Wooster Area Chamber 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Justin Starlin

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

Episode 73 — Wooster Area Chamber 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Justin Starlin
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Justin Starlin
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.242 Brandon Burton
This special episode is part of our 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist series, where you get to hear from some of the top chambers across the country. I hope you find great value in this series, but first, the intro. This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:29.76 Intro Voice
And now your host, who once turned a triple play in a little league championship game. He's my dad, Brandon Burton.
00:36.386 Brandon Burton
Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to help introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. You're joining us today for episode 73 of Chamber Chat Podcast, which is this is also our second interview in our 2020 ACCE Chamber of the Year finalist series. If you're new to listening to Chamber Chat Podcast, I'd suggest you check out our get started page at chamberchatpodcast.com slash start where you can get some ideas for some nondues revenue as well as our our free chamber podcasting guide if you've ever considered doing a podcast for your own chamber. Again both of those resources are found at chamberchatpodcast dot com slash start. Our guest for this episode this this second interview of the Chamber of the Year Finalist series is Justin Starlin. Who's the president and CEO of the Wooster Area Chamber in Ohio? Justin has more than 15 years of experience in economic and community development, city administration, and chamber executive leadership, in which he's grown professionally by assuming positions such as economic development coordinator, community development director, co-city manager, and most recently president of the Wooster Chamber of Commerce. Through his career, he's assumed a leadership role in projects and initiatives ranging from large development projects such as LEED for the Daisy Brand establishment, a manufacturing facility in Wooster, to small projects such as the development of the state of Ohio's initial downtown D5L liquor license language and implementation. Beginning his career as a recognized economic development professional in the city of Wooster for nearly 10 years. Justin transitioned to a leadership role at the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce. Throughout his career, Justin has been recognized as an innovator and collaborator as he focuses on results opposed to discussion and bridges rather than walls. Justin was named the prestigious 2018 Professional of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Ohio. He and the Wooster Area Chamber were also 2019 ACCE Chamber of the Year finalists.
02:58.53 Brandon Burton
Which I was privileged to have Justin on the show last year. And if you're interested in hearing that, that's in episode 31. But Justin's a faithful supporter of community organizations and projects, not only in his professional life, but in his personal life as well, where he sits on various committees, community and and regional boards related to economic development, chamber leadership, and service club activities. I'm excited to get into this discussion with Justin today to see what it is about the Wooster Area Chamber that is making them stand out to be selected for a second year in a row as a finalist for the Chamber of the Year. And we will get into that discussion as soon as we get back from hearing from our sponsor. Chambers are not considered for Chamber of the Year without having great programs and steady streams of non-dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program. From Swipe It. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swipe It is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swipe It Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the Chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swipe It Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit Chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swipe It. The first 20 chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit ChamberchatPodcast.com slash CC to start swiping with Swipe It. Alright, Justin, we are back. If you would take a moment to say hello to the chamber champions out there that are listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit better.
05:01.472 Justin Starlin
Yeah, Brandon, hey, thank you so much for having me on today and for all the people listening, appreciate your time as far as just listening on what's happening in Wooster, Ohio. So you might ask, well, what is where is Wooster, Ohio? Just kind of give you a reference. it is about an hour due south of Cleveland, Ohio, a small rural community. we service about fifty thousand people roughly. Our municipality is about twenty seven thousand people. and a county of just about a hundred and fifteen. So pretty small rural community, but this organization has a very rich h history, Brandon, that boasts seven hundred members, a budget of around four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and we have four full time employees just on on the chamber end here in Wooster.
05:53.934 Brandon Burton
Right. That gives us a good little snapshot about your chamber there and maybe some of that perspective that you bring to our discussion today as you talk about what it is that that's making Wooster stand out. so I know in the the application process every every chamber submits their application with and they highlight a couple of programs, synopsis. do you mind taking us through what the those programs are that that you submitted for the Wooster chamber?
06:24.458 Justin Starlin
Absolutely. And this is our second time that you mentioned Brandon being a finalist and we're extremely honored. you know, I I think for the our synopsis there was two pieces. These are things that stand out for us is number one, we highlighted a countywide manufacturing day, which last year this is this will this fall will be our seventh year of doing that. It's hard to believe. But we boast s boast seven hundred students throughout our entire county. That visited 18 manufacturing facilities. And not just a field trip, but we've we've really ramped up our manufacturers for this to be a recruitment opportunity for them for all area students. So a very interesting day and very strongly supported throughout Wayne County here in the great state of Ohio. And then our second one, while it may not be exciting, Brandon, We do a large newsletter production. And so digital age, we're all really into that, especially with COVID coming on and kind of speeding that process up. but we still produce a paper newsletter that looks like a little newspaper that is delivered to 2100 of our membership contacts, but then also It goes to all of our community members, so roughly around twenty three thousand people in our community. So if you're a s a citizen in Wooster, Ohio, you receive the Chamber newsletter that talks about not only what our organization is doing, but what's happening in the community. And we we really have seen that pay off in dividends as far as the goodwill that the chamber has amongst citizens, knowing that we're active and making a difference here in Wooster.
08:19.424 Brandon Burton
So I think that's definitely something different than what most chambers do. And I'd I'd love for you to share maybe a little bit more about the newsletter production. And I think when you're one of those twenty three thousand people in the community and you're getting this this regular newsletter, it would be hard to say, I didn't know that the chamber does XYZ. So do you mind just expanding a little bit on that?
08:43.309 Justin Starlin
Yeah. Yeah, Brandon. you know, I think in each respective community, there is a point of, you know, we're all competing for limited or you know, finite resources as far as sponsorship money, philanthropic money, and just support from our membership. So the point I bring reason me bringing that up is this newsletter has turned into a large brand brand and marketing awareness component for our organization. We highlight again what is happening with our members. We allow members to advertise in that newsletter and every month we have a waiting list for that. So if someone is having a you know a certain anniversary or there's a recognition within a company, they can come to the chamber. And again, it's like kind of like a little mini newspaper. But also we're writing pieces and articles about what is maybe on the horizon in the community or what recently has happened. And that has become a a really important piece, we think, for the citizens, because as as you know or everybody listening today, newsprint media is slowly dying, right? So we have a local newspaper that While they physically will print this this newsletter for us, less local reporters to cover what's happening in community. And I think we've s began to fill some of that void and our brand has grown exponentially because of
10:24.3 Brandon Burton
That is awesome. So did I hear you correctly when you said there's a waiting list for the advertising in it?
10:30.124 Justin Starlin
Yeah, so I and you know, w w I like to be extremely straightforward. I mean, we will roughly spend forty to forty five thousand dollars a year on our newsletter, but we sell advertisements to our members. those members are obviously able to highlight what they're doing, and then we sell spots in the newsletter as well at a very discounted rate in comparison to what they would find just on the regular market. So it's a a way for us to bring revenue back. But every year when we're budgeting, you know, all the sponsorships and advertisements do not pay for the entire newsletter, but we look at it as a investment into our organization, into our brand, and really just a almost a public service to get that information out as to what's happening in the community. and then lastly, I think that it has led to more community engagement. people wanting to be a part of our organization and wanting to be a part of what's happening in the community, which members who are supporting us, they see that. And sponsorships or membership renewals, that I believe that that's had a direct direct correlation to that being a lot easier for us as an organization.
11:51.432 Brandon Burton
I know there's been a lot of discussion in over the last couple of years even about chambers being storytellers. And I think doing this the newsletter production is an option. That's a an an outlet for you to be able to tell the story of the chamber, what you guys are doing and and how you you serve the community. So I think that's neat. I think it's neat to get out of the the rut of of traditional it's funny. Yeah, print used to be traditional. Now you traditional is more digital, right?
12:20.014 Justin Starlin
Sure, absolutely.
12:21.16 Brandon Burton
Getting out of what what traditional is today and maybe taking a step back to to a a way some people would prefer to get their mess.
12:29.39 Justin Starlin
And it's interesting, well, this was before COVID, but you know, if you went to the dentist's office, you know, our newsprint newsletter, those as an example, my dentist who is obviously in town, you can always find a couple months of the chamber newsletter sitting out just like on a magazine. So you know, again, it we're buying into building up our brand and building up our identity and and what we see as a ever growing competitive. field for non profits, but also also bringing a service to our members as well. So it's a unique project.
13:06.52 Brandon Burton
That's awesome. Now let's take a step back and look at the the countywide manufacturing day that you guys highlight. And you'd mentioned seven hundred students visiting eighteen manufacturing facilities. what kind of results do you see out of this as far as making that introduction of the students to the manufacturing in the community? And are you able to follow through with some of that or from the employer side from the manufacturing facilities, seeing you know, how those needs are being met as far as Filling those the gaps with employment.
13:39.21 Justin Starlin
Absolutely. So let's if we can maybe just some hard numbers and and this has developed as the years have gone by, there's been some educational components to the manufacturers saying, hey, rather than just a field trip, because field trips are great. And while there's value in just getting the students into the facility, we've really worked hard with the manufacturers and their HR departments say, hey, turn this into recruitment. These there are going to be students from all over the county coming in. This is an opportunity to to you know to make an impression with them. So we've we've done that, we've grown that. I think what is probably unique out of I would challenge anybody in the in the nation to see this model is that we have 13 different school districts throughout Wayne County. They all kind of how the day works. I'm gonna cover this, Brandon. They all come to one central location in the middle of the county. each student in the school is assigned to a manufacturer of their choosing based on the information that they have learned about the manufacturing facility. We at the chamber assign 700 students. they all wear name tags where they're going in the morning, where they're going in the afternoon, and those students then have an individualized customized look at the manufacturing facilities that are of interest to them. That has resulted in we have surveys that after each stop branded where we asked the students if they would be interested in a career at the at the facility. Out of just around 700 students last year, there were 385 That responded back saying that they wanted to be connected with that facility or manufacturer rather, that they had interest in a career there. So for us to boast that we were able to connect manufacturers throughout our county, again, a smaller county, with 385 students that had interest in work at their facility, that's a great selling point for us and really shows that we're being active in.
15:57.29 Justin Starlin
One of the sexiest things going out there in the chamber and throughout the nation is workforce development. So we are we're leading that in the county and it's it's very recognized.
16:08.782 Brandon Burton
That's great. So that the other forty percent roughly of the students, did they was it a hard no? I don't want to do that and their eyes were opened, or is it they were still undecided?
16:19.894 Justin Starlin
Yeah, it wasn't a hard no. but we what we did is we would mark them down when we're running our stats as a no if they were not willing to give us an email address. So we received 385 emails. And then what's great is we broke those down into each facility and we told or we sent those to our point of contacts at each each manufacturing saying, Here's the girl or guy's name, here is their email, here's their school. and go ahead and make contact with them. So r it's really been positive and the manufacturers I can tell you this is the seventh this will be the seventh year and we have not lost one manufacturer as far as participation wise. So they're they see the value.
17:04.697 Brandon Burton
yeah. It seems like a no brainer from the manufacturer side. That's awesome. so I wanted to ask I mean, you you've highlighted some things that you guys are doing there at the Wooster Area Chamber that other chambers maybe aren't doing, but I wanted to just ask more of a an open question in your opinion, as especially as you guys are being considered as finalists for Chamber of the Year for the second year in a row. What do you feel sets Wooster apart? And what are some things that you guys are doing there at your chamber that others might not be doing?
17:42.274 Justin Starlin
Yeah, so the one thing that first off we have a very dynamic and supportive board, okay? and they're they've always said this is the first chair that I had when I came on to the chamber, he said, you know, I I don't care what we do on a daily as far as, you know, operations or what we're looking to do getting into the community development component or economic development, the one thing we always need to do is lead. Don't stand there, don't be a buy a you know a a watcher of what's happening. lead. And I think that's what we have done. So we don't shy away from taking a position, which I think many chambers do because they're worried about you know upsetting a member or losing a a member to on taking a position. And we're not against you know. going against our our local government if we feel as if our members are not being supported, you know, like they should. That has caused some gray hairs for me and also you know, stronger conversations with the board. But collectively, we know where we're headed, and we aren't we don't shy away from taking a position and being a leader. To that end, you know we've really ramped up our social media efforts, Brandon. And we're able to again through our brand, through the newsletter and through being active and being always having a seat at the table, we're able to boast we have right at it's almost 14,000 followers on a fa our on our Facebook account as an example of the size of the social media outreach that we have in this small community.
19:36.556 Brandon Burton
That is awesome. But going back to something you said about taking a position, I was thinking as a a chamber, if you truly are gonna be an advocate and a champion for your members, you do you have to take a position. You have to stand up for their rights and and for what what their interests are.
19:54.304 Justin Starlin
Yes, we we had a number of nonprofits that are in the economic development space here locally. we've ha we have multiple ch chambers in the county. A number of our larger businesses said, Hey, the state of Ohio, Governor DeWine is not you know, speeding things up, at least in their minds, to reopening the state of Ohio with COVID. And the question was posed to many of our organizations, are you communicating or what is your position in reopening the state. And that's the one thing with this with the COVID situation, Brandon, this is so polarizing. there are many people that are don't feel as if they want to leave the house, period. And there's others that will you know w want to be free and and and go as as as they may. We made a decision that we were gonna back our members and push for the reopening for businesses in the state of Ohio. We sent communications to the Ohio Chamber articulating that. We also sent a letter to our governor saying we encourage you to support business, support commerce. We need to reopen, we need to reopen now. The reason I bring that up is, you know, it's not it wasn't popular with everybody. and we took a lot of flack from citizens who felt as if we were endangering the citizens by pushing for it or being irresponsible. But I can tell you overall, I know that our members are confident that we're here if if they call or they have a question or if they need an advocate, we're here.
21:32.066 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that's a great example you just shared. You know, I thought when I asked you the question about what you guys are doing that other chambers might not be doing, I'd I kind of expected you to talk about your wiener dog races. But yeah. That's a reference back to last year's interview in episode thirty one.
21:44.226 Justin Starlin
Yeah.
21:48.62 Justin Starlin
And we're getting close. We are we actually dri we go around the state of Ohio and scout wiener dog races. Like we discussed yeah last year. We have a fall festival with a wiener dog race and this year we have we had eighty five wiener dogs in downtown Wooster. So we will have the best in the state of Ohio, it's just gonna take us a little bit.
22:08.93 Brandon Burton
That's right. So maybe shifting gears to a little bit more of a serious topic is you know, we've mentioned a couple of times already through the the COVID pandemic right now. And you guys are are are making some strides as far as being the advocate for the businesses in your community. But do you mind sharing what what other plans you have to to lead your business community through the recovery specifically over the the economic impact that so many of the businesses are facing.
22:40.93 Justin Starlin
Yes, a good example. First off, I think it's it has been very important for us to be present. And I know that that while those members who maybe didn't interact with us, our doors were open the the day that the governor's orders said, you know, office professional folks can be back back to work. We were here. And the point of that is if our members were working By God, we felt as if we should be here as well. So just that has gone a long way. but w throughout the the COVID nineteen pandemic, obviously all chambers share much information has been shared with our members. And I think we've been a good gatekeeper of information. For executives that are listening, I bet you you've been inundated with emails and webinars and you know, this guideline and that guideline. We've I think we've done a really good job of being gatekeepers and feeding relevant and timely information to our members. So that's one thing we did initially, but what we're doing now as far as we talk about recovery, a good example is in downtown Wooster. the number one draw, which our our downtown is very b vibrant, is restaurants. and so eateries, restaurants, bars. and that's really important not only for them but then also the retailers. We need, you know, we need bodies downtown. So we are physically working on legislation which will go to our city go up to City Hall, which I I previously worked, supporting the closure of roads and the closure of sidewalks and the expansion of alcoholic beverages on the sidewalks in the streets to support not not That's not a you know a a big bar crawl, but the the point is supporting those those main businesses that draw people downtown. We're trying to build you know, an atmosphere that will support them to the utmost so that they have the ability to to make it through this. That's one example. And it's it's probably not gonna be the most popular thing in a conservative community, but we feel as if if we can
25:01.826 Justin Starlin
you know, make a difference in that that way to to, you know, save some of those restaurants, we should be doing it and you know, we should be pretty aggressive about it. And we are. So
25:12.382 Brandon Burton
That's right. I think as long as we're on the topic of of COVID, I think it's it's appropriate for you to share a little bit. you have the GOJO manufacturing there in Wooster and and they're literally being lifesavers to a lot of people right now. And and I I bring it up just as a reminder that although most businesses in the country are suffering, there are some that are really doing well. And I don't know if you want to to share just a little bit about what's going on there in Wooster right now, how that's affecting your your community and and just take a stab at that.
25:49.006 Justin Starlin
Sure, absolutely. And some of the you know, I can tell you that so if you look at Wooster, Ohio, while throughout the nation manufacturing has been dying in in Wooster, we consider it king. So it's continued to grow. We have a lot of jobs, three thousand plus jobs in the automotive manufacturing sector. and then most recently, Wooster was the world headquarters if Rubbermaid Incorporated was founded here in in Wooster. And they don't have a footprint here anymore. And when they left in 2003, I'd like to tell this story. The one thing that they couldn't take from this community was a building that boasts 1.4 million square foot, the former Rubbermaid facility. And about five years ago, GOJO Industries acquired that property and have slowly been putting in hand sanitiz hand sanitizer operations and machinery. here in Wooster. They make PURELL. So talk about timely. there are expansion plans at at GOJO that really could set Wooster up to you know housing the largest hand sanitizing operation in in the world, believe it or not. And for a small community of 27,000, that makes one heck of a difference. So we've seen companies that are absolutely going gangbusters and we've seen some industries being held back just by the economic downturn that COVID has created. I think what's what we have been trying to do though is not lose focus of making sure that our community is progressive and that is continuing to look to grow and be responsive to industry when things back up. And real quick if you don't mind Brandon one thing that we are doing in that is in the midst of this pandemic, the Wooster Chamber is leading the discussion and pushing quite a bit for residential development to occur. So right now with uncertainty, we are getting flack on that saying we don't need more housing and you know, it people are pulling back. We know the writing on the wall that this community is going to recover, recover strong and the need is going to be there. So we're trying to
28:15.938 Justin Starlin
get ahead of the curve if that makes sense and be leaders in in community and economic development in that in that effort.
28:22.742 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. That seems like a smart move. Absolutely. So and Justin, as we start to to wrap things up here, I wanted to ask, yeah, as as chambers across the country kind of look up to these chamber of the year finalists as as examples, what might be one action item that you would share for the the chamber professionals listening that they could do to help take them up to the next level?
28:47.554 Justin Starlin
Yeah, good question. And this is a this is definitely my personal advice. You know, we're all embedded in the community. We love our communities that we work in. Truly periodically take a step back and and see where your community is at and what it needs. Maybe not what it needs just in the immediate moment, because we do get caught up in our schedules of I need to go to this social event. Well. in the past, I should say, right? Or I need emails or these Zoom meetings, right? but take a step back and look at what are your community, where you truly think you need it to be in the next five to seven years. Work on some larger projects that take collaboration from multiple entities and multiple individuals. And as the chamber, lead, pull them together, pull the resources, and make a difference. And I think that those are In my experience here being almost eight years, the most rewarding projects are those that didn't happen overnight, but br but involved a lot of stakeholders, involved a lot of steps, but at the end of the day we're an absolute home run. So that's what I would say is you know, challenge chamber executives throughout the nation, Brandon, to take a step back and evaluate how you can make a big difference. Because the truth is if you're working hard every day, you are making A small difference, you can make a big difference if you look back and say, Where where can we plug in?
30:21.088 Brandon Burton
That's right. fact as you were given that answer, I I love it. I I couldn't agree more, but it reminded me there a book that I was reading recently. And in the book you the author talks about looking yeah, five years into the future. It's like he says, Imagine yourself you're sitting in an airport and an old friend from high school comes up to you that you haven't seen for twenty, thirty years, however long it's been. And you know, just you're excited to see each other and and your your old buddy asks you. How are you? You know, how how's your life? And you say it's great, but you really mean it. And he says, now take a pause and think about those different areas in your life. What what makes you really mean that your life is great? And then you know, kind of going on from there to make your life be that. So I I think that applies to to what you're just saying about taking that broader, that five to seven year scope and to really make a big difference.
31:15.947 Justin Starlin
Absolutely.
31:17.942 Brandon Burton
So Justin, I know I I had asked you this question last time I had you on the show, but I'm gonna ask it again and and maybe things have changed, but as we look to the future, how do you see chambers of commerce and their purpose going forward?
31:31.81 Justin Starlin
Yeah, I think that the there's going to be those chambers that have the ability to thrive and are gonna be leaders in their community. And there are going to be chambers that don't adapt to being out front and will struggle mightily. so I think that again, just a little repetitive, Brandon, but being active, being visible, and being always pushing to make sure that you have a seat at the table. And just because just if you're at the table making sure that you're active, I think those tenements, those th those can really lead to chambers that have the ability to to really you know advance in the future. So those who are out front and being advocates for their members through you know, through social media and through getting information out what's happening in the community, I think those will be the ones that strive.
32:30.05 Brandon Burton
Well, thank you for for sharing your value and leadership with us today in this discussion. And I wanted to give you an opportunity for people that are listening, if they wanted to reach out and connect with you and maybe follow up on things that you talked about here or continue this discussion offline, what would be the best ways for them to to reach out and connect?
32:50.22 Justin Starlin
Yeah, the best way to reach out to me is email J Starlin S T A R L I N at woosterchamber dot com. And that's not that's not Worcester, Massachusetts. That's Wooster, Ohio, baby. That's W O O S T E R Ohio. no, just reach out to me and I would love to communicate with anybody who has questions on what they heard today. And Brandon, thank you for your time. Appreciate ya.
33:14.174 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. We'll we'll get that updated, your email address in the show notes for this episode, which will be found at chamberchatpodcast dot com slash episode seventy three. But again, Justin, thank you so much for being with us today and best of luck to you in the Wooster area chamber.
33:30.348 Justin Starlin
Thank you, sir.
33:33.152 Brandon Burton
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