A Podcast for Chamber Professionals Posts

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.

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

Brandon Burton (00:01)
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 Tamara Tateosian. Tamara has served as CEO of the Callaway Chamber of Commerce in Missouri since November 2015. She previously held roles in economic development, membership, marketing, and operations on the staff at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce in Arkansas.

Tamara leads the chamber’s work to support its members and strengthen Callaway County. From business education and entrepreneurship to workforce development and community events, everything the chamber does is guided by its strategic plan. Under her leadership, the chamber has expanded these programs, earned multiple Awards of Excellence from the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Missouri, and will be recognized as the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2026 Chamber of the Year.

Tamara serves on several state and regional boards focused on workforce development, business, and chamber leadership. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith, and she earned her IOM designation in 2023.

Tamara, I’m excited to have you with us today on Chamber Chat Podcast. I’d love to give you an opportunity to say hello to all the Chamber Champions who are listening. If you would, share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little better.

Tamara Tateosian (01:34)
Well, hello, Brandon. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here today. Hello to all of those fabulous chambers of commerce that are listening. Thank you for tuning in today.

Brandon Burton (01:49)
We’re excited to have you here. I’d love to get to know all the guests a little more. Tell us something interesting about your background, hobbies, or something you do so we can feel like we know you as we get started.

Tamara Tateosian (02:05)
Not only am I CEO of the Callaway Chamber of Commerce, but I’m also a hobby crafter, which means I like to buy craft supplies, take them home, put them in a special room, look at them, and determine a special day when I’m going to work on that craft. It usually never happens, but it’s so much fun to buy the supplies.

Brandon Burton (02:23)
With the idea of doing it, right? That’s great. I love it.

Tell us about the Callaway Chamber. Give us an idea of the size of the chamber, staff, scope of work, and budget to set the stage for our discussion today.

Tamara Tateosian (02:50)
The Callaway Chamber of Commerce is a countywide chamber located in Fulton, Missouri. We have about 420 members with an annual budget of a little over $600,000. We focus on all of Callaway County. Callaway County is about 837 square miles, so it is a large county—about the 11th-largest county in the state of Missouri.

Brandon Burton (03:20)
That’s interesting. I’m in Texas, and we have a lot of counties—some tiny and some huge. Then you go to states like Arizona, where I think there are only a handful of counties in the entire state. When you say countywide, it’s good to have that description of the size you cover.

Are you strictly a chamber, or do you also handle tourism or economic development? What are your areas of focus?

Tamara Tateosian (03:47)
About 11 years ago, before I was hired, Callaway County brought our chamber of commerce and economic development organization under one umbrella. They are sister organizations with a contract for services to work together and focus on economic development and building businesses in our community. That is primarily our focus.

Two years ago, we also brought tourism under our strategic plan, so we do that as well at the Callaway Chamber.

Brandon Burton (04:28)
Very good. That’s a perfect segue into introducing our topic. Today, we’ll be talking about strategic plans and, specifically, aligning your strategic plan with your body of work. It sounds like you’ve been doing that for the last few years. We’ll dive deeper into that and your experiences as soon as we get back from this quick break.

All right, Tamara, we’re back. As I mentioned before the break, today we’re talking about aligning your strategic plan with your body of work—or vice versa. Aligning your body of work with your strategic plan might be the better way of looking at it.

You mentioned your economic development arrangement and tourism. You’ve taken a close look at your strategic plan and aligned your bodies of work. Tell us about creating the strategic plan, envisioning the body of work your organization wanted to pursue, and then going after it.

Tamara Tateosian (05:35)
After our restructuring in 2014, I was brought in from Arkansas to run the organization. When I arrived, we did not have a strategic plan, but I knew the vision of my board of directors was to have one that would serve as a roadmap and guide for the organization moving forward.

To kick that off, we invited many community leaders and members of the chamber, but we also invited non-members to help develop the strategic plan. Through many conversations with about 50 individuals in Callaway County, we developed the foundation of the strategic plan we have and use today.

Those were some really hard conversations. To have a good, solid strategic plan, you sometimes have to acknowledge the elephant in the room and have difficult conversations. That is how you create a plan that works not only for your organization but also addresses the needs of your members and community.

Through those strategic planning sessions, we developed our vision statement, mission statement, and five pillars. The initial pillars were economic development, supporting entrepreneurs, education, delivering value to our members, and financial responsibility so we could optimize the body of work we would undertake at the chamber.

About two years later, we revisited the plan to ensure those were still the areas we needed to work on. At that time, we added workforce development, giving us six pillars. Most recently, about two years ago, we added tourism.

Tamara Tateosian (08:05)
That sounds like a lot of work and a heavy lift, but as we progressively developed the strategic plan, the vision became: How are we going to carry out the body of work in this strategic plan in a way that benefits our community?

As I said, it was a lot of work, but we began implementing it. At that time, two people worked for the organization: myself and an economic developer. When you have five strategic pillars and two people, that is a lot of work and focus.

Over time, we hired another person who focused on delivering value to our members, marketing, and creating our brand. We didn’t just have a new strategic plan; we also had a new brand to roll out. Brand recognition for a chamber is very important. We developed a new logo to accompany our new vision and mission and help people recognize the new strategic plan.

Over the years, we have grown from two staff members to five. Each person now has a specific lane connected to the strategic plan that they focus on every day.

I am the CEO, but I’m also the economic developer for Callaway County, so I work on industrial development.

We have a business engagement coordinator who focuses on supporting entrepreneurs and membership. As she works with those businesses, she educates them about the value of chamber membership. Businesses do not necessarily have to be members of the chamber to receive business coaching services, but those conversations give us an opportunity to share the value that chamber membership could offer them as a small business.

We also have a workforce development coordinator. She helps businesses with job postings, takes students on tours for National Manufacturing Day, and handles a variety of other initiatives within that lane.

Tamara Tateosian (11:07)
We have tourism under our umbrella, so we have a tourism and marketing specialist who focuses on tourism and telling the story of the chamber and the good work we are doing. She manages social media, keeps our website up to date, and creates content for TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms. The way we communicate with our community is changing and evolving, so we always try to keep up with the times.

We also have an events coordinator, and her lane is delivering value to our members. Our members attend our business breakfasts, Business After Hours, Town & Country Dinner, annual banquet, golf tournament, and annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. Those events are where members see value.

Last year, in 2025, we held 122 events, all of which aligned with our strategic plan. We do not plan parades or large festivals. Our job is to provide events that align with our strategic plan and bring value to our members. Those can range from a ribbon cutting to our annual banquet or educational opportunities for entrepreneurs in Callaway County.

Brandon Burton (12:44)
A couple of things caught my attention as you explained the development of the strategic plan and its pillars. You had non-members provide input into the strategic plan, and some chamber services—specifically those for entrepreneurs—are available whether or not someone is a member.

I find that intriguing. First, what was the thinking behind having non-members help develop the chamber’s strategic plan?

Tamara Tateosian (13:21)
The thought was that if we brought non-members who were community leaders to the table, they could identify the reasons they were not chamber members. One question that emerged was, “What value does the chamber of commerce provide to me as a business owner?”

That set the stage for important conversations about our body of work. Chambers are no longer simply the place people stop to pick up a brochure or flyer because much of that information is online. How we set the stage, tell our story, and provide value to entrepreneurs and business owners is important.

Since that time, the people who were sitting at that table and saying the really hard things about the chamber—the things nobody wants to hear—have become members of the Callaway Chamber. There is nothing more satisfying than having a non-member who participated in your strategic plan walk through your door a year later and say, “Send me an invoice for membership because I love the things you are doing.”

Brandon Burton (14:55)
What was your approach to those non-member business leaders? How did you say, “We’re developing a strategic plan and would love your input, even though you’re not a member”? How did you open that door and invite them to have a voice in developing the organization’s strategic plan?

Tamara Tateosian (15:21)
Business owners who are also community leaders often have strong opinions they are willing to share, whether those opinions are positive or negative. We simply picked up the phone or visited them. Some of my board members helped because, at that point, I was fairly new to the community and had only been there for a couple of months.

It was fairly easy to convince them that they wanted a seat at the table. They were excited to tell us what they thought, even though some of those conversations were hard to hear.

Because I was new to the community, I did not develop the strategic plan myself. I assisted with facilitating the conversation. That allowed me to hear from all of the groups in the room, which was enlightening.

It also helped me realize that we needed a very good, solid foundation for the strategic plan and that we had to follow it, or we would lose members. People no longer want to see their brochure hanging on a wall. They want educational opportunities and someone to support them in their business. They don’t want me participating in a parade. There are specific things they want to see us doing.

Brandon Burton (16:46)
There is a lot of value in the fact that you were new to the community and could facilitate the conversation, gather input, and avoid becoming defensive about why things had been done a certain way. You could take inventory of what was being said, determine where the value was, and apply that to the organization.

Otherwise, you have to set aside a lot of ego and pride to listen to those hard things. Maybe non-members are also less likely to show up and voice those opinions if they see the same people who were part of the organization’s past decisions.

Let’s talk more about the entrepreneurial focus. Entrepreneurs do not necessarily have to be chamber members to receive these services, but the services provide a great opening to explain and demonstrate what the chamber can offer. Talk to us about where that entrepreneurial support came from and why it includes non-members.

Tamara Tateosian (18:10)
Some people frown upon it because they think the only services the chamber should provide are for members. We have many things that are for members only, including those 122 events I mentioned. That is our member base.

However, we have a partnership with the Small Business Development Center that allows us to use its tools in our toolbox. It has documentation systems and LivePlan for building business plans. It is important for us to make that service available to anyone with a small business.

Someone can come in with a business idea they are excited about, and we can help with market research and other needs by using the Small Business Development Center’s tools. We sometimes have to have hard conversations and say, “Yes, this is a great plan,” or, “You have some work to do.”

When you think about small businesses, it is not only someone preparing to open a business. A lot happens in between. They may have problems with financials or marketing, and that gives us an opportunity to assess why the business is not succeeding and identify the problems.

There is another element that many people do not think about when it comes to small businesses: succession planning. A business may have been operating for 30 years and built from scratch. It may be a mom-and-pop business whose owners are ready to retire—or they may be thinking about retirement 10 years from now.

We believe that if we assist them with succession planning, we can keep that business open in Callaway County instead of seeing it close. Let us help you determine your succession plan and what you will do to keep the business open. Then we may be able to keep that business here and help it transition to a new owner.

Once people come into the chamber, they realize we are a friendly group of people. We are excited to see them and ready to help with their business. They often become members because they see the value the organization offers.

Brandon Burton (20:56)
I love the idea of approaching succession planning. If someone has a mom-and-pop or small business and is looking toward retirement, they may hope one of their children will take over. But if their children have different career paths and no interest in the family business, the owners may consider closing the doors.

If you can help them see other succession opportunities, you keep a business open in your area. There is so much value in that.

For these entrepreneurs, you’re demonstrating the chamber’s value and helping on several fronts. From an educational standpoint, do you have programming that repeats every quarter or every year and focuses on different aspects of business to help entrepreneurs take off and thrive?

Tamara Tateosian (21:55)
We do many things related to education. We have a college and a university here, so we have workforce development programming for them and their students. Education is one of our pillars, and it includes K–12 schools, colleges, universities, and small businesses.

We host a monthly Zoom program called Commerce & Conversation, which provides different tips and tricks to help people succeed in business. We recently held a session focused on leadership within an organization. Those are things business owners need to know in addition to financial topics.

We also hold in-person classes. We have offered Excel classes and sessions on health insurance for small businesses because Missouri has a program that gives small businesses access to health care coverage. We have educated businesses about those opportunities.

We also hold a pitch competition every year. I believe this is our 11th year. It is called the Show-Me Innovation Pitch Competition. It gives people who are opening or expanding a small business an opportunity to pitch their idea and win seed money. First place receives $3,000, and second place receives $1,500. Participants must either have a business in Callaway County or be opening one in Callaway County.

We bring in a panel of judges, but the program is not only about the pitch. It is also about preparing people for the pitch and presentation. They may use visuals or a PowerPoint presentation, and they must present in front of the judges. They need to learn how to deliver a presentation.

We have a complete preparation process. They may need to learn about legal requirements, accounting, and many other aspects of business. It is a great educational opportunity.

Some people sign up for the competition but, as it gets closer, say, “I can’t do this. It’s too much pressure. I’ve learned all these things, and I’m thankful, but I’m not going to pitch.” Others say, “I don’t think I would have reached this point and been ready to pitch without this process.”

It is all about setting the small business up for success. When they open their doors, the most important thing to us at the Callaway Chamber is that they are prepared to succeed. We do not want them to open and close within six months.

It takes a lot of time to set up and launch a business, and we want them to remain in business for years. That affects not only that business but other businesses as well. It is important to us that they have what they need to succeed.

Brandon Burton (25:12)
Quickly, I’m curious: How many businesses enter the pitch competition each year, on average?

Tamara Tateosian (25:23)
We have had anywhere from five to nine businesses compete. Sometimes 15 people sign up, but only nine ultimately pitch.

We have also held collegiate pitch competitions for college and university students and a teen pitch competition for high school students interested in opening businesses. We have had some very cool businesses open through the teen pitch competition.

One participant opened a window-washing business. I couldn’t wait to hire him to come wash the chamber’s windows because we have some high windows. He came and did it. There is something wonderful about seeing the younger generation become excited about being entrepreneurs in the future.

Brandon Burton (26:14)
I love the excitement that comes with it. That’s why I asked how many people participate. There’s an energy that comes with it.

As we start to wrap up, I always like to ask for a tip or action item for listeners trying to take their organizations to the next level. What parting advice would you leave with them?

Tamara Tateosian (26:42)
You cannot be everything to every business in your community. Find the niche where you can be very successful and do it well.

Do not try to do many things poorly because, at the end of the day, businesses want to see that you are effective. If you have specific things you are focused on, you will be more effective than if you try to do everything.

Do not do things that are outside your strategic plan. If you do not have a strategic plan, you need to work on creating one because it will be your roadmap for success as a chamber of commerce.

Brandon Burton (27:28)
It keeps you focused and on task, that’s for sure.

Tamara, I like asking everyone on the show about the future of chambers. How do you see the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose going forward?

Tamara Tateosian (27:43)
I think chambers can be very impactful moving forward. Many chambers have existed for 100 years, and their focus has changed over those years. Some were started because communities needed infrastructure such as water, wastewater systems, or electricity.

Today, the work has changed because we need to be there to support the businesses in our communities. For your chamber to have a future and remain relevant, you need to determine what your community actually needs, based on the size and nature of that community. That is important if your organization is going to continue serving its community in the future.

Brandon Burton (28:32)
Absolutely. Before I let you go, I want to give you an opportunity to share contact information for listeners who want to connect with you and learn more about how you developed your strategic plan, your approach, or your vision. Where would you point them, and what are the best ways to connect?

Tamara Tateosian (28:51)
My name is Tamara Tateosian, and I’m with the Callaway Chamber of Commerce in Fulton, Missouri. I can be reached by email at tamara@callawaychamber.net.

Callaway has two A’s and not an A and an O like the golf company. That’s important if you want to reach me. You can also reach me at the office at 573-642-3055.

I would love to talk and connect with you. If you are not attending Institute and earning your IOM, I highly encourage you to do that.

Brandon Burton (29:34)
Absolutely. We’ll include your contact information in the show notes to make it easy to connect.

Tamara, thank you for setting aside time to join us and share your experience with strategic planning and aligning it with your body of work. I can see the impact it is making in Fulton and throughout Callaway County. Keep blazing trails. You are doing awesome things. Thank you.

Tamara Tateosian (30:01)
Thank you for having me, Brandon. This has been fun. I greatly appreciate it, and if anyone wants to connect, please reach out.

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

Brandon Burton (00:00.876)
Hello, Chamber Champions! Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm your host, Brandon Burton, and here on the show, I introduce you to people and ideas to better help you serve your chamber members and your community. Our guest for this episode is Jaime Izurieta. Jaime is an urban strategist, designer, and founder of Storefront Mastery, where he helps downtowns turn their ground floors into engines of foot traffic, business growth, and memorable experiences.

An architect and urban designer with more than 20 years of experience across the public and private sectors, Jaime works with cities, downtown associations, developers, and independent organizations across the U.S. He's also the author of Main Street Mavericks and a board member of Downtown New Jersey. His work explores a deceptively simple question: What makes people want to stop, walk in, and come back?

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

Jaime Izurieta (01:07.935)
Thank you so much, Brandon. I'm very grateful to be here. My name is Jaime Izurieta. I am originally from Ecuador, and I am a trained architect. My background includes many different spokes of the wheel. I've been involved in a local independent bookstore, had an architectural practice, and been an advisor to a mayor.

My family, who opened the bookstore, decided to send me to Argentina, where a world expert was giving a class on how to create bookstores. The class was not about design, as I was expecting. The class was about how you make people feel. That flicked a switch in my understanding of design and architecture. Since then, it has been all about how people feel in the places we create.

I've been focusing on downtowns—places that have a lot of local, independent businesses in close proximity. When these businesses are in proximity, an ecosystem can be built. The role of the designer comes in very handy for this. This is where I am now and what Storefront Mastery does. We serve downtown organizations in different capacities, helping businesses become better businesses, contribute more to the quality of downtown, and work with organizations to see what they can bring to the table so these downtowns look amazing.

Brandon Burton (02:49.356)
That is very helpful in understanding what Storefront Mastery is all about. I love that idea of asking what something makes you feel when you walk into a place and experience it. We're going to do a deep dive on experience-based downtown revitalization, using your background, knowledge, and experience, as soon as we get back from this quick break.

Jaime Izurieta (02:59.145)
Mm-hmm.

Brandon Burton (03:18.592)
Jaime, we're back. As I mentioned before the break, we're talking today about experience-based downtown revitalization. As you work with different communities and cities, I imagine you get involved with economic developers, cities, chambers, and others. What has your experience taught you about downtowns and how we can create an atmosphere that helps businesses thrive?

Jaime Izurieta (03:48.010)
The first thing we need to establish is what kind of downtown we have, because there are many different types. You have thriving downtowns where every storefront looks amazing, the buildings have been renovated, there is very little vacancy, and businesses are thriving.

The work is never done, so those downtowns still have next steps to consider. At the other end of the spectrum are downtowns with very little economic activity, many vacancies, a small footprint, and few anchors that can bring people in. We work with a wide range of downtowns.

The thing that keeps repeating is that there has to be an anchor. The anchor is not necessarily a business. The anchor can be an idea that brings people downtown. What is the single business surrounded by vacancy doing for the civic integrity of the town? How is this single, lone business building civic pride?

That applies all the way to the top. How are the top five businesses in an amazingly thriving downtown building civic pride and civic awareness throughout the city? This is the main thing.

Brandon Burton (05:17.400)
Mm.

Brandon Burton (05:29.590)
I'm in Texas, and many downtowns here are built around a courthouse. These courthouses might be 150 years old and may not necessarily be used as courthouses anymore. They might now be offices for city workers, but they are not the draw they used to be as the focal point of downtown.

You talked about having a couple of businesses that draw people in. What are some examples or experiences you've seen? It doesn't necessarily have to be a business that draws people in; it could be an experience. What ideas have you seen that have been effective?

Jaime Izurieta (06:20.103)
It varies from town to town. The solutions vary, but the problem is always the same. We have anchors that draw people, but people leave as soon as they arrive. Businesses can begin appearing next to or very close to these anchors and provide services that complement whatever the anchors provide.

If it's an office building, those office workers will need a great place to have lunch. If it's a courthouse, many different businesses can cater to the people who come there. There are many reasons people go to courthouses, from the happiest—getting married—to the not-so-happy. Businesses can appear around these places to serve the exact needs of the people who visit them.

That is when an ecosystem starts to be created. There is not just one thing to do; that one thing has smaller things around it that complement the package. Maybe it's a coffeehouse, a sandwich place, or even a doctor's office. That can create a bridge between the major anchor and the surrounding businesses.

When people walk from point A to point B within downtown, that generates foot traffic. Foot traffic invariably generates demand. Someone will think of a business, as humble, modest, and small as it may be, that would be the perfect fit for that walk between point A and point B. That's how the ecosystem forms. Eventually, it becomes a snowball.

Brandon Burton (08:11.436)
I've seen vacancies and vacant buildings in various downtowns. There can be many reasons for vacancies. It may be a landlord who doesn't want to update the building. Maybe they're asking too much for rent, they haven't found the right business, or the property is owned by someone who isn't part of the community and isn't engaged in making it relevant.

How do you work with and around vacancies to help revitalize downtown?

Jaime Izurieta (08:50.547)
The first thing is to look at why these vacancies are appearing. In many years of working with downtowns, I have not met a property owner who purchases property to lose money. Not one.

Brandon Burton (09:07.062)
Right.

Jaime Izurieta (09:16.499)
If we discard the myth that property is held vacant simply to lose money or cover other losses and expenses, that represents a very small percentage of the reasons vacancies appear.

Brandon Burton (09:19.404)
Yeah.

Jaime Izurieta (09:28.069)
The biggest reason vacancies appear is that there is not enough economic dynamism. The economy is not moving as fast as it should because demand is downstream from the local economy. If many people are cutting hair, doing nails, stamping documents, and handling other activities downtown, someone will come up with an idea and open a business there. Someone will do it.

Why don't they do it? Generally, because there are too many hoops to jump through, often because of regulations. That is the bottleneck and one of the main reasons people do not open businesses in places where there is opportunity.

Brandon Burton (10:21.132)
I agree. As you gave that response, I thought of Doug Griffiths' 13 Ways to Kill Your Community, where he talks about vacancies and what you can do. One idea is placing posters in vacant storefronts to show what the space could be. You mentioned getting a haircut, and I think that's an example he uses. Maybe you put a poster of a barbershop in the window so people downtown can visualize what the space could become.

I previously had Deb Brown on the podcast, and she talked about how, if you want a restaurant downtown, you could bring some chairs outside and start eating lunch there. Start giving the impression that this is the kind of place downtown needs.

Jaime Izurieta (11:09.329)
Exactly. Someone will react and do something. If we stop trying to solve the vacancies themselves and start asking why the economy is not moving enough, then, when we get the economy moving, the vacancies will solve themselves.

Brandon Burton (11:27.084)
Most of our audience consists of chamber leaders and chamber staff. What role can they have in filling vacancies or building the downtown ecosystem to create foot traffic and make people feel that this is where they want to be and something they want to be part of?

Jaime Izurieta (11:52.736)
I see chambers as bridges. This may be a bad analogy, but it works for my understanding. Chambers connect people. They connect businesses with what is happening in local government. Chambers are bridges, and that can define some of their work.

They can identify which members are best suited to talk with one another, explore possible collaborations, develop solutions, and implement those solutions downtown.

Bringing people together is an amazing way to get minds to collide and generate ideas. Ideas and innovation come about when people get together. On the other side, chambers can look at why economies that need help are not moving enough. Look at the regulations and ask why businesses are not being opened in this place.

When there is so much opportunity and a courthouse nearby, why isn't there a coffee shop? What rules or aspects of the business climate are failing to inspire—or actively preventing—businesses from opening?

That's another bridge chambers can build: the bridge between local government, regulations, frameworks, and everything happening at the city level and the businesses that are chamber members. Members can cross that bridge by opening businesses, creating new businesses, or finding new members who want to open businesses downtown. The idea is to build the ecosystem.

Brandon Burton (14:07.522)
I love those responses. Chambers should be at the heart of those things. I've also seen chambers with a tourism arm open a visitor center and gift shop downtown. That gives people a reason to come downtown and creates foot traffic. Chambers also host downtown events, whether it's an arts festival, Oktoberfest, or even wiener dog races. These activities bring people downtown.

When you talk about roadblocks that make it harder to do business downtown, parking comes to mind. Parking can be an issue, whether it's 30-minute parking or a limited number of spaces. To your earlier point, if there is a big enough draw, people are willing to park two or three blocks away and walk downtown. It's about creating the atmosphere that brings them in and builds foot traffic. What thoughts do you have about parking as an obstacle? I'm sure you've seen some creative solutions.

Jaime Izurieta (15:39.422)
I think a parking problem is the best problem to have. If there is not enough parking, it means many people are coming downtown. If downtown is congested and there is nowhere to park, it means everyone is downtown, and that is great.

I also think parking is a matter of perception. We conducted a study in one of the towns where I've worked. There were two days during the year—a festival and Mother's Day—when the town was completely full and thousands of people came downtown. On those two days, only 40 percent of the total parking capacity around town was used. On its busiest days, the town had 60 percent more parking than it needed.

I don't know whether that study would be replicated elsewhere. It was a unique study for a particular downtown, but it is an interesting conversation starter. Look at how much parking you have and how it works throughout the year. I think the conclusion will surprise most people.

For the past 80 or 90 years, we have created parking infrastructure that is severely overbuilt. We have knocked down entire buildings and city blocks just to provide parking. My friend Jeff Siegler says this is like tearing down the stage in a theater to add more seating. You're destroying the reason people come downtown while giving them a place to park when they arrive. Eventually, there is no reason to go downtown. You keep adding parking, but people stop coming because the attractions are gone.

If we look at parking from that perspective, recognize that it is a good problem to have, and understand that the issue is often perception, we can think differently. If we have a great downtown, an economy that moves, and places people are willing to drive 30, 40, or 50 minutes to visit, they will not mind parking two or three blocks away because the walk will be amazing. There will be people, great storefronts, trees, shade, and coffee shops.

Walking three blocks may take five or ten minutes, and that can be a very entertaining ten minutes. If downtown is entertaining enough, the walk alone will be a great experience. You will enjoy what you came to do and have another good experience walking back. The full visit will be a great time.

This is when we start talking about experience. Your downtown creates an experience whether you design it or not. If you don't design it, there is a good chance it will not be a great experience. If you design it, the chance of it being a good experience is much higher. We need to design for that.

We need to design experiences that make people comfortable parking one or two blocks away and walking to their destination. When people walk, great things happen. You create foot traffic, and the businesses and storefronts along those routes are exposed to more people. Their contribution is to make their storefronts amazing so people enjoy walking past, want to look inside, and hopefully enter and spend money.

Brandon Burton (20:08.908)
Every community should figure out what it wants to be known for. What is the draw for your community, and how can you incorporate that into downtown? It could be a statue or monument people want to see. I've seen downtowns with murals where everyone wants to take a picture with the city name displayed like a postcard. Other downtowns incorporate music throughout the walk, creating an experience similar to walking through a mall, with music and enjoyable scenery.

I'll give a shout-out to Bentonville, Arkansas. Its downtown is superb. It reminds me of Pleasantville. It is very well manicured and provides a great experience. I don't mind walking every block because it is so enjoyable.

Jaime Izurieta (21:12.677)
Exactly. Bentonville is unique and exceptional. Not every small downtown has a multibillion-dollar corporation. Not everyone has Walmart. A lot of credit goes to Walmart for preserving small things such as the original Walmart store, which serves as a historic museum, while also doing exceptional things such as the museum of art and the culinary academy. These attractions are out of scale for such a small town, but they put a huge spotlight on it. Then smaller things start happening.

It's the same process we discussed earlier. You have an anchor, and small things begin happening around it. These anchors are exceptionally great, but the things that happen around them are also amazing.

One thing we need to remember is that it doesn't matter how small or humble the one thing your town can be recognized for is. What matters is how you tell and sell that story.

We worked in Corsicana, Texas, a year or two ago. Part of the work involved looking at vacancies and vacant spaces downtown—not just storefronts—and identifying their best possible uses for attracting people.

As we researched stories to tell, we found that Corsicana is the first place where oil was discovered west of the Mississippi. Our project was called something like “The Birthplace of American Energy.” It was very cool because it could be built from small things. If you had a thriving oil industry 100 years ago, what might you still have lying around? Pieces of oil rigs.

What happens if you recruit retired oil-rig workers, obtain salvaged oil-rig parts, and create parks with them? You have people who know how to weld, break, and work metal, and you have scrap metal. You can create amazing things with that. That can be enough to make the place known throughout the state, region, or country. It is unique. What matters is the creativity and how distinctive you can make the place.

Brandon Burton (24:00.195)
It's about how you tell the story. If your town is the best-kept secret because you're not telling its story, you're failing. You have to get your story out there and draw people in.

Jaime Izurieta (24:09.927)
Exactly. Being the best-kept secret doesn't work. The story needs to be out there. It needs to go viral.

Brandon Burton (24:17.132)
Before we start wrapping up, what else should a chamber or community be thinking about when it comes to revitalizing downtown, restoring economic health, and bringing foot traffic back?

Jaime Izurieta (24:37.311)
The first and most important thing is to get business owners talking among themselves. The idea is basic. Maybe once a month, if you're a chamber, you convene your members and say, “Let's have breakfast at a downtown business.” If two people come or 100 people come, it's all good.

You need members sitting around a table and discussing things. Prompt them to discuss their ideas, visions, and dreams for the place where they operate. When ideas collide, innovation appears. The chamber's role in convening people, getting them around the table, and encouraging them to talk about ideas and visions is probably the biggest catalyst for redevelopment and revitalization.

If the economy starts moving, demand for many things will emerge. Demand for storefronts will increase. Demand for buildings to renovate will increase. Demand for people to come and live nearby will increase. Getting the economy moving is what needs to be done first. Everything else is downstream from that.

Brandon Burton (26:07.970)
On behalf of listeners who want to take their organization and community to the next level, what tip or action item would you leave with them?

Jaime Izurieta (26:23.443)
It would be the same thing. Create something as humble as “Morning Orange Juice with the Corsicana Chamber.” People arrive at a downtown location, sit around a table, have a glass of orange juice, and discuss ideas.

You have to prompt the conversation. If you simply sit people around a table, they might talk about whatever was on social media yesterday or whatever is in the current news cycle. We need to talk about ideas. We need to talk about advancing businesses and the dreams, visions, innovations, and abilities people have.

What does someone who owns a gift shop know how to do? Maybe that person is a huge model-train aficionado and can start a model-train club around town. That club could become a catalyst for many other things. We don't know what the catalyst will be. What we do know is that, when there is a catalyst, it starts moving things when we bring people together.

If there is one tip I can leave, it is to create an opportunity for members to meet periodically. Maybe you create Innovation Thursday on the first Thursday of every month. If someone cannot make it this month, they can attend the next one. Slowly, you start bringing people together and allowing minds to collide.

Brandon Burton (28:12.864)
I like that idea a lot. Innovation Thursdays—everyone should adopt that. How do you see the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose going forward?

Jaime Izurieta (28:28.819)
The world is changing very quickly. We are seeing tools that have never before been available to business owners. It is one of the easiest times in history to start and operate a business with perhaps $200 in costs. You can create virtual employees and tell artificial intelligence agents to create and schedule social media posts, emails, and meetings. It is a great time to create a business.

I think that's where the future leads. Education is critical. If we look at users of new technologies, only a tiny percentage of people are using artificial intelligence. An even smaller percentage pays for full AI models, and an almost imperceptible fraction is building systems, businesses, and something sustainable that can leave a legacy.

We need to educate ourselves about the possibilities of these technologies and also their threats, because no new technology comes without threats. Before automobiles, people were not being killed or injured by cars. As cars appeared, speeds increased, roads made travel easier, and accidents happened more often. There are guardrails and other concerns we need to understand.

The technology itself is amazing. We need to use it and take advantage of it. In my view, the future is education. Learn as much as possible about how these technologies work, spread that knowledge, and teach people that these technologies can be used for good. They are tools, and their effect depends on how we use them.

Brandon Burton (30:58.510)
Many chambers listening will have members who specialize in AI, security, or technology. Lean on these members and learn from them. Have them speak at your luncheon, incorporate what they're teaching, and apply it within your organization. Your members will then see you as a leader they can turn to for guidance about the future and how their businesses can be successful. I love that tip. Thank you for sharing it.

Before I let you go, I want to give you an opportunity to share contact information for listeners who want to connect with you and learn more about what Storefront Mastery offers. Where would you point them?

Jaime Izurieta (31:54.187)
First, I would point them to our website, storefrontmastery.com, and then to my LinkedIn page, Jaime Izurieta. If you search for Storefront Mastery on LinkedIn, you'll find the company page and me there.

I'll be very happy to connect and chat. My presence on LinkedIn is a little spotty, but I love having conversations there. I've brought some of those conversations into real life, and it has been great. I've made good friends and completed interesting projects through those connections. So, visit my website, storefrontmastery.com.

Brandon Burton (32:36.406)
That's perfect. We'll include that in our show notes to make it easy to find. Jaime, it has been great having you on the show. I appreciate you spending time with us and sharing your experience and knowledge. I hope listeners can find some good ideas to take back to their communities and apply so they can help their downtowns thrive and take off as they should. Thank you, Jaime.

Jaime Izurieta (33:00.816)
Thank you so much. I'm very grateful, Brandon, and hello to all the Chamber Champions.

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

Brandon Burton (00:01)
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.

Today's guest is Kyle South, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, where he leads efforts focused on economic growth, business development, workforce initiatives, and quality of life across the region.

Kyle brings a unique perspective to that work, combining experience in the private sector with a background in public service as a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives. His experience in business, government, and public policy gives him a broad understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing employers and communities throughout Alabama.

In his current role, Kyle works closely with leaders in business, education, government, and the community to strengthen West Alabama's economy, encourage collaboration, and create new opportunities for the people and businesses who call the region home.

Kyle, 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. If you would, share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little better.

Kyle South (01:18)
First and foremost, Brandon, thank you for the opportunity to come on and share some of the great stories and feel-good impacts that we're making here in West Alabama, specifically in Tuscaloosa.

As far as something interesting about me, I don't know how interesting I am. The one thing that I think has served me well over the years is that I am an avid golfer. A lot of the relationships I've built, whether political, business, or otherwise, have revolved around the golf course. When I say to my wife or my team here that I'm going to play golf, I'm really going to work.

Brandon Burton (02:02)
That's right. A lot of business gets done out there on the course.

Tell us a little bit about the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. Help give us an idea of the chamber's size, the scope of work you're involved with, the budget, and that sort of thing to set the stage for our discussion.

Kyle South (02:23)
We are 1,300 members strong, representing about 65,000 employees throughout West Alabama. While our origins weren't necessarily regional, our name obviously is. Over the years, we have developed a regional application to what we do, both in the chamber and through our workforce development initiatives, across a nine-county region in West Alabama.

We are proud not only to support those workforce needs in often underserved communities but also to help serve the smaller chambers throughout our region. Budget-wise, we are in the $2 million to $2.5 million range. A lot of that is supported by our workforce initiatives.

We contract with the State of Alabama to provide some of those services throughout our nine-county region and have done so for quite some time. It is an interesting dynamic that we bring to the table, helping support business and industry throughout West Alabama. It gives us more tools in our toolbox to better serve our membership.

Brandon Burton (03:43)
That's perfect. It helps set the stage. Being a regional chamber with a keen focus on workforce is a big deal, especially as we get into our topic today, which will revolve around the work you're doing in the school systems, specifically K-12. We'll dive into that as soon as we get back from this quick break.

All right, Kyle, we're back. As I mentioned before the break, we're going to dive into the great work you're doing with schools and K-12 programs. I know a lot of chambers get involved with their local school districts, but I'd love to know the approach you take specifically and get into the fruits we're seeing from the work you've put in with the schools.

Kyle South (04:37)
We have very strong relationships with both our county and city systems here in Tuscaloosa, as well as regional school systems throughout the nine counties we serve.

Several years ago, a problem was brought to us by the automotive industry, which has a major influence and concentration here locally. Mercedes is the anchor, along with its supplier network, which is often located within our region. They were having trouble finding young people willing to go directly into production-line work.

If you were looking at industrial maintenance or something that required a two-year or four-year degree, the pipelines were fairly healthy. Where they didn't have a steady pipeline was into production jobs that may or may not look like a traditional path.

We developed a program that we refer to as Modern Manufacturing. It allows K-12 students to start that training earlier in the process. In 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, they earn five stackable credentials. They come out of high school ready to enter the workforce. They can cross the stage for graduation and often have a job ready for them.

We've also seen employers use the program to identify the students they want to place into two-year and four-year degree pathways. They've used it as an education pipeline for themselves as much as a workforce pipeline.

It has become very strong—so much so that we expanded our contract statewide. At the time of this conversation, 44 school systems across Alabama were participating in the program.

There are stories from before my time at the chamber where business and industry wanted to invest in the teacher unit because a rural school system didn't have the teacher unit needed to offer the program. The caveat often put in place was, “We are providing this teacher unit for the local school system, but we want the first option on the students performing well in the program.”

I think that's fair. It shows the work being done through those programs and that business and industry see the model as a stepping stone toward developing good employees.

Brandon Burton (07:45)
Absolutely. I have two children who graduated from high school in the last couple of years. When students cross the stage, you see whether their next step is college, a career, or the military. I'll admit, when watching them cross the stage, you don't see many going directly into careers.

A lot of students are pushed toward college. That's not a bad thing, but many take on a lot of debt without knowing what they want to do for a career. If they can enter a career and then see a path for career development, that's a great benefit to a student trying to figure out life.

You said 44 school systems are participating. What does the level of involvement look like for the school system and the student?

Kyle South (09:04)
From the school system's side, it takes space and a teacher unit. We have the curriculum built out, so it's a ready-made curriculum that we hired a third party to put together. It requires buy-in, just like any other career or technical class offered on campus, whether it's welding or something similar.

The students are immersed in those processes. A lot of credentialing takes place, but the program also includes the soft skills that are a necessity and often aren't taught as much.

Brandon Burton (09:45)
That makes sense. From a chamber perspective, what does the involvement look like when you have 44 school systems you're working with?

Kyle South (09:53)
We have project managers throughout the state who work hands-on with the program directors in the K-12 systems while also trying to connect them with business and industry in their regions. We are trying to go all the way from the classroom to a career.

The majority of the program was born from a relationship with Mercedes. The workforce crisis hit them sooner than it hit many other people. The question was how we could develop a pipeline that would be sustainable in the years to come. That's where we landed.

It has been a great investment for us as an organization, and I think the state sees it the same way. We are seeing success after success from the students going through those programs.

Brandon Burton (10:55)
As the program is rolled out in the schools and students get involved, is there a name for it? Is the chamber's name on it anywhere?

Kyle South (11:07)
Modern Manufacturing is what it's called in the course selection.

Brandon Burton (11:16)
Would a student know the chamber is involved in the curriculum and in making it available?

Kyle South (11:23)
Probably not. It is a regular class they sign up for. We're doing the connecting work on the front end and the back end. It has been a great place for us to be. It has delivered many quality workforce pipelines throughout our area and now even farther beyond our region.

Brandon Burton (11:50)
You mentioned that it largely started with the needs of Mercedes. As students get involved with Modern Manufacturing, what other industries do you see them entering after graduation?

Kyle South (12:05)
Throughout Alabama, the real focus of going statewide was developed around original equipment manufacturers and the automotive industry. It has now grown into the shipbuilding industry in South Alabama and some defense manufacturing in north and east Alabama.

We even have a local industry that creates woven wire mesh like you would see in window screens, as well as the mesh inside backer board used for laying tile. They have been highly engaged in these programs throughout their areas.

Brandon Burton (12:55)
I'm sure more industries emerge as workforce needs arise, and you can plug them into this curriculum and help feed new workers into those businesses.

Kyle South (13:06)
No question. Beyond that, we've had a lot of focus on K-12 education over the last year. Last fall, following a local referendum, we convened a group of stakeholders to discuss K-12 education needs, what those needs would look like financially, and the broader spectrum of K-12 education.

We conducted an in-depth study. About 70 of our members and stakeholders participated over the course of approximately six months. It culminated with our FutureFocus event, which was previously referred to as our education and workforce summit. We presented a report to the public during the event to highlight concerns and challenges, as well as opportunities within our local K-12 systems.

One thing that came out of the study was the need to focus as a community on truancy and chronic absenteeism. We noted that absenteeism led to deficiencies in test scores, behavior issues, and other challenges.

In one school, almost 30% of the students were considered chronically absent, meaning they were missing 10% of the school year. Whether the absences were excused or unexcused didn't matter. If students weren't in class, they were included in that number.

The state tracks that as part of the individual school's public letter-grade report card, allowing us to see how schools perform in relation to surrounding schools and others across the state. We made it our mission to find a way to tackle that one issue, which led to so many other things identified in the study.

I'm happy to report that we secured $630,000 this past week from a local organization to help invest in the effort, as well as another $91,000 from the state. The state had these programs in pockets across Alabama but not here in West Alabama.

By stacking those resources with a proven model that the state had adopted in other judicial circuits, we will be able to implement the program later this fall because of the study.

Brandon Burton (16:20)
That will make a huge impact—both getting the funding and getting those students into school, where they can be educated and move forward.

Kyle South (16:29)
It's interesting to pull back the curtain on the data. You might think certain racial or socioeconomic barriers were what led to those problems and challenges, but you would be surprised by how widely dispersed the problems are.

We need, as a community, to pay more attention to that. When we explain it to business and industry, those children in the K-12 system now are the workforce of the future. If they're not showing up for school, they may not show up for their jobs either.

Brandon Burton (17:16)
Did the study show when students started becoming absent? Did it begin as early as kindergarten, or was it more common in middle school and high school?

Kyle South (17:27)
It ran the gamut. There are certain areas where the problems persist more and may be deeper. There are pockets of transportation issues and family support systems that need to be strengthened.

We have services available to those families that we can help connect through this program and help them become more effective at the same time.

Brandon Burton (18:12)
That's an indicator that, as you look deeper into the homes of those children, there may be more potential workers who could be engaged as well. Transportation or similar barriers may be affecting them. As you peel back the layers, you get more information.

It sounds like there's a detailed plan to deploy these funds.

Kyle South (18:45)
Yes, there's a very detailed plan. We have the district attorney's office involved, along with all the local school systems, and we'll have the ability to hire social workers to go out and case-manage some of these situations. There's good work happening on that front.

Brandon Burton (19:07)
That makes a lot of sense. I'll be curious to see what the future surveys look like.

Is there anything else about your K-12 work that comes to mind where you're seeing benefits you'd like to share?

Kyle South (19:28)
Education as a whole is becoming harder and a bigger challenge. There are so many ties back to workforce and the ability of business and industry to be successful.

We're positioned in a place where higher education is a huge asset to our community, whether it's the University of Alabama, Stillman College, or Shelton State Community College, our two-year school. How do we bridge those things together?

Long term, I think talent is the best incentive we have to offer future businesses. How do we retain that talent within our community? At a high-water mark, about 60% of the University of Alabama's student population came from out of state. How do we keep our piece of that pie going forward? What kinds of reimagined industries can we take advantage of with that level of talent at our fingertips?

Brandon Burton (20:43)
Having a good football team always helps, right?

Kyle South (20:47)
It doesn't hurt at all. We'll see where we are in a few weeks.

Brandon Burton (20:56)
As we begin to wrap up, I always like to ask, on behalf of those listening, what tip or action item you would share with chambers trying to move to the next level.

Kyle South (21:10)
One of the things I love most about my job and about bringing my prior experience into this role is that we are advocates. In a climate where businesses and corporations may not be at the top of the list in public polling, advocacy is a job we need to take more seriously.

We have to be the voice for business and industry within our community to help it flourish and create more opportunities. We're becoming more engaged in those efforts, whether through policy discussions or community initiatives, because we can see some of the challenges.

While we're in a very good position locally right now, you never know where the next hurdle is coming from.

Brandon Burton (22:14)
Absolutely. You have to keep your eye on the ball and see what's coming next.

I always like asking everyone on the show about the future of chambers. Kyle, how do you see the future of chambers and their purpose going forward?

Kyle South (22:32)
I think we always have to look at it as a two-way valuation. As long as our goal is to bring value to our membership—and we know we couldn't exist without those members—I think we're in good shape.

There are bigger needs out there than what I've seen in the past. We have to be ready to engage in those conversations, including difficult conversations, to be that trusted leader in the community.

Brandon Burton (23:09)
With the topic we covered today around preparing the workforce, many students are going directly into manufacturing positions after high school. You have several members that are heavily involved in manufacturing and others that aren't. How do you express the value of your work in schools to members that aren't involved in manufacturing?

Kyle South (25:19)
It's a balance. The majority of all businesses are small businesses, and we have to keep our focus there while still serving larger industrial members in ways that don't have the same impact on a small business.

We're doing that through training, advocacy, and being a trusted source of information. I came from a small-business background. I think that's the core. As we move forward, we have to make sure we're serving the whole membership and are diversified in what that level of programming looks like.

The needs—even the workforce needs—of our large industrial partners are changing every day. Mercedes announced a $4 billion investment this past spring with no new jobs announced as part of it. That's a huge capital investment that isn't intended to expand the workforce.

What does that mean? It means the jobs of today become the jobs of the future, and the skill sets look different and more advanced. How do we serve those needs? How do we make sure technology isn't leaving small businesses behind? I think that will be something we focus on in the future.

There's a lot of work to be done. Somebody has to do it, and I think chambers are the kinds of groups to do it.

Brandon Burton (27:14)
The work is never-ending. You're doing a great job with it.

Kyle South (27:17)
Never. That's been one of my frustrations. I'm three years into this role. I had a long checklist of goals I wanted to accomplish. What I learned quickly is that you very rarely get to cross something completely off your list. I guess it's good for job security.

Brandon Burton (27:37)
You get half a check mark through it.

Kyle, I'd like to give you an opportunity to share contact information for listeners who want to connect and learn more about how you're doing things in West Alabama. Where would you point them?

Kyle South (27:58)
Please feel free to email me at kyle@westalabamachamber.com. Our website is westalabamachamber.com. It has a litany of resources about not only what we're doing but our communities as a whole.

I invite anyone to reach out who has questions, concerns, or new ideas we might be able to replicate as well.

Brandon Burton (28:43)
Perfect. We'll include that information in our show notes and make it easy for people to find and reach out to you.

Kyle, this has been great. It's always rewarding to see the fruits of the work taking place. A lot of chambers get involved with education and help develop the workforce pipeline, but much of that work is still new in many communities.

This conversation should give chambers hope that the work they're doing can lead to something great. Thank you for sharing this with us today.

Kyle South (29:17)
Thank you for your time and your willingness to engage in these conversations.

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)
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.

Today's guest is Dr. Maree Forbes Gaughan, CEO of Community Economic Partners and National Travel Center, nationally recognized organizations dedicated to helping small cities, towns, and rural communities thrive.

With a multidisciplinary background spanning architecture, historic preservation, economic development, tourism, strategic planning, placemaking, and community engagement, Maree brings an unusually broad perspective to community development. Her career began in architecture, followed by work with the World Bank in Washington, D.C., where she gained firsthand experience in economic development. She later expanded her expertise into tourism and destination development.

Today, she leads projects across the country that help communities strengthen their economies, enhance their sense of place, and build sustainable futures around the assets that make them unique. We're happy to welcome Maree here on the podcast.

Maree, I'd love to give you an opportunity to say hello to all the Chamber Champions who are out there listening and, if you would, share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little better.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (01:25)
All right, Brandon. Thank you. I'm Maree Forbes Gaughan, CEO, as you said, of Community Economic Partners, which emerged out of National Travel Center when we decided that what we were doing was really economic development.

Something interesting to share: I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in fine art—painting, drawing, and every field in the arts. At the University of Wisconsin, they let us take architecture courses as part of that. That's how all of this came about. A doctorate in planning seemed to be a natural extension of architecture, townscaping, placemaking, and all of those things. It has been an interesting ride.

Brandon Burton (02:20)
When you think about art, design, and architecture, it all makes perfect sense in aligning with economic development. You have to think things through in order and determine what makes sense in the proper steps. That makes a lot of sense to me.

Tell us a little about your organizations, Community Economic Partners and National Travel Center, to give us an idea of the type of work you're involved with and what those organizations are all about.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (02:53)
I never imagined that one could run a remote organization. I always had an office until about 12 years ago. A stellar team has come together. There are 14 of us scattered all around the country, and that gives us access to best practices and an interesting understanding of a variety of areas.

National Travel Center has been in business for 14 years. When it came together with a larger group of people, we were approached by a couple of people in economic development who said, "That's really what you're doing." I canvassed all the people we were working with, and they all said, "Yes, that's precisely what we do as well."

We have a stellar team of tourism professionals and some highly educated and experienced economic development people. We have somebody in historic preservation and somebody in community livability, which is really important for every small community. We specialize in working with small cities, small towns, and rural communities.

A bunch of us grew up on farms, and you learn to be extremely practical. We don't just do strategies where you identify four pillars and create a long list of to-dos, because that doesn't get anybody anywhere. We create a plan that's implementable. Start from where you are now, build on your assets, and move forward over three or five years. You'll end up accomplishing your goals. Communities really appreciate that.

Brandon Burton (04:44)
I know a lot of organizations have the four pillars, as you alluded to, but I love action. I love a plan that you can put into place so you can start seeing movement in a positive direction. It's good to have those foundations to reference, but you have to have something to help you move forward. I love that you do that.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (05:05)
We do the strategies. Obviously, you have to know the starting point. Then we create what we call an implementation action plan, where we illustrate what you need to accomplish monthly, quarterly, and annually to reach your goals within the time period you've established. That's so important because then you can make real progress.

Brandon Burton (05:33)
Absolutely. Today, we're going to talk about things those listening can do to help bring additional economic development into their communities. I'm excited to dive into this topic and learn more about your perspective as soon as we get back from this quick break.

All right, Maree, we're back. As I mentioned before the break, today we're diving into economic development and helping to boost economic development in communities across the country. I'm not sure where you would like to start. I know you have your work laid out and you're deep in the weeds, so to speak, in economic development, but what are some of the biggest factors that can help drive economic development?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (06:20)
Chambers are the perfect venue for economic development. Their perspective of helping small businesses in their areas is foundational to economic development. We no longer have large-company saviors that come in—and if they do, they can leave. Supporting the small businesses in the community—the people who are involved in the community, invested in it, and moved there because they wanted to live there—is absolutely critical.

Brandon, we did a study of 700 organizations across the country: economic development departments, chambers, tourism offices, Main Street organizations, and some municipalities. After looking at 1,675 individual positions in those organizations—yes, it was extensive, but it gave us great information—we discovered that many chambers have taken on responsibility for delivering economic development in their communities and expanding it.

There are fewer industrial authorities at this point, and I think the entire field of economic development is waking up to the fact that you really have to start in your own community. The other thing is that the chamber is often the tourism office, which also makes sense. The same small businesses the chamber supports are also delivering the tourism experience. It's all tied together, and tourism is foundational.

Nobody moves or relocates a business without first visiting to see what it will be like to live there. So many communities don't understand that this is really the foundation of economic development. With the tourism office in the chamber, they know the experiences being offered and the places to send visitors. It all makes a lot of sense.

Brandon Burton (08:39)
It's interesting when you look at the history of many chambers across the country. A lot of them developed the tourism function or tourism arm in their communities, and some of them created the economic development arm. Then those efforts may have branched off. Economic development may have gone to the city or become its own organization, and tourism may have gone its own way.

Now you're seeing them start to come back together and do much more collaboration. I applaud those organizations that are coming together because there are a lot of shared resources and efforts going in different directions. You can work with much more synergy and help move things forward in your community by working together as one whole.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (09:27)
We think they should all be combined because everybody's budgets are stretched. Rather than competing for funding with tourism, economic development, or anyone else, blend them all together and you get much more synergy. You also get better local recognition because you've expanded the purview of what you're doing and can make a much greater impact.

Brandon Burton (09:54)
I know a few people listening will think, "We don't have the economic development contract in our community. Maybe this episode doesn't apply to us." I want to argue that every chamber should be involved with economic development, whether formally or informally.

What would your approach be? What could chambers do, even if they don't have the official responsibility or contract for economic development? How should they still be involved?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (10:25)
They already are. The small businesses that belong to chambers and the community businesses they support are the foundation of local economic development. They're already in that business, whether they look at it that way or not.

We've passed the point where economic development entities are only the people who run after external businesses, because it has been so unsuccessful. Chambers have the perfect starting place because they can tell officials, "We are already in the economic development business and helping your community thrive."

Express that intent. Show people that you're already doing this and are responsible for helping small businesses thrive. Start educational opportunities for those small businesses and look at other ways you can help them. Find grants for those businesses and do the things that help them thrive. Then tell everybody about it. Chambers are already in that position. It's a natural gateway into expanding their role.

Brandon Burton (11:41)
I think that during the pandemic, the light came on for a lot of chambers that they are involved with this. They helped pursue grants, provided education, kept business doors open, and supported businesses in their communities. That is economic development.

I love what you said about educational programs and things of that nature to help build the local economy. What are some other strategies or ideas that work well in communities to build more localized economic development?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (12:22)
I want to add to what you said about COVID. When tourism was crashing, it was amazing how many tourism departments decided to become involved with other organizations in their communities, basically to survive. It was really interesting to watch. Those that finally got together with other providers were the ones that survived.

As for other strategies, we are asked some interesting questions. One thing you can do is get a list of every business in your area. We have an example of a chamber that had 140 members and was pretty happy about that. We completed a comprehensive inventory of businesses and found 874.

We pointed out that there might be half a million dollars or more in memberships sitting on the table. We also found all the email addresses we could so that the chamber could literally put itself in front of every community business. The chamber also wasn't doing a good job of promoting itself.

We have a person on our staff called our chief success officer who can write a good line. She's a former chamber director who was called in when the largest manufacturer left town and half the adults were left without jobs, so she learned to communicate quickly. She asked the chamber, "Tell me what you've achieved over the past year," and they did.

Then she said, "Now, this is how you say it," and made a graphic that's now being posted everywhere to tell those 800-plus businesses what the chamber has actually been doing. Part of the strategy is making everyone aware of what's available and what has been accomplished.

The other thing is to set high goals and determine how you can reach those goals by going beyond normal chamber functions. Make an annual visit to the county commissioners and present the economic value of what you're doing. They love the numbers because county commissioners always want to bring more prosperity to their region or county. Do the same with the city council. Clarify and compile the economic value of the chamber's programs, and make an annual visit to those organizations so they can see what's being accomplished.

Brandon Burton (15:35)
In too many communities, the chamber is the best-kept secret. Chambers need to get out there, tell their own story better, toot their own horn, and show what they're doing to drive impact. That helps attract more membership.

You gave the example of a chamber with about 140 members and more than 800 businesses in the community. Beyond the membership fees they're missing, they're also missing all the connections and leverage that come from getting those people to the table. What challenges are businesses encountering? What solutions have they found? How can they help other businesses succeed? There's so much power in bringing them all into the organization that you do a big disservice when you leave them out there.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (16:24)
For a different chamber, we're interviewing large businesses to find out what workforce development needs they have. Then we're matching those needs with a list of available programs.

There's grant funding for workforce development all over the country. It's something supported by virtually every municipality. Chambers don't have to incur the expense of providing that training because grants are available. Then you begin to strengthen the entire business community, and businesses are able to expand. Workforce is one of today's struggles for all communities.

Brandon Burton (17:16)
I don't know that any one community has figured out the answer to workforce, but what seems to work well is telling the story of the community. Going back to placemaking, what makes your community desirable to live in? What opportunities are available to advance in a career, raise a family, and do all these other things? It goes back to telling the story of your community and having examples.

I love how you're interviewing major employers, identifying opportunities, and helping craft a better story.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (17:57)
It starts with asking people what they need. There are regional organizations, such as councils of governments, that will help chambers implement and execute those programs. That's what they're there for. Virtually every area in the United States has one because they act as a coordinating function.

Tap all the resources you can find, make the connections, have the conversations, and do what needs to be done by pulling everybody together into a coherent conversation. Be the catalyst that helps people start talking to one another.

Brandon Burton (18:49)
Be that catalyst and convener that's bringing everyone together in the room and giving everybody who should be there a place at the table. I totally agree.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (18:58)
Right. Promote tourism, have a plan, and make that a foundational aspect.

Brandon Burton (19:11)
If a chamber's tourism department is a separate entity, what could a plan look like for the chamber to still have a tourism plan in coordination with that separate tourism department?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (19:32)
The chamber can help integrate the businesses that are part of tourism experiences because those are exactly the businesses that are their members. About 99.9 percent of businesses in the tourism industry are small businesses. The big corporations you hear about are not the whole tourism industry. It's the people on the ground.

Helping integrate the businesses chambers already know into visitor experiences helps tourism, helps the tourism bureau, and strengthens the connection among everyone. The more you communicate, the more you understand.

The chamber can offer to do that for the tourism industry. The tourism industry has decided it is mostly going to focus on external marketing, which we disagree with because tourism affects the lives of residents and businesses. You need to understand what it's doing to them.

In spite of that, I think tourism departments would welcome the chamber serving as the place where businesses and experience suppliers come together and have a conversation. Then the tourism department can do its more clinical, hands-off external marketing.

Brandon Burton (21:07)
That may be a trap some tourism departments fall into when they receive HOT funds that need to be spent to draw people in from outside. It creates blind spots around what they can do within the community to make it attractive—to make it a place where people want to spend their time and money, stay in hotels, and do all those things. Focusing on the community is a great point.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (21:34)
When I taught at Temple, the name of my course was Destination Management and Marketing. Management is getting involved in the community and managing the experiences and suppliers. Many students had never looked at that perspective. A chamber can easily fulfill that function.

Brandon Burton (22:00)
What would you say to people who have a strained relationship with their tourism department or economic development organization and work very much in silos? I know that's not ideal, and I think everyone listening knows that's not ideal. What advice would you give to help break down those silos and build those relationships?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (22:26)
Have a conversation and offer how you can help. Offer to strengthen their efforts by focusing on what's in it for them. Sit down and ask, "What do you need? What kind of help do you need?"

Every tourism department needs help. None of them ever has enough money to do everything it wants or needs to do. The same is true of economic development. If they're a pure industrial authority looking for external manufacturing, they may be difficult to have a conversation with because they may not think the small businesses in town mean anything. If they're not that type of organization, start those conversations and find out what they need.

Most of them have much larger budgets, but they don't have time. There are many ways to help. Sit down, have a conversation, and ask how you can help. The ideas will start flowing when the people in those silos understand that there is an offer of assistance.

Just start talking to one another. We had a really interesting final presentation a little while back, and the major question from that chamber was, "How do we get in touch with our constituents?" We said, "Good Lord, send them an email twice a month and start talking to them. Convene them in the small towns where they live in groups." It struck us as unusual that this was the major question people were asking.

Brandon Burton (24:18)
I had to ask that question because, in communities where relationships are strained, it is a real issue. It needs to be addressed, and people need support. More often than not, I also see communities that have broken down the silos and work so well with other organizations that they might as well be on each other's payroll because they work so closely together.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (24:42)
Right. Chamber people are usually there longer. Tourism directors and staff turn over every few years, so you have a fresh start with a new person who doesn't have the background. The same thing happens in economic development. They're often looking for the next position up, while chamber people are residents of the town. There's always an opportunity to speak to new people.

Brandon Burton (25:07)
That's a good point. Maree, as we start to wrap things up, I always like to ask guests what tip or action item they would share with listeners who want to take their organizations to the next level.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (25:28)
Find all the people in your community. Find every single business and all the partner organizations. Start a major communication effort so your work is well publicized.

Make sure your commissioners, council members, municipal officials, and everybody else know what you're doing so they recognize and respect the functions you're already performing. That's going to start taking you to the next level because conversations will begin. Once officials recognize that you're a valuable part of the community and are helping with economic prosperity, they're going to respond better.

Brandon Burton (26:20)
Absolutely. The other question I ask everybody is about the future of chambers of commerce. How do you see the future of chambers and their purpose going forward?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (26:33)
They're changing. We realized from the research that there's much less siloing, and chambers are putting in programs that help their specific communities. That makes a major difference.

There's no longer a one-size-fits-all definition of what a chamber does. Whether they have workforce development, economic development, tourism development, or something else, they're filling the gaps. They're becoming more wide-ranging and helpful to the community because they are filling the gaps no one else is addressing.

I think that's the trend, and it bodes well for chambers because they can recognize what's missing.

Brandon Burton (27:24)
Chambers are often the ones filling the holes in the community. When nobody else does something, the chamber steps in and does it. Unfortunately, that also comes with people in the community saying, "The chamber should do it," and volunteering them for things they may not need to be involved with. Smart chamber leaders can decipher what they should and shouldn't get involved with.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (27:45)
Precisely. Do the strategic things that help the most businesses, people, and residents. Focus on quality of life.

Brandon Burton (27:55)
Absolutely. Maree, I'd like to give you an opportunity to share contact information for listeners who may want to connect with you, learn more about your offerings, and see what you can do to help build economic development in their communities. What's the best way to reach you?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (28:13)
You can email me, but it's a long email address.

Brandon Burton (28:19)
We'll put it in the show notes, too.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (28:22)
The phone number is 267-897-5277. My cell phone is always on. I answer all the calls because I enjoy talking to people. I often get calls from people I don't know who need help, so I never shut off the phone calls.

The email is maree.forbesgaughan@communityeconomicpartners.org.

Brandon Burton (28:58)
That's perfect.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (28:59)
We're an organization with a mission, so we can tailor our fees for different situations. We don't have shareholders, so we don't have to use hourly rates and all those other things. It's much more helpful.

Brandon Burton (29:16)
That's great insight. Maree, it has been great having you on the show. I appreciate you setting aside time and sharing your experience and findings from the study you've done. This has been a great conversation, and I appreciate you sharing it with us.

Maree Forbes Gaughan (29:34)
We're writing a book based on that study called Mind Shift.

Brandon Burton (29:39)
Very good. We'll keep our eyes and ears open for it when it comes out. Do you have a target date?

Maree Forbes Gaughan (29:45)
It was supposed to be this fall, but projects have overtaken us. I would suspect it will be after the new Congress gets in place and we can get the lay of the land and understand what's going to happen. Thank you so much for having me. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Brandon Burton (30:04)
Thank you.

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

Episode 401 — Simplification in the Chamber Space with Cindy Williams
Source: https://chamberchatpodcast.com/episode401/

Transcript supplied by Brandon; speaker labels, timestamps and wording retained. Generated show notes stored separately.

Brandon Burton (00:01.262)
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. Today's guest is Cindy Williams, CEO of the Cartersville-Barto County Chamber of Commerce, where she works every day to build a stronger business community. With more than 20 years of chamber leadership experience, Cindy's passionate about bringing people together to solve problems.

Help local businesses, develop future leaders, and strengthen the workforce. Her collaborative approach has helped create meaningful partnerships and opportunities that support long-term economic growth throughout Bartow County. Cindy is a Georgia certified chamber executive, a graduate of Leadership Georgia, the Institute for Organization Management, and the Georgia Academy for Economic Development. She's also served in leadership roles across the state, including as past chair of the Georgia Association of Chamber Executives.

Cindy, 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 out there listening and if you would share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little better.

Cindy Williams (01:15.616)
Okay. Well thank you, Brandon. What an honor to be asked to be on your podcast.

It's great to be in the company of many other chamber executives. And as I've listened to a few of your other other episodes, I find that it's quite helpful, of course, to listen to what others are doing and to get inspiration within the industry. So I'm sure we all, I speak on behalf of all of us in the industry. Thank you for what you're doing to put good content out there for us to lean on each other in a new way and learn from each other. Yeah, so I grew up in North Georgia and really my background is marketing.

That's what I studied marketing specifically in the business space. But like so many others, never ever dreamed I'd end up in the chamber world because who knew what that was, you know, when you're in college. But landed my first job also in the northeastern part of Georgia, and then just really fell in love with it. And it's really been my entire career. Did a few internships and things otherwise to gain some like event experience and different things. But something fun about me is chamber.

Work is all I have ever done for a professional career. So 20 years now doing that, and it's all I've ever known from two different chambers.

Brandon Burton (02:29.74)
I'm always curious. Out of college to entering the chamber world, how did that transition happen? How did the opportunity present itself?

Cindy Williams (02:37.439)
Yeah, so I undergrad as I said was marketing. I did have an MBA and when I started doing my job search back closer to I'd moved back in with my parents, you know, because I didn't have a job lined up as soon as I graduated. And my dad as I'm just exploring, really not even looking in the same area because to me success looked like going somewhere else, right? It was not gonna be next to my hometown. But at that time in that region, there were three chamber positions that were open and my

Dad came home one day, he had been talking to someone out in the community and said she should think about you know the chamber world. So I asked the question, what do they do? and looked into it. And it was honestly the event side of chamber that intrigued me because I always thought I would do event marketing. So, like so many, that's what I saw and that's what I knew of Chamber. But then as I applied and the one position, you know, it was offered to me, I realized how fun is it that I get to use all aspects of my business degree.

not just marketing, which was certainly a big piece of it in the community that I was in because they were heavy tourism. And so I think that's probably why they selected me for that role because of the tourism marketing piece. But as my career has gone on and of course transitioned to Cartersville and Bartow County, I do honestly love that all aspects of business I get to dabble in in some way.

Brandon Burton (03:59.867)
Yeah, no, that's great. I know there's a lot of chambers out there thinking, can we get rid of all the events? And you're like, Yes, pretty well. That's right. That's right. So before we dive into the topic though, tell us a little bit more about the Cartersville Bartow County Chamber to help give some perspective, the size of the chamber, staff, budget, scope of work, just to kind of set up the conversation.

Cindy Williams (04:05.069)
I'm gonna help with that. That's what we're gonna talk about today.

Cindy Williams (04:22.891)
Yeah, perfect. So our community we serve the entirety of Bartow County, which is in the northwest part of Georgia. And so it's about a hundred and twenty thousand in population as far as community size. That translates to us. We just surpassed the 1,000 member mark. So we just had a big celebration. Yeah, thank you. We're super excited about that. revenue, we're just over, or budget size, just over a million dollars each year. And so staff is six.

Brandon Burton (04:40.506)
Congratulations. Yeah.

Cindy Williams (04:52.815)
Total of six individuals, but that basically means that each department has one person. So, you know, while we are fortunate, I know there are many chambers out there who would love to have six. we do still, I I would say, you know, we have to do a lot with a little since we only have currently just just one person running each sector of our chambers. So yeah, that's us.

Brandon Burton (05:14.17)
Yeah, very good. That definitely does help to get us ready for our discussion today. And and like you said, having six staff. you know, some listening might be super jealous to be able to have six staff and and yet you still feel like you're understaffed because that's just the nature of chamber work, right? There's always the bigger, more auditious thing to go after. So very good. Well today we're gonna focus our conversation around how things can be simplified.

Cindy Williams (05:24.877)
Yeah.

Cindy Williams (05:31.691)
That's right. It's so true. That's right.

Brandon Burton (05:42.725)
Within the chamber space, which I think for those listening, their ears are probably perking up because they would love to have things maybe just slow down a step and be a little bit more simple to manage everything. So I'm excited to dive into this conversation as soon as I get back from this quick break. All right, Cindy, we're back. So as I mentioned before the break, today we're talking about simplification in the chamber space. So

I'm sure there's been a know several sources, things that have come across your your desk, your plate, your mind space to make this topic be something that stands out to you, where you're like, you know what, and let's pay attention to this, let's see what lessons there are to learn here. What are some of those key things that are standing out to you when it comes to simplifying things in the chamber space?

Cindy Williams (06:34.338)
Yeah.

Well, I'll start with you're exactly right that I d I've had resources, right? I've I've read up on this, I've learned on this, and and really all that we talk about today is gonna be based on a book that I read. It's called Why Simple Wins, and it's by Lisa Bodell. So that way, anybody listening, I highly encourage check out the book. If you like what you hear today, it's gonna give you really a lot of resources in that book. But it I'd asked for that book for Christmas one year because I'm a person that just genuinely

Loves self development, professional development, learning, and I've learned through my career that some of the best ideas and practices that put into place come from my reading of this kind of content. And so when I read the book, basically it so resonated with me as I know it will for many in that we live in a world of addition, right? And so we're all we're constantly stressed for time, and how do we fit everything into our busy schedules? And what happens is we keep

Adding to our plate. And we think that's glorious and we think that's wonderful and it makes us look like heroes and we're that's right, productivity and we're multitasking and we're doing all the things. But the way the author presents it is there is something beautiful about subtraction, right? And it is so true that at the end of the day, when you think about subtracting things from your schedule, it allows you to then focus on the things that matter, to have joy in the work that you're doing.

Brandon Burton (07:40.57)
Productivity, right? Yeah.

Cindy Williams (08:04.959)
To pursue the activities that matter the most to you and support the mission of the organization. So there's a lot of personal satisfaction. And really, when you even when you say productivity, productivity can go up because you're not so bombarded and inundated with the 500 million things that are keeping you from doing what really matters, right? So genuinely, probably so far you're like, yes, yes, Cindy, that's what everybody says, and I've heard these things before. But I can

Say that the toolkit and resources that are provided within the book genuinely helped me to start making changes in that regard. And so what it asks you to do is really take an inventory and ask the right questions: what are you doing that is consuming the most time? Just period. What tasks are you doing that are consuming the most time? And there is a full diagnostic chart that is provided that you can go through to identify.

The areas of the business, right, that seem to be occupying a lot of time or not have simplicity in their processes. And that will help you get a framework of is it our communications where we are complex and we're adding more things to that than really need to be? Is it perhaps in our strategy? Is it in our HR practices? Because even though I know people would say we don't even have, you know, an HR department, your chamber exec is typically, you know, HR.

As well as legal, as well as all the things. So, yes, while the book takes the approach of any business, it's not specific to chambers, you can certainly dial that down just a bit. So, I love the process is that it'll ask you, What are you currently doing? And does that add value? And then from there, you can look and say, Okay, what could we do? How could we either simplify this process? How could we cut this process, or perhaps even

Even outsource the process. There's a normal, a lot of different ways, of course, that you can go about that. So that's kind of the framework of how it starts. And I'll add this, Brandon, that what we did, I read the book myself. I was inspired, and so we took a day with our team after it was not necessary for them to read the entirety of it. But I took a day and we, you know, got somebody to run the office, we sat down and we went through the entirety of the questions.

Cindy Williams (10:34.445)
Right. And said again, each person from their own framework was able to say what types of things are occupying the majority of my time, what types of things do I not enjoy doing, right? Because in especially in smaller chambers, we are agile enough that we can sort of move things around to somebody who maybe their strength is more in that area, such that that adds to productivity and doesn't overly complicate the processes. And yeah, we went through that.

And we had conversation and dialogue once everybody had a moment to really reflect and think about what this looks like. And then we talked about each of those areas. So it was open-ended. Put anything down. It doesn't even matter if it seems super far-fetched. Just write it down and then let's talk about it. Because with a team that sees it from all different angles, it was amazing what people said, either we don't even need why are you doing that? I didn't even know you were doing that. Why are you doing that? You don't even need to do that. Or, my goodness, I'm all

Brandon Burton (11:31.672)
I'm doing that too. Yeah.

Cindy Williams (11:32.927)
Yes, that's the other thing. Or I why are you doing that? Because I'm doing that. Or we're going two different ways. We could, you know, pull those together. So so many cool areas of opportunity by going through that process.

Brandon Burton (11:46.427)
So much value there. I think about so recently I did a presentation about creating a chamber flywheel. And one of the things that we talked about, so I likened it to like when you pull the string on a lawnmower, right? There's a flywheel in that, that that effort should get that lawnmower started. And then there's a system within there that keeps it running, right? So so many things that we do at the chamber are that first action of pulling that string.

And when you think about how many of those actions are just wearing you out, that are just wearing out your staff, you're not getting the return on that effort that you're putting in there. And it's like when it when it's not a well-tuned system and you just keep pulling that string over and over and over again, it just wears you out. But if you have a system that goes along with that effort that you're putting in, then i it should amplify. You know, whatever you're doing should be amplified through.

Cindy Williams (12:40.663)
Mm-hmm.

Brandon Burton (12:44.246)
systems, which I'm a a huge proponent of integrating systems, which you may touch on that as well as part of this with figuring out what needs to be subtracted and simplified. So I love that you got your team together. You go through these questions. You're able to see, yep, why are you even doing that? I'm doing that too. Let's simplify like that alone has a ton of value just right away in that I'm gonna say brainstorming. That's probably not the right word, but

Cindy Williams (12:48.673)
Yes.

Cindy Williams (12:57.911)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Cindy Williams (13:06.253)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Brandon Burton (13:11.726)
Just getting in the same room and talking through all those questions. what's kind of the next iteration after getting the team in the room together?

Cindy Williams (13:20.79)
Yeah.

Yeah, so what we did was we formulated our list, right? Some things that we could easily just make decisions on or some things we needed to go back and look at. And I I really if if you're good with it, let's go ahead and dig into like what some of those things were, right? Because I think this will resonate with chamber folks too. So one example was at the time our membership director what what was sucking up the majority of her time, right, was ribbon cuttings because we're in a growing community. You heard the size already, and she said, by the time I go

Early to the ribbon cutting, we celebrate with the business. Ours were kind of over the lunch to hour, just so you know, people could more easily get there. And then she stays till the end. She's like, I and we're doing two at least a week, if not more, in some cases, trying to limit them to two. But she said, I'm spending so much time doing that, and then going back to the business to take their photo. I mean, it's genuinely, and you heard me say she's a department of one, and so that's it. All the time that she's dedicating to that is taken away from.

All the other tasks of recruiting members and retaining members, you know, otherwise. So we said, okay, let's think about this. How could we make that time like what would what processes or what things could we put in place to help with that? So the first thing we said is, why what about a joint ribbon cutting, right? And I don't maybe others are already doing this and we were just like behind the eight ball or something, but we knew that we had a lot of home based businesses, right, that didn't have a location that they could host their ribbon.

Cutting. We also felt like people take advantage of a ribbon cutting because in our case there was no additional fee to do that. You just it was included with your membership. So, side note, my first thing was let's start charging because that way if people don't want it, then you know they they're not gonna pay for it. But if it's given and they just say, sure, I'll do it because it's free, why not? But my board didn't that's right, that's right. I will say my board didn't quite go for that.

Brandon Burton (15:12.706)
And extra busy work. Yeah.

Cindy Williams (15:18.761)
And so we haven't gotten there yet. They said, No, no, we're still gonna contend. I said, Okay, pair and no I still think you should recommend it to your board, see what they say. Yours may be different than mine. But

Brandon Burton (15:23.022)
Good idea though.

Cindy Williams (15:30.698)
If not that, then we realized we do have businesses that quite candidly they don't want to host a party. They don't want to provide the food and beverage. They don't want to pull together. I mean, we were genuinely do the guest list, but they also invite their people. They just want the photo, right? Like they just want the social media love. This is what we figured out. And so we offered two different alternatives to what we call our traditional ribbon cutting, which is what we were doing with everyone previously. The first is a joint ribbon cutting, such that every couple of months,

Months we batch, you know, and it doesn't have to be a home-based business, but we oftentimes find that it is somebody who doesn't have brick and mortar in our community. And we go around the room and they have a little table set up and they talk about their business, and we have a backdrop, and everybody has their moment to cut the ribbon and snap their photo. And right there, we have six to eight ribbon cuttings that would have been probably 12 to 16 hours worth of time that are condensed to about two hours worth of time. So brilliant. The other thing that we offer

Was you know just a self-led ribbon cutting, not hasn't quite been as popular, but it's available to where if you don't want to have your ribbon cutting at the times that we set, you know, for our ambassadors to show up, then you can just come and get the ribbon and scissors, get your staff a photo. We'll still post it, we'll still submit it to the newspaper. But chambers staff doesn't even have to be there. You just do it on your own time and send us this stuff. And honestly, we've had a few people take advantage of that because again, they did not.

care about the party, they just wanted the media attention. So that was a good example of time saving and good for the customer, good for the member to give them options.

Brandon Burton (17:13.944)
I love that there's you know multiple ways to get to that simplification with that example with the ribbon cutting. personally I like the idea of paying for it. I mean it doesn't even have to be a big fee. It could be very minimal, but you just you pay it if you wanna if you want the the service. but the the idea of of batching and having that group ribbon cutting, because also you think of the time of all the people that are taking time out of their day to come to the ribbon cuttings, and if they can come and be there for eight businesses all at once.

Cindy Williams (17:23.767)
Did you? I did you? Yeah.

Brandon Burton (17:43.701)
and get to know them all like that's a huge savings for them. I imagine you probably get better turnout for rhythm cuttings when you can leverage it that way. So a lot of value in that simplification step. Were were there other examples that came out through your this discussion with your staff?

Cindy Williams (17:56.275)
Absolutely. Absolutely.

Yeah.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. So that's a good example of programmatically something that changed, right? internally, communications is always a big one, and I think this would resonate with anyone, right? Is our simplification in our communications. And so we looked at well and reporting, so I'll kind of tag those hand in hand. one individual that she runs a lot of reports for actually for our CPA, so for our monthly reporting, she would

Was running reports, exporting to Excel, sorting, pulling this, doing that, all the things. I mean, I said, How much time is that taking you each month to pull that one report? And she's like, It probably takes about an hour to do all of the things and finagle it to get it, you know, to where it needs to be. Simultaneously, our business operations manager was also running some reports, and so going to the CPA, she just had like three and four reports, and yes, there was some overlap and all that, but again, sitting down and talking.

About the process when our digital media director, which sounds weird, but she's very techie, so she was pulling some of the reports. That was her, like, this is just like eating up a ton of my time. And she's she literally said in the meeting, I don't think there's anything we can do about it, but this is what came to mind. Like, I I know we still we just have to run the reports, right? Well, once we started talking about it, we realized our database system, there is a single report that you can press a button that would do all the things that both employees were doing.

Cindy Williams (19:33.536)
And when we send it to our CPA, like, are we crazy? Or would this one report that requires us to do absolutely nothing except run the report would work for what she needs? And she's like, Yes. And then it's easier for her, and there's less mistakes because again, she's not pulling from multiple resources. So I go back to so much of it is I really think dedicating the time to the conversation just to pull out those things that may even

Brandon Burton (19:51.044)
Yeah.

Cindy Williams (20:03.459)
even seem wild at like there's no way we could ever do anything about this. But I guarantee you when you put heads together from your team, you'll get some really cool ideas of like, yeah, there's a better way.

Brandon Burton (20:14.756)
Yeah, I love that the answer is right there. And you just push a button and you get what you need. As you're describing it all to me, I'm thinking, you know, AI can do this. AI, AI can, you know, pull all those reports in like 30 seconds. And you could probably even set it up with a timer. So, you know, the same date every month, the report's delivered and you get you know everything you're looking for. But so much to leverage, you know, when you think when you add AI into the equation of simplification, it opens up a ton of opportunities.

Cindy Williams (20:18.184)
Yes yes

Cindy Williams (20:23.658)
Yeah.

That's right.

Cindy Williams (20:35.253)
So true. So true. Yeah.

Cindy Williams (20:41.889)
That's right.

Which admittedly when we started this process, I'm not saying AI didn't exist, but it was prior to really that being adopted, and we're still, you know, learning how to adopt and things to do as well. But yes, it'll be it will be, has been game changer in a lot of ways, you know. But I think also you have to be careful with those things because technology, we think it always makes things easier, but those are the things you really have to pause and say, does it does it really make it easier? Like especially with the human element of crafting and

Brandon Burton (20:48.75)
Early. Yeah.

Cindy Williams (21:12.955)
Yes, the answer is a hundred percent yes in many, many, many cases. But you also have to be careful with technology that it's not overly complicating and you're adding more human time to polish and craft and you know, do that sort of thing besides just making it your life easier and more streamlined.

Brandon Burton (21:27.812)
Yeah. Yep. So even for the brainstorming aspect, like you got your team together, so much value in getting them together and and see the holes and see the overlap. But I'm curious it have you taken that and brainstormed it into to AI and be like, here's certain systems, here's where we're seeing some shortcomings, or we like to simplify this process just to see what suggestions are that are there.

Cindy Williams (21:52.428)
Ooh no, but that's a great idea. That is a great idea and something that we absolutely need to do. Yeah.

Brandon Burton (22:01.06)
I think early on with AI I was like, you've got to be really careful, right? Because you didn't know like it would hallucinate a lot. And now I think it it's getting so much better that it'll even just for the the ideation of processes and so forth can really be helpful. So very cool.

Cindy Williams (22:05.291)
Yeah. Yeah.

Cindy Williams (22:14.443)
That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And I you know, going back a little bit to that communication piece, s it's very some very, very simple things that we we actually killed our staff meeting. And some people may be like, You did what? But when we discuss I know, right.

Brandon Burton (22:32.056)
Yeah.

Cindy Williams (22:33.803)
Like there's probably books out there that would say don't kill your staff meeting, you know. But we we met once a week and it was on Monday mornings. And again, when it when people are honest and transparent and leadership says through the process, you need to say what you want to say. Nothing is off the table. I give you permission, whether it's about me, the organization, this is all about a new culture for us. And so yeah, somebody said, Yeah, staff meetings are horrible. Like we spend half the time just chit-chatting from the weekend.

Brandon Burton (22:37.22)
Great.

Cindy Williams (23:03.747)
You know, I'm ready to go on a Monday morning. Like, I want to get some stuff done. So, what we did, we killed the staff meeting, and now we have team huddles. So, we don't want to lose that connectivity to who's doing what and what's happening in the organization. But when somebody has an update on a project, let's say, or introducing a project, we'll do a huddle. We usually put it on the calendar for 15 minutes. It sometimes can go a little bit over, but those are fast and they're focused, right? And it just is it pops up when it pops up, it's not like you have a stand.

Meeting that you may have nothing to talk about. We went to staff doing some general reporting, basically in the membership and event space that requires a little bit more regular communication. They just send out like a brief report to the staff. You know, here's what's going on, so we don't stay out of the loop of that. And we also introduced, I mean, we had Teams, but we probably weren't using Microsoft Teams, but we probably weren't using it to its max capacity. So we kind of trained on, look, if you just have a quick something,

Just put it in teams and be done. You know, that's one less email to process and don't feel obligated to reply. Thank you to every email. It's just more emails to consume, right? Don't go back and forth. Just God, you know, we know, especially internally, you don't have to acknowledge every email or say thank you to every email. Permission to not reply.

Brandon Burton (24:20.708)
Yeah.

That's right. Yeah, that that's a a pet peeve, even in a text message or something, it's like you give a reply, someone is seeking answer, you give a reply, and then it's the thank you or the thumbs up and the extra and meanwhile your phone's going crazy with all these other things. It's like just eliminate the extra, you know, that that tail end of things. so yeah, getting rid of the the team meeting and I love the the idea of using technology, doing the team the the huddles, and there's nothing to say that if

Cindy Williams (24:36.301)
Right.

That's right.

Brandon Burton (24:52.992)
something bigger comes up and you need to gather the team, you can still do it. It just doesn't have to be every Monday morning, right? So

Cindy Williams (24:59.051)
That's right. That's right.

Brandon Burton (25:01.954)
Are there any other valuable lessons that you got out of the the process of of simplifying?

Cindy Williams (25:08.543)
Yeah, I mean I think

We there were other examples, right, of things that we transitioned. the the major kind of overarching thing I would say, because you know, we started out talking about events and how we do so many events and and you know, the you do have to be a little bit bold. Some of the examples that I've given today are very internal to the organization. Those are quite candidly, I understand, a little bit easier because they're not affecting anyone else, right? It's just internally and we all agree and we all give the thumbs up and we're ready to go. When it comes to programs.

Programs and events of the organization. Yes, understand some of those things are a little bit more difficult. There might be some different layers of governance and depending on how their chamber is structured, you know, what you have to go through. But I would say it takes courage and it takes boldness. And truly, if you keep in mind that doing less of what is just keeping you air quotes busy, then you can do more of what matters. And I know that's a message we hear in Chamber of Professional Development all the time.

But it is true and it applies to programs and events as well. We we quick example was our youth leadership program. It was I think it was seven months in totality, seven or eight months, full day with the students. Our survey results were saying they were just bored to death for most of the time. Like they they felt like they were just sitting in classroom. So we from that we took a hard look. We didn't kill the program, right? It's not always you have to kill the program.

But we shortened the length. We made it five months instead of seven. We do half days instead of full days. And we're winning. Like they love it. We're able to occupy their brains. You know, we're doing some really cool things. We're not just filling dead space or whatever. And and it gave time back to staff coordinating the program, which in this case really was more of a byproduct, but it's a win-win-win for everybody that's involved. So, this yes, this process can really make you.

Cindy Williams (27:11.087)
You think about your programs and events as well. And I I truly encourage, you've got to measure those. Are they providing value? Are people and are people showing up? Because if they're not, they're not providing value. And if five people or ten people are showing up and that's you know two percent of your membership, then you probably want to rethink that as well and give yourself space to innovate with new things.

Brandon Burton (27:34.683)
Somewhere in the history of mankind, I guess somebody thought we need to exchange time to learn things. Like you talk about this l this youth leadership program. And it's like you gotta get them in a classroom, you've got to spend so much time, and we overlook, you know, the value, the impact that's being delivered in that time. And oftentimes you can deliver that in a fraction of the time and then have them apply it, right? Get out and they're gonna learn so much more as they're getting out there and applying it. So

Cindy Williams (27:46.653)
Yeah.

Cindy Williams (28:01.485)
So much more.

Brandon Burton (28:03.724)
Love that example. well Cindy, as we start to wrap things up, I wanted to ask you, what kind of tip or action item might you leave for the listener who's trying to take their chamber up to the next level?

Cindy Williams (28:05.111)
Yeah.

Cindy Williams (28:18.027)
Yep. Yeah. I'm a I'm a I'm a firm believer in this subtraction method that it will go a long way. It's not always about more. That leads to burnout, that leads to doing things that are not adding value to the organization. And so what I would say in this case is first and foremost buy the book or

Look it up again, it's Why Simple Wins by Lisa Bodell. there's some great videos online and stuff too. If you just wanna, you know, get an overarching look at what that looks like. But again, I remind folks there's a there are tools and resources. There's a toolkit actually provided within the content that can lead you in that space. And I just say pull the team together, just do it, just take a half, you don't even have to be a full day, just just take it could literally probably be in a staff meeting. There are some short and sweet ways to get started.

and then you will be amazed at the areas that are very complex in your organization that are bogging people down and causing them strain. or you yourself. I mean this applies to all of us and yeah, I just I I say go for it.

Brandon Burton (29:23.62)
I'm even thinking as you give that explanation that even putting it out maybe a week ahead of time and say, Hey, we're gonna have a discussion about this, think about it during the week and then when we get together as a staff, the the ideas are flown, right?

Cindy Williams (29:33.793)
Yes.

Absolutely, yes.

Brandon Burton (29:39.31)
Well, Cindy, I like asking everyone I have on the show about the future of Chambers. So I'll ask you, how do you see the future of Chambers and their purpose going forward?

Cindy Williams (29:48.739)
Yeah.

Get excited about it, and I know different chambers do different things, if you will. We all have a general mission to serve business, but that looks and feels very different. I'm excited about it because I tr what I see is if chambers of commerce are really listening to the conversations in their community, listening for pain points of their businesses, you know, that what what's happening, the world of business is always evolving. Like, and so if we

We evolve with them and we're always coming up with solutions to problems or challenges that the business owner is either saying or not saying. That's a big part of it. What are they not saying that you hear you hear that and you say, I can solve that for them? They don't, they're not even asking me to do it, but I can do that. And I think it's exciting because as long as we continue to innovate, make space for innovation in our organization to answer those challenges. I think the future of chambers is bright, but I do think.

That we have to stop, and events is kind of the number one. We have to stop doing things just for the sake of doing them, and we have to stop just putting on hundreds of events and programs if that's not truly what the community needs. Do some of that, I'm not saying kill all of them, do what needs to be done, but make sure everything in that benefits list is adding true value to the business community.

Brandon Burton (31:14.862)
Love that. Love it. well Cindy, before I let you go, I wanted to give you an opportunity to share any contact information for listeners who may want to reach out and connect with you. Where would you point them and what would be the best way to connect?

Cindy Williams (31:27.052)
Yeah.

So again, it's our chamber is the Cartersville Bartow Chamber. to connect with me, obviously can reach out. my email is cindy at cartersvillechamber.com. I love conversations about this stuff if you can't tell. So, you know, if somebody's out there and they're struggling a little bit or want to kind of bounce ideas off of each other, I learn from other folks as well. Hey, even more so, if somebody has something to add to this that I can take from it, call me, let me know. I'm always on the journey to simplify and do things.

Brandon Burton (31:42.976)
Yeah.

Cindy Williams (31:58.223)
you know that are more valuable. So would love to have conversations with anybody interested in this space.

Brandon Burton (32:03.77)
Very good. We'll make sure to get that in our show notes and make it nice and simple to connect. But I appreciate you, Cindy, for setting aside some time and joining us here on the podcast to share some of these lessons that you've learned that you've been able to implement at your chamber to help simplify and and I'll say add more value to everything that you're doing. I think there's so much benefit in that. And just thank you for for joining us and sharing that with the audience today.

Cindy Williams (32:30.378)
It's been fun. Thank you for having me.