A Podcast for Chamber Professionals Posts

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Kit Cramer from the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce in North Carolina joins us for our fourth episode of our “Chamber of the Year Finalist Series”.  The Asheville Area Chamber was recently named Chamber of the Year for 2019 in their category.

Kit introduces a couple of the programs that the Asheville Area Chamber is involved with that are gaining momentum and catching the attention of ACCE.

The first program Kit talks about is a partnership that the Asheville Chamber has developed with their neighboring Haywood Chamber.  Asheville is a much larger Chamber than rural Haywood and has had a lot of resources available over the years to promote Haywood’s city, economic development, and tourism.  In this partnership with the Haywood Chamber, they are able to bridge the gap between the urban and rural divide.  By unifying these efforts, Haywood is able to leverage the name and strong infrastructure of Asheville and the Asheville Chamber is able to share templates for other programs and leads for economic development.

Another great program Kit addressed is called Woman Up.  This is a business woman’s organization with a quarterly program for women in business (and for a few smart men).  The Woman Up program focuses on helping these business women build their network, find and work with mentors, and build a toolkit of resources.  The program has a different theme each quarter but tends to include a breakfast, speakers, panels, breakouts, stories, and much more.  One of the recent speakers was Dr. Christine Darden, a mathematician, data analyst, and aeronautical engineer who devoted much of her 40-year career in aerodynamics at NASA and is one of the “Hidden Figures” the movie was based upon.

At the Woman Up meetings, the Chamber integrates Menti into presentations to get instant polling feedback that they can display on screen for the audience to see live results.

Woman Up is a very lucrative program for non-dues revenue for the Asheville Chamber.  In it’s first year, sales and sponsorships grossed around $53,000 and netted about $20,000.  In the second year, they grossed $126,000 and netted about $72,000!  The Chamber is now able to offer scholarships or reduced fees allowing for a more diverse group of women to attend.  More information about the Woman Up program can be found by clicking here.

If you would like to connect with Kit Cramer about anything she discussed in this episode or about how they are doing things at the Asheville Area Chamber, she can be reached by email at kcramer@ashevillechamber.org.

In your mission to be a great Chamber, consider delegating to an award-winning publisher and Chamber partner like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

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The third episode in our “Chamber of the Year Finalist Series” features Joe Unterreiner from the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce in Montana.  Joe highlights the two programs that they submitted on their application for Chamber of the Year.  One program was based around infrastructure while the other was based around workforce.

The infrastructure program involved going after and winning a federal build grant which was a national competition for highway projects.  Kalispell is near Glacier National Park and sees a large increase in tourism, with numbers around 3 million visitors, during the Summer months.  Kalispell is 120 miles North of the nearest interstate.  This build grant is targeted to expand their main highway from 2 lanes to 4 lanes.  

This campaign really started to grow because of the Chamber’s grass roots effort.  The Chamber has approximately 750 members but there are around 4,500 reps within those member businesses.  The Chamber reached out to all 4,500 member reps to build the momentum and to inform the community of the need for this highway project.  The Chamber led a task force of 14 locals from Kalispell to travel to Washington D.C. and lobby for this 12.75 million dollar highway project.

The other program Joe discussed focused on manufacturing and innovation in relation to the workforce in their community.  Kalispell is known for their wood products and their timber industry both of which are reasons why Kalispell is so attractive to tourism.  Kalispell also has manufacturing plants for food, electronics, machinery, and many others that offer good pay, full benefits, and provide for a strong tax base.

The first Friday in October is celebrated as National Manufacturing Day.  The Kalispell Chamber has really latched on to this day to conduct tours and forums with respect to all the possible manufacturing career opportunities.  They encourage educators and school counselors to bring awareness to the great careers in manufacturing where graduating students can earn a good living wage without a 4-year degree.  Joe pointed out that manufacturing is not necessarily a blue collar career any more.  With technology increasing faster than ever before, much of manufacturing now requires more IT and high tech skills.

If you would like to connect with Joe Unterreiner about how he is doing things at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, he can be reached by email at joe@kalispellchamber.com or by phone at 406-758-2804.

In your mission to be a great Chamber, consider delegating to an award-winning publisher and Chamber partner like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

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RaDonna Hessel from the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce in Texas joins us for our second interview of the 2019 Chamber of the Year Finalist Series.  
RaDonna shares great insights about how she is working with her board and how they are gaining momentum to reach their goals as they serve the community.  In business, keygoals are usually prioritized in the order of 1) Leadership 2) Customers 3) Profit.  The board for the Grapevine Chamber took this model and adapted it for the Chamber.  Their key goals are 1) Leadership 2) Businesses & Partners 3) Good Stewardship & Prosperity.  The board then takes responsibility for certain areas with in this model.  As the board meets, they no longer need agendas prepared because the goals and their individual responsibilities become the agenda as they all report on the progress they are making in their respective areas.  RaDonna commented on how nobody wants to be the person who comes to the board meeting with nothing to report!  

The other program the Grapevine Chamber submitted on their Chamber of the Year application was their Association Healthcare Plan.  Many Chambers throughout the country have association healthcare plans, but this regional plan that RaDonna helped to establish is a little unique.  Originally, she thought they would extend into 4 counties.  This quickly expanded into 28 counties which in total had a potential for 128 Chamber of Commerce to participate.  Needless to say, this was a large task to make this association healthcare plan work.  Soon after its creation, lawsuits filed in Washington put a hold on association healthcare plans.  Currently they are still able to service existing customers and those who already had applications in process, but they are not able to accept any new applications until the lawsuits are resolved.  Stay tuned to see how this legislation will effect your Chamber and any potential association healthcare plan.

If you would like to connect with RaDonna Hessel about anything she discussed in this episode, you can reach her by email at radonna@grapevinechamber.org, office phone 817-481-1522 or on her mobile at 972-839-2126 .

In your mission to be a great Chamber, consider delegating to an award-winning publisher and Chamber partner like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Ron Bunch joins us for the first episode in our Chamber of the Year Finalist Series.  Ron is the President & CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce in Kentucky.  Throughout this COY Finalist Series, we will be discussing what each Chamber is doing to stand out to be noticed and considered for Chamber of the Year.

Ron talks about several programs that the Bowling Green Area Chamber is doing with regards to education and workforce development.  One of their signature programs is their SCK (South Central Kentucky) Launch program which was developed with the Covey  team.  The Bowling Green area was the first community to implement the K-12 program from Covey.  The SCK Lauch program teaches ethics based leadership skill to grades K-12.  In the SCK Launch program, the Chamber works with the Ford Foundation to acquire current technology for these students to learn with the same tools that they will be using in the workplace.  The Bowling Green Chamber also works with Gallup to collect accurate data each month about the workforce needs in the region.  Another goal that they have through the partnership with Gallup is to provide the opportunity for 100% of their students to explore some type of work experience before graduation.  Currently they are seeing about 1/3 of their workforce needs being met within their region while 2/3 or the workforce needs are coming from recruitment from outside the area. 

These education and workforce programs tie in with a program that the Chamber puts on at the University each year called “Welcome Back Western”.  With this program, the Chamber partners who participate can start building relationships with the 20,000 university students with a goal of keeping more of the students in the local workforce as they finish their educations.  Each of these programs strategically build upon each other in a very synergistic way.

The Bowling Green Area Chamber also has an annual Women’s Leadership Conference that is steadily building momentum each year.

Ron talks about the importance of dynamic team building.  He points out that with the aging baby boomer population, that there is insufficient talent for the workforce.  The Bowling Green Area Chamber uses the StrengthsFinder program from Clifton to identify the strengths for future employees and to build a more positive and productive workplace for the current Chamber staff.  His goal for each staff member is to create independent subject matter experts.  Ron quotes a nation wide study that shows only 15-20% of employees are engaged at work.  By matching staff strengths with areas of responsibility, they have happier, more productive team members who then are better equipped to serve their member partners and can create a viral effect for these member partners to better serve their customers.

The piece of advice from Ron that resonated the most for me was the idea for Chambers to take a leadership role in their communities.  The Bowling Green Area Chamber has done this in many different areas, but especially in education and workforce development. 

If you would like to connect with Ron Bunch about anything he discussed in this episode, you can reach him by email at ron@bgchamber.com or his COO, Merideth at merideth@bgchamber.com.

In your mission to be a great Chamber, consider delegating to an award-winning publisher and Chamber partner like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

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My guest today is Kevin Hall from the Greater Anna Chamber of Commerce in Anna, TX.  Kevin has been the Executive Directer in Anna for about 7 years now.  Anna is a fast growing community but is still on the smaller side when compared to some other cities in the area.  Kevin is the sole employee at the Greater Anna Chamber and as such, he has become an expert of sorts when it comes to delegating to his board and other volunteers.  In this episode, Kevin shares what he has learned, both the good and the bad as he delegates.  He also shares what areas he chooses to delegate.  

Kevin tells us about a Chamber Banquet where he had to rely on the help of others to pull it off and things did not go as well as he would have liked.  In retrospect, he realized that one of the main volunteers was being asked to do too much and was spread too thin.  As a result, he let his volunteers know that change is okay, even on the fly as it happens at times.  He encourages his volunteers to be more flexible and to communicate when things are not going well so they can make adjustments.

While planning for the Chamber’s Golf Tournament, Kevin talks about what he learned from the experience at the Chamber Banquet. He created a task list and then noted to his volunteers that the task list was flexible.  With this flexible philosophy, the result was that the Golf Tournament turned out much better.

Kevin shared a couple of great take-aways in this episode.

The ABCD’s of Delegating:

• A) Absolutely needs to be done now.
• B) What needs to be done in hours.
• C) What needs to be done in days.
• D) What can be delegated.

Practicing this exercise regularly helps us to learn when we need to delegate.

The other great take-away is that everything has a cost.  The cost comes in the form of Time, Treasure, or Talent.

If you would like to connect with Kevin Hall about anything that was discussed in this episode, he can be reached by the contact information below.

• kevin@greaterannachamber.com
• 972-924-8533
• Facebook.com/greaterannachamber

An easy way to delegate is to partner with an award-winning publisher like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

My guest this week is Jim Johnson from the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce in Georgetown, TX.  As we talk about the importance of serving the greater business community in this episode, Jim shares a recent experience that has made him look at this topic more closely.  In February 2018, a gas leak was found in a part of their town where there was a large concentration of businesses.  Because of the make up of the soil, the gas did not dissipate very quickly and about 70 businesses were forced to evacuate for their safety.  Of these 70 businesses, only 10-15% were Chamber members.  Jim made the decision to advocate for all of these businesses, not just the members.  The Chamber had signs made to direct customers to the temporary location for these businesses.  The Chamber also communicated with the gas company to try to reach a settlement for the displaced businesses and loss of revenue.  One of the big lessons that Jim learned through this experience is the need to have good contact information for all businesses in his community.  By having good contact information, the Chamber can better communicate in a timely manner when needs arise.  Besides emergency situations such as this one, there are other times where it is important to reach out to ALL local businesses.  Jim has a goal to one day have a printed directory of all of the businesses in Georgetown and a database to go with it.

Another way that the Georgetown Chamber engages non-member businesses is through their annual bridal show.  The Georgetown Chamber is unique in that they have an event venue attached to their building that they rent out for non-dues revenue.  They are able to leverage this facility through this bridal show and they invite all businesses in the area that are involved in the wedding industry to participate.
If you would like to connect with Jim Johnson about anything we discussed or how he is doing things at the Georgetown Chamber, you can email him at jim@georgetownchamber.org or you can reach him by phone at 512-930-3535.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

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Chris Romer from the Vail Valley Partnership was referred to me when Frank Kenny was on the Chamber Chat Podcast.  Chris and the VVP do a great job collecting meaningful data from their membership that they then use to develop new programs that fill a need for their members and drive economic success.  Chris stresses the importance of making data informed decisions, and not just following a hunch or what seems like a good idea to your staff.  Some of the ways that the VVP collects data is from visits to businesses, surveys, flash polling, and listening sessions.  They utilize thematic questions which allows them to identify common themes or needs to focus on.
In this interview, Chris and I talk about some of the member needed programs, how they came to be, what need they filled, and how the programs have played out.  You can click here to see the many programs that the VVP offers.  The ones we focus on for our discussion are: My Partner Career Network, One Valley Healthcare Program, and Lodging Quality Assurance Program.
My Partner Career Network: This is a trailing spouse program.  Often a person will be transferred to the Vail Valley for a new job and their spouse makes the move with them but does not have a job before making the move.  With the My Partner Career Network, the “trailing spouse” is able to get their resume in front of the businesses that are a good fit for them within this network of members.  This program obviously helps the family that is relocating.  It also helps the businesses and HR departments that are looking to hire quality candidates.  It is also a benefit to the business that made the hire for the initial spouse to offer this program to help the spouse with job placement.  The My Partner Career Network has had a 90% success rate for job placement!

One Valley Healthcare Program:  This program came about because many of the member businesses in the VVP are small businesses where providing healthcare benefits can be difficult.  The One Valley Healthcare Program is an Association Healthcare Plan that allows for group rates for purchasing healthcare in a shared network.  This program was implemented in November of 2018 but most people are already seeing a 50-60% savings on their healthcare costs.
Lodging Quality Assurance Program:  This program has been in existence for over 20 years.  The Vail Valley is a tourist driven area and over 20 years ago, the VVP noticed that some of the area lodging reviews in magazines were taking a dip to lower ratings than they were content with.  This was before online reviews were popular.  In response to this problem, the VVP created a 100 point checklist for their area hotels and condos to work through before being inspected and rated.  These ratings can then be shared with the property owners, visitors, and with those making reservations.  This program created a standard for lodging in the area to live up to and to create consistency in the industry.  There is both member and non-member pricing but this program has really gained momentum to the point where every place of lodging in the area participates.
To learn more about these great member needed programs and the others offered by the VVP, you can reach out to Chris Romer by email at cromer@visitvailvalley.com, by phone at 970-477-4016 or you can connect on Facebook or LinkedIn.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Aaron Cox from the Texas Association of Business and TCCE, is my guest for this episode as we talk about the importance of Leadership & Professional Development.  Aaron mentions how the world today needs strong, solid leaders who have integrity, courage, and passion.  With Chambers of Commerce being one of the most critical organizations, Aaron has a passion for strong leaders in the Chamber industry.

As we discuss Chamber leadership, we talk about how many of us look up to a mentor in the industry.  As we look up to our mentors it can become easy to idolize them.  In response to this, Aaron urges to not idolize, but instead we should understand them.  By seeking to understand them we are no longer idle and we can then take actions to become like them.  Some great ways to understand these mentors is to talk to them and to work to further your professional development.  This may include attending statewide Chamber conferences or ACCE conferences.  By attending these conferences and being in the same room with many like-minded individuals, you are able to learn from them and listen to problems or trends that others are seeing so you can be better prepared to handle your Chambers needs. 

Aaron brought up one of his favorite authors, John Maxwell.  We talked about how leaders are readers.  Aaron also referenced “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell.

Aaron suggested that we ask ourselves “What impact are we having on people?”  Are you creating a legacy?  
Having Real Reasons + Solutions = Problem Solving.

Aaron Cox can be reached at:
Acox@texbiz.org or by phone at 512-637-7711.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Gary Molberg from the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce was a fantastic guest to have on the podcast! Gary recently learned the importance of bragging about his Chamber because they are doing some great things. This is an episode that you will want to be sure to listen to.

Gary has been the President & CEO at the Amarillo Chamber since 1997 and during this time, they have built some great momentum, not only with their membership but in large part with their non-dues revenue events. Gary shared with us the top 4 non-dues revenue events that their Chamber hosts each year.

The top 4 non-dues revenue events are:

1. The Chamber Golf Tournament with 288 golfers.
2. Summer Celebrations/Fireworks Show.
3. Business Connection with over 380 business booths.
4. And the big one is their BBQ Social with over 7,000 people and 100 businesses participating with their cookers.

We spent a good amount of time talking about the BBQ Social because it is an awesome event. This even ranked #9 in the nation by the US Chamber for non-dues revenue events and has been implemented by several other Chambers.

The format for the BBQ Social is Tuesday is the set-up day. Wednesday is Team Night where each “Team” or participating business is able to invite their VIP guests to cook them a special dinner. This portion is by invitation only. Thursday is the big day where over 7,000 people show up from 5-8 pm to try all of the great food that is prepared. During this entire event, great relationships are formed and business deals are done all along the way. Gary was nice enough to invite me to come to their BBQ Social and to participate as a judge!

The Amarillo Chamber has a couple of other neat programs. One is called “Mayor Calls” where twice a month, Gary as the Chamber President & CEO gets together with their Mayor and the President & CEO of their Economic Development and they go out to visit businesses. They ask what their struggles are and how they can help. They have many success stories by going out to the businesses in their community.

The other program that Gary discussed is called “Buy the Way” which used to be “Shop Smart, Shot Local”. This program does just that, it encourages people to purchase local before the look to make online purchases. Before implementing “Buy the Way”, they were seeing the sales taxes trending in a negative way but they are now trending more positive.

One thing that stuck with me is a quote that Gary shared which is “You have to have the team to live the dream”.

If you would like to connect with Gary about anything that he discussed or about how to start your own BBQ Social, he can be reached by email at gary@amarillo-chamber.org or by phone at 806-342-2001.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.