere.

I want to return to the Space Coast Alliance for Tech & Innovation. You mentioned that many sponsors come from different industries looking for a way to become involved with the space sector. How has highly focused programming helped with event sponsorships and communicating that opportunity?

Cory Skeates (24:34.907)
The event has continued to grow every year and has developed a reputation. We now get invited to things you would never expect a chamber like the Greater Palm Bay Chamber to attend.

We participate in SpaceCom every year, which is a huge space industry conference at the Orange County Convention Center. Anybody and everybody involved in the space industry is there, and the Greater Palm Bay Chamber has a booth.

People come up and ask why a chamber of commerce is there. We have a backdrop explaining the symposium and SCATI. This year, we'll be able to show a video of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaking. People will see that we were able to bring him to the event and recognize the program's scale.

At the cocktail hour after this year's event, a couple of our presenting sponsors came up and said, "Sign us up for next year. We're in." The staff puts so much time into ensuring the program runs smoothly that people are impressed with the presentation and the content. It has become a well-oiled machine. I was fortunate to join in year eight, when it was already running smoothly.

Some sponsors may initially seem like a square peg in a round hole, but they know the audience and have a message they want to place in front of that group. We also have nonprofit sponsors because they know many businesses in the room have philanthropic dollars available. They're smart enough to make that connection.

One thing I share with chambers is that probably 50% of our sponsors aren't members. We typically charge nonmembers about 25% more. Most of the time, because of the sponsorship price, joining the chamber makes more sense. Some companies still decide to pay the additional amount and participate without joining.

We're not an organization that's going to turn down a revenue opportunity. It's also helpful because those sponsors see what we do, and it has led to many memberships. They become impressed with the work and decide they want to invest in us further.

Brandon Burton (27:03.894)
There will always be companies that, for whatever reason, can't join the chamber but can sponsor. Why would you turn that away?

Cory Skeates (27:22.747)
We hear that from some universities. They may say they would have to join 50 chambers, so they can't join ours, but they can sponsor. I tell them that's great.

Brandon Burton (27:34.924)
Before we let you go, what tip or action item would you share with listeners who want to take their chamber to the next level?

Cory Skeates (27:52.248)
Be willing to evolve. That's one of the biggest things we discuss at state conferences. Don't be afraid to try new things, and don't be afraid to fail.

At one of my previous chambers, we had a budget line for failures. It allowed us to try things. If something didn't work, we'd charge it to that line item.

Brandon Burton (28:20.046)
Some might see that as wasted money, but it's education and professional development.

Cory Skeates (28:23.781)
It is. You learn from your failures. There's a professor at the University of Central Florida who held a failure contest for business students each year. They had to stand in the student union and talk about their biggest failure. He saw it as a valuable learning experience. Students came away glad they had done it. It was embarrassing at the time, but they learned how to grow from past failures.

My biggest piece of advice is to try things. We've done a lot of that this year. I probably drive the staff crazy because I still live in Orlando and have an hour-and-15-minute commute each day. I have a lot of time to think. I come into the office with a look on my face, and the staff wonders what I'm going to do next.

We've created at least eight or nine new initiatives this year. Some have done better than others. There are no sacred cows in my world; they make great steaks. Sometimes you have to discontinue something and move on. Don't be afraid to try new things. Your community will appreciate it.

Also, lean into advocacy. At Institute, we talk about the "golden handcuffs." Why are people joining your chamber? What do they receive from you that they can't get anywhere else? What will keep them on board even if they never attend an event?

That's the advocacy side. If members see you working on behalf of the business community, even if they don't always agree with you, they may say, "We appreciate that you took a position. We aren't fully on board with it, but we appreciate that the organization was willing to act." That goes a long way toward demonstrating why continuing to pay dues each year is necessary.

Brandon Burton (30:25.006)
As we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see their future and purpose going forward?

Cory Skeates (30:38.233)
I think collaboration will be a key element for chambers in the future.

When I was in Lakeland, we worked on creating a business resource center. We planned to bring business-support organizations from the community together in one large facility. There's an example in Orlando called the National Entrepreneur Center. It brings together various chambers, the Small Business Development Center, the Small Business Administration, microlenders, and other organizations under one roof to collaborate.

I think we'll see more regional approaches. That doesn't necessarily mean mergers, but I see more alliances around specific initiatives, especially advocacy. Presenting a united front on issues is incredibly important when going to the state or Washington, D.C., especially when the whole community is involved. Getting through some of the barriers to collaboration will make all of us more successful.

I've facilitated board retreats for other chambers. One question I ask board members is whether they know their mission statement. They usually say they discuss it at board meetings. Then I ask whether they are truly fulfilling it and what could help advance that mission.

Could the chamber collaborate with aligned, like-minded partners such as the local REALTORS association or home builders association? Are there opportunities to align on issues and demonstrate value? Could chambers hold joint events?

Earlier this year, we held an event with the Titusville Area Chamber, which is at the opposite end of our county. Their CEO, Robert Goltz, and I go back 25 years. We thought it would be fun for our members to meet each other. When you attend an after-hours event, it's often the same people. A joint event allowed members to broaden their networks and added value to both organizations.

I think collaborative efforts are where chambers will find success in the future.

Brandon Burton (33:00.632)
Cory, this has been great. Before I let you go, please share contact information for listeners who want to connect or learn more about SCATI.

Cory Skeates (33:14.087)
There's nothing I love more than talking about chambers. I'm on LinkedIn under Cory Skeates, C-O-R-Y S-K-E-A-T-E-S. My email is cory@greaterpalmbaychamber.com, and that's probably the best way to reach me. You can also visit greaterpalmbaychamber.com. We have a new website, so we're excited to show it off.

Brandon Burton (33:47.134)
We'll include that in the show notes and make it easy to connect. This has been a great discussion. I love the impact you're making and how you're filling gaps in your community, as every chamber should. Thank you for sharing what's working at the Greater Palm Bay Chamber. I look forward to getting this out to the masses and helping them fill gaps in their communities.

Cory Skeates (34:10.120)
Thanks, Brandon. Now it's back to the ladder and the paint.

Brandon Burton (34:13.165)
That's right.