Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Jim Parsons

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

Episode 78 — Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead West Fargo 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Jim Parsons
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Jim Parsons
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.2 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.
00:31.33 Brandon Burton
He loves to meet chamber professionals from all he's my Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is Brandon Burton, your host, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. This is episode seventy-eight of Chamber Chat.
00:54.222 Brandon Burton
podcast and it also is our seventh interview in our 2020 ACCE Chamber of the Year finalist series. If you are new to listening to Chamber Chat Podcast, I would encourage you to check out our Get Started page, which is found at Chamberchat Podcast.com slash start. And there you can find some resources for some nondues revenue ideas, as well as our free chamber podcasting guide. If you've ever thought of creating a podcast for your own chamber, you can check out that resource there as well. Again, that's found at Chamberchatpodcast.com/slash start. So our guest for today is Jim Parsons. And Jim is the vice president of finance and operations and the interim CEO for the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce in North Dakota. It's an organization of more than 2,100 public and private and nonprofit entities throughout North Dakota, Minnesota, and beyond. Parsons has been with the chamber for almost 20 years, starting his career in 2000 as a business service coordinator. Previous to that, he'd worked in banking and transportation. Jim has a Bachelors of Arts degree in accounting from Moorhead State University. He completed his IOM certification, graduating. From the U.S. Chambers Institute for Organiza Organizational Management in 2012. Jim and his wife Michelle are both natives of North Dakota. They live in West Fargo and have five adult children, ten grandchildren, and two dogs. In our conversation today, of course, this being in our Chamber of the Year finalist series, we'll be highlighting what makes the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead West Fargo. Stand out to be recognized as a chamber of the year. And I'm excited to get into this discussion with Jim 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-duce revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swypit. In partnership with ChamberChat Podcast, Swypit is one of the best credit card processors in the business.
03:14.124 Brandon Burton
With the Swypit 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 Swypit 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 Swypit. 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 Swypit. All right, Jim, we are back. If you would take a moment and say hello to all the chamber champions out there listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit better.
04:12.024 Jim Parsons
Well thank you, Brandon. yeah, and I wanna say hi to everybody out there in the chamber world and hope things are going well for you all through all this stuff. interesting. I'm probably not the most interesting person, but I as w you had indicated, Brandon, I have been with the chamber twenty years, actually this year and served under three different CEOs. One of the things that I think most people are it's interesting or not, would say that I can't say no. And I don't know if that's a fault or a credit, but the one thing that they did give me one day was a little sign that said, please let me stop what everything I'm doing and work on your problem. And then probably fitting is I showed up on my desk one day and it's kind of where I've been in life is and that's probably why I fit well in the chamber world is I want to help people, help members succeed.
05:15.394 Brandon Burton
That must be why you were so easy to get on the podcast too. It's like I I just can't say no. that's great. No, that's definitely that servant heart that puts you in the right spot in the chamber world. So you belong there. why don't you share with us a little bit more about your chamber, your organization, the size, location, budget, staff, just give us all a better idea.
05:42.422 Brandon Burton
Of kind of this per the perspective that you'll be bringing to our conversation today.
05:47.01 Jim Parsons
Well as the as the name says Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce. We're we're a combination of actually three chambers that have merged over the last twenty-five years. First being Fargo and Moorhead in nineteen ninety-eight, and then in two thousand and ten another chamber, West Fargo, joined the group. So we've become that regional chamber. So now there's only one chamber in our in our region. As said we serve more than twenty one hundred members in a population of about a little over two hundred thousand in our region as far as individuals, people. We have a staff of fifteen currently with an annual operating budget of two point nine million dollars. So hopefully we do a good well impact. The one thing that we do sit is we have, you know You said that we're in North Dakota, but we're actually Minnesota. We represent both Minnesota and North Dakota with Moorhead, Minnesota, and Fargo and West Fargo, North Dakota. So it it does provide some interesting dynamics in what we do, but that's kind of where we're at with our chamber.
07:05.524 Brandon Burton
All right. Minnesota. Should have done better better background on that, but
07:11.654 Jim Parsons
No, that that's okay 'cause and that's one of the the things that we work with is, you know, a lot of people know Fargo, North Dakota from the movie and different things. but we we or sit right on that border as some other cities in
07:28.598 Brandon Burton
And now you're saying that, I remember checking it out and seeing that you guys were right on the border there and and I just had an oversight there, but thank you for that. So as a lot of the listeners know when you submit the application for chamber of the year, you include a couple synopsis about your chamber, some of the programs that that you guys are doing. could you take us through and highlight you know what what you guys submitted on your Your synopsis with your application.
07:59.746 Jim Parsons
Right. And with the application, it there was two synops synopsis that were asked for. One of them, first one that I kind of mentioned is a program that we started in collaboration with the our the Fargo Moorhead, the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation. it's called Fueling Our Future, which is a joint venture that was spearheaded spearheaded by our previous CEO who passed away in December of n two thousand nineteen. So I do have to give great credit to him for his leadership. he was chamber president here for ten years and had very many great ideas. But this was one idea that was born from him. and it was probably three years in the making. originally we're gonna do this by ourselves, but finding that collaboration is sometimes the best way on a regional basis to to work within our business community. So we we collaborated with the Fargo or with the greater Fargo Morhe at Economic. The premise of this was that there's a lot of efforts that take place to to to help the region as far as in the business community and they're all done individually. The premise for this was to take it into one location for to to for ideas to be born out of and and make our community better and the premise the pillars that that were decided with this were people prosperity and place people meaning the our workforce and our human capital prosperity being the business development in our communities and place is like infrastructure, what needs to take place to make our community better, whether it's convention center or performing arts center or something related to that. So the the it started with a campaign and we our goal was to raise four million dollars. Two thirds or three fourths of it were pri and it was gonna be a private public effort where we were looking at three quarters of it as
10:29.958 Jim Parsons
public money or excuse me private don't contributions and one quarter of it public contributions. And it was a lofty goal for a first campaign and we actually did raise four million dollars and it fell within those three quarters and one quarter. So identifying the approach to tackling the communities we we hired a consultant to do this. And what we found in this first segment of this was that our needs are critical issues that we had in our community, as everybody else has in their communities or had in their communities, I should say, pre our pandemic, was workforce and career readiness and the skills gap. So that was one of the areas that we've worked and looked at. The other, which has been a long time objective of ours for the last at least nine years was flood protection because we've been prone to flooding and we've been working on a flood flood project for a long time. and then so one of the efforts that that a couple of the projects that have come out of there is we we were looking at working putting together or assisting one of the local universities put together what's called career workforce academy. And so we've been behind that effort. now being in North Dakota, Minnesota, Minnesota the Career Workforce Academy was started in Fargo, North Dakota, but Moorhead, Minnesota also had the opportunity. So we've been working on both sides of that because we are a regional chamber to to help that that effort on both sides to to have a career workforce academy. The other thing, one of the other projects that we've we've really focused on is called sh a certified shovel ready program with and this is the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation it's kind of brought forth is so that as businesses are looking to work with our area and and start their businesses here, we have certified locations that they're ready they don't have all everything access as far as water, sewer or gas or whatever.
12:53.25 Jim Parsons
But all the documentation has been taken care of so that they can, so to speak, shovel ready. So in essence it's document ready, but businesses are ready to come here. And we're also looking at what's called campus FM, which is which is an offshoot of what Philadelphia with it campus Philly, where to try to retain college students as they're graduating. The one vr interesting thing with Fargo Moorhead is we do have three primary universities and two secondary universities within our community. So there are probably roughly forty thousand students in our in our community that we'd like to retain as as jobs go. So that
13:42.958 Brandon Burton
I I wanted to ask you maybe a follow up about around the workforce career readiness and and v filling that skills gap. Being that you guys kinda straddle the border there between Minnesota and North Dakota, are you getting involved with the with the public schools or are you focusing primarily on the secondary educations, the universities?
14:06.774 Jim Parsons
Yeah, yeah, we are getting this the career workforce academies is tailored toward the K twel well as far as to bring them in and and fill those skills gaps and get them prepared. so whether it's a career with welding or HVAC or something, so that career w kind of works hand in hand on both that, the the secondary and the high school.
14:37.39 Brandon Burton
So is that multiple school districts then that you have to work with?
14:41.376 Jim Parsons
Yep, there is multiple school districts because we're not only looking at Fargo Moorhead's school district, we're also looking outside. We have some some communities outside of our area, their school districts, like smaller schools. So we want to be able to bring them into our community. again, it's a it's a regional approach and not just Fargo Moorhead. So there are there are schools that are out in our outlying area that even thirty to forty miles out that would participate in this.
15:09.966 Brandon Burton
Okay. So if I understand right, the fueling our future program or you know, that part of the synopsis was it's about the the capital raising with the public public and private capital. You've got the workforce element, you've got the flood protection, you have the shovel ready or the infrastructure almost is what I'm seeing that as. and with the the career workforce academy all all being able to to better your community for for a better future is Is how I'm saying that.
15:40.874 Jim Parsons
You are correct on that one. Very correct. Now I'll go on to the second synopsis, which is a program that it's it's call we have a program called Women Connect, which was started in 2014 actually, where it is is born out of community needs. So then we had several members approach us. to start a professional women's program to connect our area women's with networking support and tools. We've you know there's you know there's a lot of probably our networking events that are maybe geared toward male but we've we've had a lot of we had a lot of interest on we need something for the women in our community. So this was started it originally had started as something that we were gonna have a small group of probably ninety women to pr to promote their professional development training and connections. And it started w off with a an a big celebration that we were gonna kick it off with. and we ended up with five hundred women attend that event. So the the demand was so great that It's a monthly training and inspirational topics. that our our second event we had three hundred women, so I think our average every month is two hundred two hundred women that attend these these events. So with that there was there was another thing that was started was called push, which is a group there there are smaller groups to mentor women amongst themselves and that that actually started in twenty sixteen and push stands for preserve dreams, unite women, shatter barriers, and have heart. So we that that was started back in twenty sixteen very very successful but the programs themselves
18:07.004 Jim Parsons
when we talk about for for Women Connect. They feature local speakers to address personal and professional challenges of today's working women, recognize and celebrate the impact of women leaders have in our region, connect women of all career levels, strengthen their professional networks and engage them in the business community. We also provide women with a safe place to develop their skills and to positively impact the work and personal life and embrace their goals and pursue their dreams. This the Women Connect has been consistently one of our highest performing programs. Part of the reason that that we looked at this as being part of the synopsis was 2019, where we we typically have an annual celebration and bring in a keynote speaker. in 2019 we brought in Rachel Hollis and with our typical event you know that inspires women. We're looking at six, seven hundred ladies in in the room, but found that it quickly grew to nine hundred. So we had to figure out how to accommodate that nine hundred females. Well, when we go a step further that the interest even got further, we ended up with over four thousand women.
19:34.774 Brandon Burton
Are you serious?
19:36.334 Jim Parsons
Right. So now it's not it's going from a hotel ballroom to filling up one of our basketball stadiums on our universities.
19:46.207 Brandon Burton
That is awesome.
19:47.948 Jim Parsons
But the high energy that was brought, and this is no different than a lot of the even the smaller monthly events, it was it was just great to see now as a male how and we have four males in our room that helped work these events. It was a little daunting to us. I'll just perspective of I was asked to try to pull back a section of ladies together. 'cause we had our keynote coming through there. And I did for a little bit, but to hold back three thousand women say, No, you can't go to the bathroom was kind of I said, you're on your way. But the other thing that Yeah but the feedback and the that that we got from received from holding that particular event, you know
20:31.854 Brandon Burton
Yeah.
20:45.802 Jim Parsons
was second in that now to to better that. we'll see how this year goes. We do have somebody planned for two thousand twenty twenty two thousand twenty one. and we'll see how that goes. so the other thing that that women connect also brings is every month we pick a charity as far as donations to
20:55.566 Brandon Burton
Cross our fingers, right?
21:14.604 Jim Parsons
you know, whether it's the YWC, the WM YMCA, rape and abuse or some other charity that has needs. that's something we also in 2019 there was over two thousand I 2,000 items collected for 13 organizations. So that's that's you know another purpose for this was is to for the community need. Going back to the push groups that I had mentioned earlier what we have is four hundred and two women that belong to fifty eight groups and there's six hundred and forty eight individuals on our Facebook group. So this this he program has been very successful for the last five years and we can't see that it not continuing on. So
22:06.326 Brandon Burton
You know, I I think there is such I mean, obviously there's such a need for these a group of women to be able to support each other and mentor each other and be able to further their career and and I know a lot of them are returning to the workforce after taking time off, maybe as as mothers and things like that. So there's definitely a need kind of flipping flipping it on its head, I guess. I I have a hard time seeing a group of men, you know, a a men's connect group. having that kind of turnout. And I I I don't know. I I think it it just goes to show what that that great need is there. And it doesn't hurt, you know, having somebody like Rachel Hollis come as a the speaker for the annual event. And I know my wife would have loved to have been there as well. So that would definitely draw a crowd.
22:54.924 Jim Parsons
Yep. And you know, right after, you know, we she was at this event, her and she just started building her following and but she's got a great message and that's and that's the important piece that we're providing that kind of level of personal training or personal inspiration to women in our community. So
23:23.032 Brandon Burton
So what do you think it is about the Women Connect group that really got feet under it and got it to to gain so much traction?
23:31.978 Jim Parsons
I I I'm gonna give credit to our staff. We have two staff people in our on the event side of it. Tracy Powell is our director of programs and events, and Bobbi Rehder is our event and coordinator who works with these programs. So they did a lot of research to in the beginning to just to to work with us and as anything else you need good volunteers. We have a We have a committee and it I'm gonna be wrong when I say this probably, but committee of ten that that help guide this every year. And you know, yeah, with a committee you have they're wholeheartedly into this and believe in what this this committee stands for or the this pro this programming stands for. So that's that's where I I'll give credit to.
24:27.83 Brandon Burton
That's awesome. So as your chamber is being considered as a a chamber of the year finalist, what what would you say makes your chamber stand out among others and and maybe some things that you guys are doing that other chambers might not be doing?
24:47.048 Jim Parsons
Well, you know, as we talked about that we're both North Dakota and Minnesota, which has its challenges. so we're very we have to be very mindful of the two different political arenas. as we talk about Minnesota and North Dakota. the Minnesota's probably a little bit more liberal state and North Dakota's more conservatives. but it's I would say that we we we navigate that very well because we we are bipartisan and so we have to take into consideration the and be an advocate on both sides of the river because we have business on both sides of the river. So I think that's part of the thing that we do very well is navigate that that that piece of that. It's it's also I don't need to give credit to our past president and CEO Craig Whitney who ramped us up from not well being somewhat advocate an advocacy chamber to a extremely extremely advocate. and that's where we ramp ourselves up quite a bit. so I would I would say that is with that we we also navigate the three communities that the chambers merged from and some kind and we have to be very conscientious of those communities to make sure we're fairly you know distributing events in there and and working with those those different businesses. I think our staff is very conscientious and caring on that side of it. Customer centric. Member centric.
26:40.014 Brandon Burton
So right now, as we record this, we're in late May and kind of well, I'm hoping we're entering more of the recovery phase from the COVID nineteen pandemic. But would you share some of your plans on on how you and and your chamber plan to lead your business community through the recovery, especially from the economic impact from COVID nineteen?
27:05.208 Jim Parsons
Well, as a as I mentioned earlier, we'd we've we transitioned ourselves into a more of an advocacy chamber. So right now we are working well, we're along with the Economic Development Corporation and probably twenty other organizations, there was the business COVID task force that was that was created, which is a collaboration of these businesses. working on this. The the first phase of that was the fa the financial impact and how are businesses working through that. Are they gonna survive? what what programs are available, whether it's federal which we we worked with in our the financial institutions to help with that and get the word out, the state there are several on both sides of the river that have sp special programming. as you know the the The restaurant and hotel industries were hit hard, so we're working on how to work through that with this group to whether it's educate them about information or find them the best solution to this. The next phase of this, and we the way that the economy is gonna recover is consumer confidence. So that is our next phase with this group and with our chamber. To make sure that we're communicating out whether it's best practices of chambers or excuse me, of businesses that you know how to open their business, you know, whether it's masks and disinfectants and all this stuff, we're we're looking to help them and then navigate that through the the states as far as finding those and North Dakota it's smart restart. that that's not the right word for it. And but it's it's how to you know get basically restart your business and get the economy going. So we're educating on that side of it. And again until consumer confidence comes back and and is when when that'll that'll happen. So we're we're staying on top of that. One of the things that we we did do was collaborate with the C B B and DCP on
29:33.012 Jim Parsons
on a appreciation effort for our healthcare and first line workers with called hospitality for healthcare workers where we gathered some financial donations to help offset the cost of meals which then actually help the restaurants. So we we'll continue to do some of those efforts going forward until until we're through this. Yeah.
30:00.726 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that all all sounds great. sounds like you're f you guys are filling the needs and and constantly keeping a pulse on on what those needs are. Jim, as as we start to kind of wrap things up here, I wanted to ask you if you could share maybe one tip or one action item that a chamber that's listening can do to help take their chamber up to the next level.
30:26.69 Jim Parsons
Well, I believe and it's probably not w what I do, but is develop excellent communications with staff, with community, being able to have excellent communications. The other thing that I would think is kind of think outside the box box and take risks. You you know, at this time you're gonna need to transition, possibly transition yourself, into something different. one of things that where we were at, is we're at about sixty percent revenue for events, forty percent on the membership dues side of it. Well, as we we're going through this process, the events kind of
31:14.241 Brandon Burton
And it dried up, huh?
31:16.162 Jim Parsons
Changed a little bit. Well, so so we have to transition ourselves. and it things have been so kind of thinking outside of the box, transitioning yourself as needed to help your membership and businesses and your communities.
31:32.898 Brandon Burton
Very good. I'd like to ask this question to everyone that I have on the show, but how do you see the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose going forward?
31:46.764 Jim Parsons
Well, I I think you know, there's always been this concern of relevance, w between chambers as far as as the different generations we go through the different generational aspect. I do think going forward and is we have this opportunity to basically reinvent ourselves, especially during this crisis that we've been, because they're gonna chambers are gonna our businesses are gonna need us more than ever. So it's kind of that I I do see us being that that leader in the community again. And maybe people have kind of lost sight of us, you know, because there is so much technology. But I think going forward we that relevance we're gonna be seen as organizations that are working for our community and our businesses. So I I think there's good opportunity.
32:44.342 Brandon Burton
I think you're absolutely right. I think when times are really good, it's hard for a business to see themselves needing an advocate. And then all of a sudden when when the world takes a turn and you know z ziggs the other way, all of a sudden these businesses are saying, Hey, where's somebody there that can fight for me and that can keep me educated and informed and and be a good advocate for me? So you're absolutely right. Right now is the time for chambers to really make their mark and and prove the relevancy.
33:11.385 Jim Parsons
Exactly.
33:12.664 Brandon Burton
Well, Jim, I appreciate you sharing these insights with us and you know with the with the audience. If you would please maybe share some contact information or best ways if somebody wanted to reach out to you and and continue this conversation online or just follow up with any of these things you presented today, what would be the the best ways for for listeners to get in con in contact with you?
33:36.802 Jim Parsons
Right, my and my contact information, my email is J Parsons at FmWF Chamber dot com. would always love to talk with anybody if they want. Our number is two one eight two three three eleven hundred if if you want to call directly. otherwise you know people can visit our website at fmwfchamber dot com or on all of our social media at fmwf chamber. Look forward to talking with anybody they'd like to visit about stuff.
34:10.254 Brandon Burton
Good deal. And I will get all that updated in our show notes for this episode, which will be found at Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash episode seventy eight. But again, Jim, again, just thanks for spending the time with us today and I wish you and your chamber the best of luck with Chamber of the Year.
34:27.886 Jim Parsons
Appreciate everything, Brandon.
34:30.336 Brandon Burton
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