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Episode 90 — Teamwork Reimagined with Doug Peters
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Doug Peters
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.842 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:13.614 Doug Peters
And now your host. He wore a number five when he played football. He's my dad, brand new
00:15.406 Brandon Burton
Number sixty five.
00:20.11 Brandon Burton
Welcome to episode 90 of Chamber Chat Podcast. I am Brandon Burton, your host, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. Our guest for this episode is Doug Peters, and Doug was named the president and CEO of the Abilene, Texas Chamber of Commerce in October of 2015. In his role, Doug oversees the strategic direction of the Chamber and its affiliate organizations, including the Abilene Convention and Visitor Bureau, the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, and the Abilene Industrial Foundation, a public private economic development partnership. Prior to his time in West Texas, Doug led the Fayetteville, North Carolina Chamber and the Economic Development. He also led the Chamber and Economic Development Initiative in Findlay, Ohio. In two thousand seven, Doug was named the Ohio Chamber Executive of the Year, due in part to his leadership through a major flood event that created more than one billion dollars in damage and devast and devastation in the region. As a result of Doug's efforts, the Northwest Ohio Flood Mitigation Partnership was born, which continues to position the community for a long term flood reduction. Doug began his career in the Dayton, Ohio Chamber of Commerce in 1986 as part of the Chamber's Small Business Development Center, where he applied his family business background to the everyday challenges and opportunities of emerging companies in the Miami Valley region. In 1992, Doug took on the leadership role for small business development and programming for the Richmond, Indiana Chamber, where he was ultimately named president and CEO. A role that he held for nearly seven years. Doug is a board member of the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Association, as well as a number of other committees and boards throughout Abilene, as well as several state and national organizations. He's married to his lifelong sweetheart Whitney, and together they have three children: Elliott, Alaina, and Anderson. As we have Doug with us today, we're going to be talking about.
02:43.822 Brandon Burton
Teamwork being reimagined. And we will get into this discussion as soon as we get back from hearing from our sponsor. Every chamber is looking for new ways to increase their non-dues revenue. Has your chamber found a good affinity program? I have a great affinity program to offer your chamber that will continue to increase in revenue year after year. I want to introduce you to Swypit for all of your credit card processing needs. Swypit has a unique affinity program that one lowers your credit card processing fees at the chamber, two helps your chamber members be more profitable, and three provides recurring nondues revenue to your chamber. To learn more, please visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC for credit card. Again, Chamberchappodcast dot com slash C C and get swiping with Swypit. All right, Doug, we are back. I'm happy to have you on the show with us today. If you would say hello to all the chamber champions out there listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can get to know you a little bit better.
03:56.844 Doug Peters
Well, I think Brandon, first of all, thank you for having me. And if I can help any of our colleagues across the the the country with some of my experience, I am absolutely pleased to do that either through the podcast or offline if that's helpful. interesting thing about me is apparently I can't keep a job. it has been thirty nearly thirty-five years, five communities, four states, and you know the beauty of that. is that you get to see the country and experience a lot of different things, but at the same time you learn a lot of valuable lessons being in different cultures and and that sort of thing as it relates to what we do every day on behalf of our business community. So consider myself a a blessed chamber professional and I look forward to our conversation today.
04:47.346 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. And as they say, I know you've been here for a few years, but welcome to Texas. Thank you. that's kind of the the obligatory thing that you need to say to to everybody that's found their way here.
04:59.246 Doug Peters
That's right. That's right.
05:01.291 Brandon Burton
well share with us a little bit about the Abilene chamber so we can all have a little more perspective of of what things look like there, size, location, staff, things like that.
05:12.046 Doug Peters
So we have we we are a chamber of about fourteen hundred business members. we represent roughly fifty five hundred representatives from those those companies. the chamber is one sort of small part of all the things that we do here. We've been entrusted over the The the last one hundred thirteen years that we've existed with a number of responsibilities all sort of tied back to community and economic development. What I think is probably most compelling about our organization is that if you combine all the things that we do with the staff that report up eventually to me, there are thirty-six of us, each of us laser focused on the things that we're being held accountable for and we are accountable. We measure progress and results and report that back in terms of impact on the the not only our our community at large but certainly each member that we that we represent. we're in West Texas, which may be a little bit of a misnomer. We're not over by El Paso. In fact we're about five hours by car from El Paso. If you kinda look at the the traditional outline of the state of Texas, which I think is probably one of the most recognizable states in in the Union Where you normally see the star, ironically, is Abilene, Texas. We're centrally located, and it is you know, easy to get anywhere you need to go, from right here in in in our great city.
06:48.566 Brandon Burton
That's great. And Abilene is a great city. Spent some time there and it really is laid out very nice. And I know you've guys got a couple of universities there and a lot of a lot of options as far as the economic drivers go.
07:04.182 Doug Peters
we do indeed, and a big military base. We're the home of Dyess Air Force Base, which is the home of the B one bomber. and we also have an airlift group that is that wing is responsible for operation of the C one hundred thirty H's. so we are you know a proud military community and spent a a great amount of time working to support the mission on our base.
07:31.95 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. So as we move on to the the topic for our discussion today, as I alluded to earlier, is the focus of the discussion being on teamwork reimagined. So there at the Abilene Chamber, you mentioned about thirty six staff. that's quite the team. I could see how that could be a huge help and it could also get away from somebody if things were not, you know, kind of buttoned down and and organized in a a good way. So if you would kind of walk us through a little bit how your team is set up there at the chamber. You had mentioned everyone has their responsibilities and what does that look like and kind of how do you keep the reins on that?
08:14.658 Doug Peters
Well, I have great leaders. I don't just have sta staff members. each of my team members lead. They lead their respective areas and they also lead a a stable of trained and dedicated volunteers. And I know that sometimes volunteers can be a a lot of work, but I have to tell you that we believe strongly in the value of the volunteer and I'll share a little bit more about that with you here in just a moment, but so each of our functions has a director, and that director, executive director, is responsible for the operation of their business unit, if you look at it maybe from a corporate perspective. So I have the the responsibility not only of overseeing the entire operation, which is the Convention and Visitors Bureau or the Cultural Affairs Council, which is our obviously our arts function here in Abilene, but also our industrial foundation, which is a sixty-five year old function. And then of course, as I mentioned earlier, our Military Affairs Committee, which is so good at what it does that it has its own trophy named after it by by the Air Force. So a lot of communities may be able to understand the value of winning the Abilene Trophy, which is we won it so many times because of the the effectiveness of our volunteers in the military affairs area that they wouldn't let us compete for it anymore, so they just named it after us, which is kind of kind of its own honor in in itself. So each of those directors, Brandon, oversees their own team. I don't work every day directly with each of their individual team members. They all report up through those executive directors. So for instance, the Convention of Visitors Bureau has an executive director, one of the best in the business, has been on the team for 30 years. Our Cultural Affairs Council has an executive director and her team members report up through her. so I have you know four direct reports. and then of course on the chamber side of the house, which we call our member division, the member division, I work every day with each of our staff members because the chamber itself in a traditional form, you know, with things that we do related to advocacy, member
10:38.312 Doug Peters
events and and and all of those things, those are the things that I love to really kind of get involved with. But I don't micromanage anybody. I remember being hired here and they put me in a room with all the staff and they said, Okay, here's the potential new guy, ask, ask all your hard questions. And there were some really great questions, but the one that stands out to me was somebody saying, What do you hate to do the most? And My reaction I think was a little surprising. And that's that was I really hate managing the staff and trying to do their job. and they all sort of looked at me like, what the heck does that mean? And my my r reaction was, look, you guys are the experts in the things that you're being held accountable to do. I'm here to be your champion, to get the roadblocks out of your way, to give you the training and the resources you need to be successful. and and to to make sure that you know everything is pointed in the same direction. and you know, I have come to this this community nearly five years ago now, five years in in in October, and I have never been associated, five chambers, four states, but when I came here, I've never worked with a more cohesive staff. we all my management team we meet on a regular basis. We don't over meet or meet just for the sake of having a meeting. we meet to talk about are we doing what you know our respective boards are holding us accountable for and does it matter the work that we're doing at the end of the day and so I I'm blessed to have people around me that that understand that have been here for a long time doing what they do. but on top of that, they have a tremendous acumen for leveraging volunteers. I've been in communities where dealing with a volunteer almost wasn't worth my time. and and I don't mean that in a condescending way, but volunteers, I think we all know, are a lot like herding cats. and you know, when you get to a place where you're able to direct the activity of the volunteers in a way that it
12:57.794 Doug Peters
contributes to the overall outcome and the strategic mission of the organization, boy, that that just makes life nice. and that's where we are here in Abilene, Texas. and it's not by accident. Abilene has a culture, Brandon, that someone shared with me. I when I first arrived here, you know how as a newcomer you sort of make your way around the community meeting the movers and shakers and and influencers and one of my first meetings was with a a lady that and that made the most profound observation of of the community that I'm in. and she said, you know, Abilene, Texas is just geographically isolated enough that we believe strongly as a people that there ain't nobody coming to help us and we gotta do things ourselves. And that's exactly right. And that that resonated with me and I can see it in every single thing that our staff And our volunteers do every day.
13:57.26 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that is awesome. It it helps having your own division of the military there too, that you can kinda watch out for yourself. But
14:03.49 Doug Peters
Yeah, absolutely. No kidding.
14:05.45 Brandon Burton
I I really like how you've you make that designation that these are not just staff, that they're leaders. That they these are leaders that have been developed, they're effective at what they do, and they are the experts of of their their portion of what the chamber handles. So I I love that that point of view and and being able to to hand over those responsibilities and make sure that they know this is this is your realm to run with and And I'm here to support you and be your champion, remove those roadblocks. I think that's a a great way to go about it and to lead these leaders that that you work with. So you've mentioned a couple times volunteers. talk to us about how the Abilene Chamber has utilized volunteers, what that's looked like, how you go about attracting volunteers. I I'm interested in the whole scope of the the volunteer aspect.
15:06.36 Doug Peters
You know, I am the product of a business person back in Dayton, Ohio who was a volunteer. my dad back in the business, so to speak, was a a member of the Dayton Chamber. And I can remember back then thinking, you know, what the heck is the chamber? I was, you know, in high school and I would kind of scratch my head and I had this vision in my mind that, you know, this guy, my dad would go to these chamber meetings and he would sit in this you know, dark, dank boardroom somewhere with a bunch of guys in, you know, top hats who they're all chomping on cigars and making establishment type decisions on behalf of the community. well, to make a long story short, my dad passed away. I went to work for the Dayton Ohio Chamber. ironically, their CEO reached out and said, Hey, why don't you kind of take some of the experience you have in small business and come see if you can help us with some things. So I did. and and what was interesting about some of that was that I learned early on that there's a a right way to engage volunteers and and there's a wrong way. And the wrong way is to to really not utilize their time well and to underappreciate the work that they do. There are very few days where we have our volunteers engaged in the work that we do here that even if I don't physically show up to help them, I show up to thank them. and that that goes a long way. So we we don't recruit volunteers. volunteers recruit us is is sort of an interesting way of looking at that. and what I mean by that is is I I think if you were to poll most people in our membership here in the chamber or those involved in the the affiliates so to speak that are part of our organization. I think that they would tell you that there is a very strong perception that the chamber is that organization where all the action is. And a lot of people just want to be a part of it. I'll I'll give you an example. so I arrived here back in twenty fifteen and one of the things that we had going was a a new young professionals program. and it was it was struggling
17:27.246 Doug Peters
it had in fact was in its second iteration. The first one was called Abilene Leaders of Tomorrow or A Lot. and it was a my predecessor several times removed had had tried to to stand it up. And the challenge with that was is that we were saying, okay, here's here's the the charge and here's how you're gonna do it. when when I got here, I said, okay, I think what we need to do is kind of understand what our objective is. sell that objective to the the leaders of this group, which again was very small, maybe a hundred or so members in this young professional organization. and then once they kind of get it, they understand the big picture, we just need to get the heck out of the way and let them do what they do. you know, keep them between the navigational buoys, so to speak, but be there to encourage them, to empower them. And that's really the story behind how our volunteers work. I think I shared with you, Brandon, once before that in in one of our recent years, we actually sat down and and tabulated the the value of a volunteer here. and if you look at all of the volunteers who contribute in meetings, representing the chamber on various boards and councils, and a lot of that stuff is done by our volunteers. If you look at the amount of travel that the volunteers put in going to Washington and advocating for our military base or going to Austin and talking with our elected officials about our legislative agenda, all those hours add up. So we we added them all up and it was sixty thousand combined volunteer hours that were lent to this organization. and what was interesting is we then monetized it. We took a national average for the value of a volunteer per hour of twenty-seven dollars and ran the numbers, and we had one point seven five million dollars worth of volunteer time and effort and passion and sweat and all of that that they bring invested in our mission. There aren't a lot of organizations that raise one point seven million dollars. So my my advice to my colleagues is.
19:52.77 Doug Peters
Don't overlook the value of the volunteer because they might not be writing the checks. And there are those who do, certainly. but the value that they bring in in becoming the mouthpiece for what you're trying to accomplish on behalf of all of our members and all of our organizations, which equate back at the end of the day as advancing our community is tremendous. and you know, if I could monetize that. you know, being able to say these folks contribute one point seven five million dollars in kind, that's significant. And it you know it adds up. You apply for a grant, you need in kind you know, a contribution. Many times you can just leverage your your volunteer time and effort. But but the the real beauty of these folks is that they have a vision and they have a mission and they have objectives. each of their committee meetings begin when they meet, and we don't just meet to have a meeting. I'm a firm believer that if there isn't something important on the agenda, there are much better things that these folks need to do to go back to where they they work and create jobs and create opportunities. So we don't just burn their clock. they come here to make a difference. and they are proud of the difference they make. and when you have that many. twenty four hundred individuals putting that kind of time in, they become your champions on the street for the cause of the Chamber of Commerce. so we look at it a little bit differently, perhaps than than some, but it is worth the effort and it certainly impacts our community in a very positive way.
21:40.094 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. I love how you say they become the the advocates or the champions for the chamber out in the community. back in episode thirty-eight of the podcast, I had done a I guess a like a book review of a book called Superfans and applying how you can create superfans for your chamber. And this is one of the key aspects is getting them to to get involved as a volunteer where they ha they have a clear purpose. They have a mission, a vision, they have objectives. And when I think of the you know, the word volunteer, or you know, I'm gonna go volunteer here, yeah, there's a little bit of a maybe a negative connotation, like, you know, I don't really want to do that. But I I think once you go I and and and participate and and catch that vision, catch, you know, what the the whole purpose is, I don't know that there's many people that leave and think, I wish I didn't go.
22:24.035 Doug Peters
Absolutely.
22:38.594 Brandon Burton
You know, especially if you're not wasting their time.
22:41.442 Doug Peters
That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And you know, we've we don't always use committees. a lot of the work that we do is done through a task force that has a predefined shelf life. Here's the charge, here's the time frame, and at the end of that, you're done. Thank you. We'll call you again because you've done great work. People like the task force model because it has a shelf life. Committees can drone on and on and on. I wish I had a nickel for every unproductive committee meeting I have sat. Through in the last thirty-five years of doing what we do. and I bet those people wish they had their time back. but when you we call people and charge them with something, first of all, our volunteers know that when their phone rings and it's the chamber calling, there's a reason. We don't just call with our palm up asking for, you know, another contribution for sponsorship. We engage them and give them value so that they believe in the cause. and You know, not only do they become your champion, but they become your biggest defenders too, because they have a sense of ownership in what you're trying to accomplish every single day inside the walls of the organization. You know, Chris Mead, one of the the greats of our industry, wrote the book The Magicians of Main Street. and I wish he would have done a Cliffs Notes version because I refer to that book so many times. Chris is a great friend of mine. I've known him forever. and a lot of times when I do a a new volunteer or new member orientation and we try to communicate overcommunicate, frankly, with those folks that are new to the organization. But when I bring them all into a room, even new board members, I reference Chris's book. And the reason I do that is because if you look across the history of chambers of commerce and the accomplishments that have occurred through chambers of commerce. And it's not staff that's making those things happen. It's it's the volunteers who are vested in their own communities and are putting the time and effort into helping make change happen. but you know, the the the Golden Gate Bridge. Chris talks about how that was an effort of the transportation committee of the of the the Bay Area Chambers out on the West Coast. you know, the the demise of Al Capone was a
25:06.656 Doug Peters
a business group in in the Chicagoland area that that said, Hey, we're kind of tired of how this is all working. you know the the the arch the St. Louis Arch just a big PR stunt you know for for them the the spirit of St. Louis you know all these things happened because vested volunteers came into a room in a chamber of commerce just like the one we're all sitting in today. And said, you know what, some this thing needs to happen in our community, it's up to us to do it. And the chamber's role in that is to coordinate and orchestrate and provide the resources and the leadership and the convening of those people that make these indelible, permanent, life-changing things of progress in all of these these communities. So if if your listeners haven't read that book. and it it's a long read. but man, once you pick it up, you don't want to put it down. And it gives people, I think, a really big perspective, a deep perspective on the impacts we can have if we do it right.
26:16.61 Brandon Burton
I'll I'll put a reference to it in the show notes for this episode. So if somebody's driving or out walking or something, they can look it up in the show notes and and order it. but I think we we can't look over the the extreme value that these volunteers have brought to your organization. I mean, nearly two million dollars is just that's amazing. I mean any any chamber would be thrilled to to have that added to their budget, let alone have it be people that are out there as champions that are really driving the purpose and mission of the chamber and the community. And I think it's a it's kind of a unique I mean one of these win win situations where as a volunteer you're coming and you're working for a specific purpose and like the difference between a task force and a committee. Really not a whole lot of difference except an expiration date and and the terminology. But it makes it more much more effective. But it gives these these people an opportunity to showcase their business too as they're out serving in the community and and being that volunteer. They're networking, they're getting to know others in the community. And it just helps them. It helps the chamber. It helps the community and and at whole. And it's just such a great way to move forward the the mission and purpose of of your channel.
27:31.68 Doug Peters
Amber. Well and and let me share if I could very quickly a way that we sort of cheat at the the management of our volunteers. you know, I think when I when I got here and when I've been in other organizations, I've had an administrative assistant that, you know, has really carried a lot of my my water for me. in Abilene we don't have that. we have a director of committees and volunteers. and that person's full time job is to keep our volunteers engaged, to make their work meaningful, to provide the notices and the minutes. So when people think about volunteers and utilizing volunteers, sometimes they think, well, you know, that's kind of a burden. I'd rather just do it myself. We have a person here who lives for that. and she does a remarkable job. and those volunteers follow her everywhere she goes because she understands their value. and she understands their impact and she lets them know what those two things mean to this community beyond the chamber.
28:38.754 Brandon Burton
That's awesome.
28:40.014 Doug Peters
Probably the best investment I've made professionally.
28:42.786 Brandon Burton
Yeah, absolutely. So as we start kind of wrapping things up here, I I wanted to ask you, just based on our discussion today, what would be one action item that you would encourage the chamber champions listening to do to help take their organization up to the next level?
29:01.512 Doug Peters
I think the number one thing that we all should be thinking about is investing in training the very best leaders we can as members of our leadership team internally. So I shared with you that I have four reports that that meet with me on a fairly regular basis and let me know what's going on. And each of them have their own staff that that report up to them. each of those folks are I think, the very best in the industry because we invest heavily in making sure that they have all the tools and resources they need to be great leaders. and you know, there's not not much a a good leader can't do. they know their limitations, but they also know how to leverage the resources available to them to backfill any deficiencies that may exist within their areas of expertise. so I'm a tremendous believer in the value of institutes for organization management. We bring a new staff member on. Six months after they're here, they're eligible to go through Institute. and we invest heavily there. We send them to the state and and national trainings. We want each of our people, regardless of the area that they they lead for us, to get the big picture, to understand how tourism impacts. the members that we represent, how arts and culture can influence a site selection decision maker and you know bring new investment to our community and add to the quality of life of the people who are already here, who are the associates of the people who invest in our chamber. our Military Affairs Committee, the best trained executive I think. in the military affairs area anywhere in the nation, we invest heavily in helping our leaders lead and understand how all those dots get connected to create this environment that we call Chamber of Commerce.
31:09.418 Brandon Burton
I love that answer. That investment in developing leaders will pay huge dividends for sure. So I like to ask this question to everyone that I have on the show, as it's always a a topic on on everyone's mind. But as we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see their purpose going forward?
31:29.858 Doug Peters
You know, a and that's something that I think I've struggled with in every community I've been in. and my my reaction is understand that we can't be everything to everyone. As much as we we like to, I think the toughest thing to say in this business is no. you want to make sure that you know, you're not alienating your members, you're trying to do everything you can for them. But at the end of the day, we have a job to do. And at the core of chambers of commerce, if you look back through The history of our organizations, if you look at what our our intents were when chambers were first you know sort of thought of back in Mesopotamia you know, centuries ago, it is that we are an advocate for the business community. we add value, you know, that the programs, the events, the networking, all those things are sort of ancillary to the core mission of the organization. But when we're looking after the interest of business so that the businesses themselves don't have to, that brings credibility and that brings tremendous value. and we lean on the larger companies who support what we do to be able to use their resources to benefit our smaller members. Eighty five plus percent of our fourteen hundred members are are small businesses, ten employees or less. so don't Be all things to all all people. Listen to your community. Listen to your members. that engagement that comes from the volunteers is a tremendous and valuable barometer on what's important to them. so my my advice is don't ever let yourself develop a tin ear. keep your your eyes open, your mind open, understand that as a as a An institution chambers can't be everything to everyone, but always keep the interest of the members at the the front of every decision that's made.
33:33.324 Brandon Burton
I love how you said to to look after the interests of businesses so they don't have to. I mean, just the burden that that takes off of a business owner with all the other hundred different things that they need to look after, to to help ease that burden is huge. So great, great point of view. So as you mentioned at the beginning of this interview, that whether through this interview or even offline, you're happy to to help other other chamber. champions out there as I like to call would you mind sharing some contact information for anybody that would like to reach out to you about anything you shared with us in this episode or to continue this discussion offline?
34:14.892 Doug Peters
Be honored to. Take a look at our website, AbileneChamber.com. my email address is doug at abilenechamber.com. My cell phone number is 325 280 8856. 325 280 8856. And even being an old timer in the business, I even know how to text. and welcome back. And as I tell my members, our volunteers and my team, I am always on duty. So if anyone needs to reach out for perspective or references or or whatever, I'm I'm here and I'm I'm responsive.
34:56.489 Brandon Burton
All right. And we will get that all updated in the show notes for this episode as well. as well as I mentioned before, Chris Mead's book, Magicians of Main Street, will be in the the show notes as well, which can be found at ChamberChatPodcast.com slash episode ninety. But Doug, I want to thank you so much for spending time with us here on Chamber Chat Podcast and for sharing your experience with all the chamber champions that are out there listening. I appreciate it.
35:23.982 Doug Peters
Well, Brandon, you're a you're doing good things for our industry and I'm a huge fan. Thank you for what you do every day to help all of us.
35:31.702 Brandon Burton
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This transcript has been lightly edited for readability and to correct obvious transcription errors while preserving the meaning of the original conversation.

Episode 89 — Entrepreneurship & Innovation with Jay Chesshir
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Jay Chesshir
Editorial QA: Source transcript incomplete; closing segment requires recovery.

00:00.842 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community. And now your host, he enjoys helping chambers start their own podcasts. He's my dad, Brandon Burton. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is your host, Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to help introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. And as my daughter Addy just said. introduced me on this episode. She mentioned how I enjoy helping chambers get started with their own podcast. And I have some exciting news coming soon in that front. But in the meantime, if you've ever considered creating a podcast for your chamber, be sure to check out my free chamber podcasting guide that you can find find at chamberchatpodcast.com slash podcasting. To check that out and get that free download. But today you're joining us for episode 89. And I'm excited today to have Jay Chesshir with us from the Little Rock Regional Chamber in Arkansas. A lot of you will be familiar with Jay, but Jay has served as the president and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber since May of 2006. Under his leadership, the chamber has directly worked on projects accounting for over two point six billion dollars in new and expanded capital investment, more than seventeen thousand five hundred jobs, and six hundred thirty six million dollars in new annual payroll for the Metro Little Rock Region. In twenty sixteen, Jay was elected national chair of the ACCE Board of Directors.
02:01.064 Brandon Burton
in 2017, he became the only person in ACCE's hundred and three year history to be elected to serve a second term as their board chair. In addition, Jay currently serves on the University of Arkansas Little Rock College of Business Advisory Board, University of Arkansas Little Rock College of Engineering and Information Technology Leadership Council, Little Rock Technology Park Authority Board. Venture Center Board and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. He is also a Ford Foundation Fellow of the ACCE Regionalism and Sustainable Development Program. Jay was also selected as the Arkansas Economic Developer of the Year by the Arkansas Economic Developers Association. Jay received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas. And he has been designated as a certified chamber executive by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and is a graduate of both the Institute of Organization Management and the Economic Development Institute. I'm excited to have Jay with us today. In our discussion, he's going to be talking to us about some partnerships that their chamber has made to really help. Bring entrepreneurship and technology and innovation to the forefront there in Little Rock. So I'm excited to get into this discussion with Jay as soon as we get back from hearing from our sponsor. Every chamber is looking for new ways to increase their non-dues revenue. Has your chamber found a good affinity program? I have a great affinity program to offer your chamber that will continue to increase in revenue year after year. I want to introduce you. To Swypit for all of your credit card processing needs. Swypit has a unique affinity program that one lowers your credit card processing fees at the chamber, two helps your chamber members be more profitable, and three provides recurring non-dues revenue to your chamber. To learn more, please visit ChamberChatPodcast.com slash C C for credit card.
04:23.808 Brandon Burton
Again, Chamber Chat Podcast.com slash C C and get swiping with Swypit. All right, Jay, welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. We're happy to have you with us today and to be able to share your thoughts with all the chamber champions out here in the audience. But if you would take a minute to say hello to all those chamber champions and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit better.
04:51.756 Jay Chesshir
Well, first of all, Brandon, thank you for the opportunity to join you today and to all of my chamber colleagues out across the country and the world. first of all, thank you for the work that you're doing in your communities and your regions and your states, because even in the midst of one of the craziest economies that that we've ever witnessed and may ever witness, our chamber champions continue to to hold strong and keep their communities in the game and keep people employed and and moving forward. So it's it's a it's an honor and a blessing to be a part of this business. and I am so thankful to to share that with so many others across the country. Secondly want to talk to you a little bit about Little Rock and the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. We're approximately 2,000 members strong. and we have three primary focuses here at the chamber. I've often said that we're an economic development organization that happens to be called a chamber because it came up on the economic development side of the world. But we obviously have a strong economic development program that we'll talk a little bit about from today's topic. secondly, we obviously are an advocacy organization. Most of our advocacy Actually centers around economic development. We don't do a whole lot of specific issue work unless it has some sort of tie-in with economic development. And then the third is what I call the traditional chamber model, and that is programming and opportunities and for our members to first of all network with each other to have the opportunity to learn about things that that are of importance to them and to have us help them find ways to grow their business. Our annual budget is approximately three point two, three point three million dollars. we s we simply are a chamber and economic development organization. I know lots of folks out there also run convention and visitors bureau bureaus I should say in in their communities, but here in Little Rock that's separate from the chamber. So we're all about trying to
07:11.51 Jay Chesshir
create a better economy and a better opportunity for everyone in this in this market in this region to have a better life. because in the end, I think that's our reason for being here. Thanks for having me.
07:25.442 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. Happy to have you here. just maybe as a an idea for perspective for the the listeners, you you talked a lot about the chamber. But how many staff do you have there at the chamber between the economic development side and the chamber side? Just to give us some perspective.
07:45.08 Jay Chesshir
So I've I've often been called Brandon tighter than Dick's hat band. And that's a good Southern phrase to say that that that sometimes I can be a little bit too tight with with funding. I've I've always believed in a very flat and agile and flexible staff. because of that, we're not a huge staff. We will be nineteen. we're currently hiring a couple of positions where folks have had better opportunities come along and and have moved up in their career. And so we'll be 19 strong once we get back to full strength. so when you look at our staffing level, it's probably on the on this on the lower side of organizations our size. And sometimes I take that too far, but I'm blessed to have 18 other folks that that love this work, that love this business and And and all are doing a fantastic job. I'm I'm blessed to have a great team.
08:45.634 Brandon Burton
Well, they have to be. To be able to run lean and mean, you gotta you gotta have the great people. So I'm sure you're you're surrounded with greatness there. but let's we'll dive into the topic for our discussion today. so just to kind of bring everybody up to speed, the topic of our our focus of our conversation today is gonna be around entrepreneurship and innovation. And that may not be a a typical topic when it comes to chambers of commerce. I know innovations, you know, always trying to stay relevant, but bringing in that entrepreneurship side as well, I think, is important in this discussion. But Jay, why don't you kind of take us in down the road as to what led I know obviously you guys have the economic development side, that's a real strong side of the the chamber there. what kind of brought about your entrepreneurship and innovation side of the chamber kind of going the direction of our our discussion today.
09:49.8 Jay Chesshir
first of all, you know, thank you for the opportunity to talk about this because as a leader within the ACCE national organization, one of the things that I often talked about w was the the topic of every chambers in economic development. And it may not be the traditional economic development work done by some in this business, but also by other economic development organizations. But entrepreneurship and innovation, especially from the standpoint of chambers, regardless of how big or small you are, is important to your community. A little background on Little Rock, we're obviously the capital city of Arkansas. We're the largest city of Arkansas. We have a significantly stable economy based upon the fact that we are the seat for state government. So there's a significant amount of local, state, and even federal government. employment here in this in this market. We have over 20 colleges and universities in our region. So between higher ed and and and then from a postsecondary education standpoint two-year colleges as well as the secondary school districts in our area we have a significant amount of of folks employed in in that particular area and then the third area is the medical industry we are a medical hub not only for Arkansas and and and the the mid south region of America, but even in some cases from the standpoint of of cancer treatment, we're a destination treatment center for specific cancers worldwide. So we we have folks flying in here from all over the world on a weekly basis to be treated for specific issues. So all that to say, that's a that's like a big battleship from an economic perspective. perspective and and those are all good solid industries but they're not all industries that that typically have significant growth potential from an employment standpoint and so because of that and it represents about a third of our economy because of that in in good times our economy may not be growing quite as fast as as others who have more elastic economies based upon
12:12.684 Jay Chesshir
their industry and and and economic makeup. But in in in the times that aren't so good, we're typically lauded as being one of the best economies in the country simply because of the stability that exists here. And so as in 2005 when I was offered the the opportunity to to come to Little Rock from Hot Springs, Arkansas, which is only about an hour down the road, It one of the reasons why I was hired was to try to to to grow economic development and the the velocity of growth in our economy. And so knowing we needed to look at doing something in the entrepreneurship and the innovation sector, one of the things that I had done while in Hot Springs was to create a a small technology park where for those of you that are having your passports either approved and or reissued. the Stanley Company is a company that the s the Department of State has used since the inception of the passport company. And it it has a huge operation over in that tech park in Hot Springs. And so I had worked on trying to create this type of activity in in hot springs and upon coming to Little Rock recognized that that it it didn't exist here either. And so literally In February of 2005, when I when I came to the Little Rock area, we had a biotechnology association committee. And the reason why we had that was because of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Bio Venture Center, which was their research commercialization center coming out of the medical sciences portion research of UAMS and its and its campus. And and so they were looking at ways to commercialize research here in the Little Rock area as opposed to that research being commercialized in other parts of the country, which was happening. And so that spawned the idea in that committee of of creating our own research and technology park with the intent of being able to take that research coming out of UAMS and commercializing it here.
14:34.29 Jay Chesshir
so that was the the the basis of even starting the conversation back in February of 2005. And it took several years to go through the process of of looking at what a technology and research park might look like. And of course, back then what you saw in the Carolinas, especially in the Raleigh Durham area with the Research Triangle Park. It was kind of the the the the hub or or the the model that that others across the country had used in in creating that type of asset. And so we we started down the process of of attracting grant money to be able to to work some research, to bring in some experts to look at this market to see if in fact it might work here. and so the end result of that was in 2007, then Governor Mike Huckabee added to his legislative package the the authorization from the state legislative process to authorize research park authorities to be established in communities across Arkansas. but those those places had to have research universities attached to. the actual creation of the research park authority itself. And so the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville had had already started creating their research park there on their campus. And so we kind of became the second and the first from a from an urban perspective to look at doing so off of a of a college campus or a college operated facility. And so in 2011, after working through all of this research and and determining that it would work, in the height of the recession, which is really hard to believe looking back, we went to the people of Little Rock and the city needed some things, it needed some additional revenue for services, and we in in the process of looking at helping run that campaign in at the height of the recession.
16:52.248 Jay Chesshir
For a one cent city sales tax increase, used three-eighths of that one cent for specific projects, one of which included $22 million for the establishment of what we now call the Little Rock Technology Park. And so the citizens in 2011, in the midst of that recession, felt like that was part of what they wanted Little Rock. to to be known for and to have that type of activity and economy operating here. And so they overwhelmingly passed that tax and we started the process of actually finding a site and citing a technology park that eventually found its way into downtown Little Rock, literally on Main Street, in an area that needed to be redeveloped and so we we started in some leased space across the street here from the chamber of commerce a few blocks away from where the the where the permanent park is we were in that leased space for approximately 15 months as we went through the process of purchasing some buildings and doing some renovation and that literally launched a a technology park and and Brandon is as many of my counterparts or our counterparts know across the country in this business, you always have those who say it's not going to work. And what was interesting about that is the people had had had told us in opinion research that they wanted it. We had some folks in the the media that that didn't think it was such a great idea. And and so It it's been interesting to watch that evolution of what is a technology park because we were defining it literally as we went and then what we've been able to do with it since its inception, which we can talk a little bit about the fintech stuff in a little bit.
19:02.322 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. So I think that's huge, first of all, just having the vision for this technology park, but then to be able to execute it, to be able to attract those grants and to be able to to get a tax passed. I mean that we could talk about that for an hour about what that was about how that what was all involved there. But
19:21.526 Jay Chesshir
And I want to give some I want to give some credit to a a counterpart. Casey Steinbacher at the time was running the Durham, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce. And for those that have been to Durham, or Durham as they call it there, you you you can go and see what were all old tobacco warehouse type buildings that have been transformed into an urb a vibrant urban. research and innovation area. And and that literally was af after having an opportunity to spend a day with Casey over there, that was was the I I guess the push to go away from a you know a 30, 40, 50 acre park out away from the the the community center, so to speak. And look at it more from an urban redevelopment standpoint that was walkable, both obviously from residential opportunities as well as retail and restaurant and other amenities, so that it was a walkable concept as opposed to everyone had to get in their car and drive somewhere to get there. And so I really credit Casey and the work that she did in in Durham as as the the impetus for us to move away from looking at outside areas and begin to look within, which has really been an amazing anchor for the redevelopment of downtown Little Rock.
21:03.422 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. And everybody benefits from that as well. Now at the at the beginning of this interview, you had talked about how Little Rock is has a very stable economy between the education, government, the kind of being that medical hub. So I I understand that with the technology park that you've been able to take advantage of maybe leveraging that a little bit to be able to expand what the economy looks like there in Little Rock and and i developing the you know economic part there to kind of venture into some new areas. You wanna kinda take us down that road?
21:44.588 Jay Chesshir
Yes, and that's it's a great segue to you know it it was it was almost like we caught the car. Now what do we do with it? and and the reality was we knew we needed to develop something, but we'd also seen in other parts of the state space, buildings or space within buildings designated as as as innovation and entrepreneurial hubs, so to speak. that really weren't working. And it wasn't that that everyone didn't want it to work. It was simply that there was no one driving that work. And so when we were doing our research across the country, obviously went to Dur Durham, went to Raleigh, went to St. Louis, and several other places to look at successful and vibrant research and and technology centers. And in each and every case, those were being driven by an entity that was driving the entrepreneurial process. And that really is what had been missing in the early spaces that had been created in other places across or a few other places across the state. And so we knew we needed to create an entity that could could first of all help entrepreneurs through the the entrepreneurial process because it's it it is a process. You know, creating a business, going from I ideation to the creation of a of a profitable profitable business is a process. And you know sometimes we we we go back to the everyone's you know folks in a basement or folks in a in a garage that you know that create this amazing thing and and that's how entrepreneurship happens. Well even those folks will tell you that somebody had to had to help them, take them by the hand and walk them through the process of creating a viable and ongoing business. And so in in the midst of all this, that didn't exist not only in in Little Rock, didn't exist in Arkansas. And so through I'm
24:07.734 Jay Chesshir
I think it was Providence, had the opportunity to be introduced to some young folks that were looking at mirroring what Nashville, Tennessee had done. the Nashville Entrepreneur Center in in Nashville, Tennessee, Michael Burcham at the time was was running it, and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce had had helped create, in fact, had led in the creation of it. and and it was a a really viable successful entity that was focused a lot on healthcare because of of the presence of HCA and others in in Nashville. And so this this group of young folks and and I asked an older mentor who had been a successful entrepreneur himself to work with them came together with us and and we created what's called the Venture Center. And the Venture Center was was literally an entrepreneurship bootstrap program because between housing them here at the chamber of commerce in some excess space that we had for the first year of of its origins and funding a lot of the activities, sharing or or or providing staff to get the thing up and operating while we were also looking for some other grant fund opportunities to get going. literally created the entity that now manages the process of entrepreneurship here in in in little rock and works with others now across the state but is the primary entity here in the little rock area and in the midst of creating that i've always been the type of economic developer that it's it's not it it's it's not a cornfield Iowa Cornfield, you know, the baseball movie scenario, right? It's it's not you build it and they will come, because we'd seen examples of that not occurring. so we began to look at what differentiated us from the standpoint of of other like communities, not only in the state but across the country, that we could focus on to
26:10.232 Brandon Burton
Feel the dream.
26:35.566 Jay Chesshir
to to to try to to really get this venture center entity up and and moving. And so I had seen and and with again I I want to credit Michael Burcham and and the folks over in Nashville with helping us do this because literally we were doing simulcast events, entrepreneurship educational events with the Nashville Center the first year of our operations, because we didn't have the ability to to staff and and and to create the expertise needed. At that moment in time, we had some of our own. Obviously they had theirs in Nashville and and they agreed with us and we had a a written agreement to where we would simulcast and do some pre-accelerator work together for those folks who had great ideas but still had day jobs to kind of take them Into the beginning of the funnel and start that process and so.
27:40.504 Brandon Burton
That's a great idea. I I love that idea of being able to partner with another chamber like that.
27:46.75 Jay Chesshir
And it is it is something that I would highly recommend because you know they didn't necessarily invent the wheel. They're they they had help from others. We obviously didn't either. And that's one of the amazing things about this industry. you know, even in from an economic development standpoint, and Nashville obviously has been a juggernaut, they were willing to help us move this along here in Little Rock and and and be part of that. physically part of that. So it it was it was a wonderful help. In the midst of that, watching what they had done with some accelerators that were that were focused on healthcare in Nashville, one of the things that that we had, one of the companies that we had here was a a large information technology related company at the time that I felt like well we could go to them and and look at doing the same type of work because it's really more we you know we're differentiated by what they were doing. Well now congressman French Hill at the time he was the the the chairman of the chamber congressman French Hill arranged for a meeting with me and the CEO of that company to make the pitch. And I did, and and at the time the leadership of the company had moved out to the Silicon Valley area. and and so they were already doing this type of activity there. They were all already doing it on the east coast as well. And so it it was it just really didn't gain a whole lot of early traction with them. Well, I'm in the very first venture center board meeting. where I'm giving a report on trying to to get this this thing moving forward with this company and and all the reasons why it would work here and so forth and so on. And we took a break and a gentleman by the name of Chris Klein with FIS Global, he was the executive in charge of this campus here in Little Rock. I didn't know Chris. In fact, that was the first day I'd ever met him.
30:09.486 Jay Chesshir
And at the break, he he asked me if it didn't work with the company that I was working with at the time. Would would I be interested in trying to do this work with with FIS? And and I I laughingly turned and said, you have me. And he he said, Well, I thought you were still working it with it. And I said, It's not gonna work there. And I said, So if you're interested, I would love to talk to you about. How I think this would work with FIS. And that led to Chris setting up a call between Gary Norcross, the CEO of FIS. And for those of you in the audience that know FIS, they're the world's largest fintech company across the world, 56,000 plus employees, 20,000 plus bank clients. i mean they are they are the king of the fintech industry and so interestingly Gary is from arkansas and what what tied all this together was in 1968 a little company called systematics was created that we reference as the the the birth of the financial technology industry here in little rock and Systematics grew significantly, was was acquired by Alltel for those that remember the phone company, wireless company Alltel. It became Alltel Information Systems, and then FIS came in several several years ago and purchased it from Alltel and and made this one of their primary campuses for FIS. I tell you that story to say that Gary Norcross actually started at FIS, I mean, excuse me, at Systematics and worked his way up to now obviously he's the CEO of the company. Well, when I had the opportunity to to to have a call with him, I was pitching the idea and I was using the Nashville experience as as kind of the basis for
32:29.26 Jay Chesshir
Why I thought it would work here. And then I added that the differentiating factor was there were still FIS, former Alltel information systems and systematics employees that live here that grew up in creating this industry and would be wonderful mentors to young fintech companies looking at trying to find better ways, faster ways, so forth and so on, to do business in the financial industry. And that they they alone would set us apart from anyone else because there were several fintech accelerators happening at the time. And again, this literally is in 2015, so this isn't that long ago. and in in the conversation with Gary, he relayed to me his experience. in in in working for FIS and coming up through the ranks and and and actually mentoring some of these kinds of companies and helping them pivot to something that would be more relevant and and sustainable and obviously become successful companies. And and in the at the end of the conversation he goes, you know, Jay, he said I I think this is a good idea. And he said I don't know I don't know for how long we'll do it. He said but yes I'll agree To partner with with you guys in the Venture Center and we'll do this for for one time and see what happens from there. And so literally in in November of 2015, he then came to our chamber annual meeting as our featured speaker and announced that we would be the sixth technology accelerator. facility in the world for FIS, which, you know, when you're looking at a map of the world and you see yourself with places like Bangalore and and obviously New York and and San Francisco and London and and Ireland and all these places where they were already doing this type of work, it really was
34:54.28 Jay Chesshir
one of the most amazing moments in my career because what's had started with an idea that we were trying to find something that would make us different from others so that we wouldn't be doing the the the cornfield scenario of just building something and hoping that it would come now all of a sudden was was was was coming to fruition, was coming into real being and so it was it was interesting to see that evolve and FIS and and its leadership, obviously under Gary's management leadership of the entire company, to see them begin to over the last five years engage and further engage in in in in helping literally take Little Rock, Arkansas from the fintech. industry's perspective and put it back on the map. Because the first year, as we were interviewing companies, and the venture center team does a fantastic job of all this work. I I obviously am on the board and and not involved with the day-to-day operations of it. But in the first year was part of the the conversations with with some of these companies and and 10 companies are selected each year. to come and be a part of this 12-week program from around the world. And and the first year, every single company that we were that we had chosen and and were giving the opportunity to come be a part of this, that one of their first questions was, why Little Rock? And I would with a smile, I would tell the Systematics story. And you know, this is where it all began and and wouldn't you like to come back to the mothership, so to speak, of where it all began and and and launched from here what it is you're trying to do from the standpoint of your business and your innovation. and and so that first year it was it was truly a sales pitch to these small companies who are who are obviously getting paid to come through the our partnership and and the way we we put that together. And and would also have the
37:17.258 Jay Chesshir
opportunity for additional investment based upon our assessment at the end of the at the end of the program. But we truly had to sell them on, you know, I can go, I can go to San Francisco, I can go to London, I can go to New York, or I can go to Little Rock. And and what was what was amazing about that is we had 10 companies who said, you know, Because of the opportunity to engage with FIS, I'm going to Little Rock instead. So in some ways they took a chance on us. Well, fast forward to five years and now we don't have to talk about why Little Rock anymore. And you know, the the the two to three hundred companies that apply every year to be a part of this process understand. that FIS has has placed a huge significance on coming through here if they're wanting to to to do business with with FIS or or or gain investment from FIS. And so what's even more exciting is as as we've gone through each year's iteration, we've we've had banks from across the country and the world come through and and be part of this process. And we had folks from the ICBA, the Independent Community Bankers of America, come and see what what it was that we were doing and and why were these companies coming to Little Rock. And they were so engaged with what they with what we were doing at the Venture Center through the FIS FinTech Accelerator that they then Two years into our work with FIS, asked if the Venture Center would also run a fintech accelerator focused on community banks for the ICBA. And so we're getting ready to kick off the third year of that. And so here it is, a technology park that we're trying to create to grow the to add velocity of growth to our economy.
39:29.134 Brandon Burton
Yeah.
39:34.414 Jay Chesshir
And with the origins in February of 2005 trying to walk the pathway of of getting something like this accomplished and and facing obstacle after obstacle and opportunity after opportunity. And here we are 15 years later, and it's truly something that is now of of national and world renown. In fact, Finovate, which is is one of the the the the primary Entities in the fintech world that's ignite that's awarding not only programs but companies as well in this industry. for the second year in a row, a couple of weeks ago, the venture center was named one of the the top six accelerators in the world. last year we didn't win, and and so we're hoping that the second time around. we are going to win, but we're up against MasterCard and American Express and I mean all these behemoth companies that are also trying, you know, out there doing this work. And that just goes to show you that good ideas with passionate people behind them. and and and obviously guidance from above, because if it weren't for that, we certainly wouldn't be where we are today. can all culminate in in something that's really, really, really cool. that six years ago the people of Little Rock would have scratched their head and thought, huh, I don't know if that will work. And yet here we are today and it is working.
41:16.238 Brandon Burton
Well, that is a huge accomplishment, everything that you guys have have established in the last fifteen years and really to recognize the needs and the opportunity that was available and then to be able to utilize your resources and see that there's, you know, all these you know, financial people that are in your community that you can leverage and really position yourself well in the marketplace is obviously paying off well there in Little Rock. But
41:43.922 Jay Chesshir
And Brandon to that Brandon to that point, I want to make one because I I I should give credit where credit's due. the second year of this work, the first year, as I said, we just bootstrapped it between us and and FIS. the second year of this work, the governor and his economic development team came on board and they have been partners with us in this program for the last four years. And so Governor Hutchinson and and Secretary Mike Preston, the Department of Commerce here in Arkansas have been great partners with us through this this process as well. So I want to give them credit also.
42:25.294 Brandon Burton
That's awesome. So Jay, I know we need to start wrapping things up here. You've told a great experience, great story of how you guys, you know, went from from the beginning stages of you know these these ideas and and setting up this innovation and and really making Little Rock a hub for for more than just the medical and and education and everything, but really for the fintech and and technology in general. So kudos to you guys for that. If I could ask you to share maybe one action item that a chamber professional listening could do to help take their chamber up to the next level, what would you suggest?
43:07.766 Jay Chesshir
You know, I go back to what led to this, and and we we get so wrapped up in the day-to-day operations of of our work that we don't often take a step back and and and really look around us to see what is it in our community, what is it in our region that separates us or differentiates us from the crowd, so to speak. And Then in doing so, find ways to use that to not only grow the the the chamber, but obviously grow the community and the community's opportunities going forward. And we all have them. You know, in Hot Springs, it was a primarily a tourist-related area. and and and so I can talk, I can tell you stories about what we did there. To separate us from the other like tourism places in the Mid South. And so having an opportunity for a chamber professional, and I will say the entire chamber team to come together and spend some time thinking about, looking at what is different in our community that not everyone has, and how can we take that and and and use it. To grow our economy and create even more opportunities for our people. Because in the end, you know, as I tell our folks, we're we're we're in the soul feeding business. And and and I'm what I mean by that is we do things every single day for people who will never know who we are that gives them opportunity, whether it's a better educational opportunity, whether it's a better job, whether it's a better place to live.
We do work every day that that goes unacknowledged, which is perfectly fine by those people that we're trying to positively impact, which means every night when we lay our head on the pillows, then that means we in my in my vernacular, in the way I look at this, it's truly feeding the soul of why we're here, why we exist, and why it matters. Because if we're not trying to help.
45:29.972 Jay Chesshir
others, if we're not trying to help our communities and our regions and our state become better places to live, work and play and learn, then we're not doing the job I think that we're here to do. So that would be my answer.
45:46.036 Brandon Burton
I love that answer. That's awesome. So this other question I ask everybody that I have on the podcast and and with your work with ACCE, I'm I'm curious to hear your answer. But as we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see their purpose going forward?
46:04.034 Jay Chesshir
You know, it's it's interesting. We we've got we've done a lot of work at the national level, and Sheree Anne Kelly and and her team are are doing phenomenal job with this in looking at what is, but also focusing on what's next and and trying to help chambers of commerce across the country adapt and navigate a new way of of living. I I had this conversation with
With one of my sons a few weeks ago. You know, 25, 30 years ago, this was a whole different business. And and our role in the community was a whole different role. Fast forward to today, and no longer are we the managers of events and and just getting things done for others. In many cases, we're expected to be the leaders in finding that what's next.
And helping create collaboration in in decision making to move to what can be what's next, which is a whole different activity. It's a whole different level of professionalism and expertise than maybe was needed 30 years ago. And so in that regard, what I would really recommend from especially the younger folks and even us old folks.
in this business is if you ever lose that passion, if you ever lose that vision of how can we make this better, then we're not doing ourselves or the teams that we work with or the boards that we work for any favors. So we we have to continue to evolve into being what businesses need us to be to serve them.
But in doing so, looking at the bigger picture from the perspective of how can we educate our children better so that we have the talent necessary to be successful in the new economy? How can we have better infrastructure? How can we have better quality of place so that we are attracting people to come to our communities who want to stay there?
48:30.4 Jay Chesshir
as opposed to growing talent for someone else somewhere else, that unfortunately is a self fulfilling prophecy.
48:38.838 Brandon Burton
Right. I'd love that to find what's what's next. And I think that should be the role of chambers is find what that next is and in that context to to build up your community to be able to support what that next is.
48:55.252 Jay Chesshir
And I've you know, I've mentioned a I've mentioned a few of those places, Brandon, in in in our podcast today, you know, Durham, Raleigh, and others. But one place that that I would really point folks' attention to, who I think is the best example in the country of doing this because it's amazing what they've done, and and their CEO has been a mentor of mine for many, many years. But if you look at what Roy Williams
And the Oklahoma City Chamber has done in transforming not only the economy of Oklahoma City, but Oklahoma City as a place. It is truly astounding. And in fact, it can be overwhelming when you look at all of the things that they've done, but it all started with one idea, and let's see if we can get this done, and has literally snowballed from that into.
creating a community that looks far different today than it did twenty years ago. And so another example for folks to go look at, Roy Williams and his team at Oklahoma City, and they're so generous with their time and and and mentorship, I would highly recommend folks take a look at them as well.
50:10.122 Brandon Burton
In fact, anybody who wants to learn more about what they're doing in Oklahoma City, I had Roy Williams on the podcast back on episode forty six. So I'd encourage everyone to check it out 'cause they really are doing amazing things that I never would imagine that a chamber would even even approach. So that's you could find that at Chamberchatpodcast dot com slash episode forty six to to hear that interview with Roy Williams.
50:36.406 Jay Chesshir
dude and an amazing professional.
50:38.664 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. Well, Jay, as we wrap things up here, I did want to give you an opportunity to to put your contact information out there. If there's anybody who would like to follow up with you on what we've talked about today or about how you're doing things there in Little Rock, what would be the best way for for a chamber champion to reach out and connect with you?
50:59.04 Jay Chesshir
Absolutely. And anybody that would like to visit about this or or anything else that we're doing, please don't hesitate to either email me, and my email address is jcheshir@littlerockchamber.com. Or my direct line here at the office is area code 501-377-6002. And please, if
If you reach out to me and you don't hear back from me pretty quickly, don't hesitate to try it again because I may be on the road and just haven't received it yet. So would love to visit with anybody that would like to talk more about either entrepreneurship and innovation and how we've done that here or want to bounce off an idea that you're looking at for your community, be happy to visit.
51:52.066 Brandon Burton
Very good. I will get your contact information in our show notes for this episode, which will be found at Chamberchat Podcast.com slash episode eighty nine. And Jay, just wanted to thank you so much for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast, for sharing your experiences and and really the vision that you've had with with all the chamber champions out there. I think you provided a lot of value that other chambers can take and
and start growing the what's next in their own community. So thank you for that.
52:26.232 Jay Chesshir
Thanks for the opportunity, Brandon.
52:30.038 Brandon Burton
If you are a Chamber Professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

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

Episode 88 — Tiered Membership Mistakes with Kyle Sexton
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Kyle Sexton
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.83 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:16.974 Brandon Burton
He's my dad. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is your host, Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. You are joining us today for episode 88. And if you happen to be new to Chamber Chat Podcast, I'd invite you to check out our Get Started page at ChamberChatPodcast.com/slash start. Where you can get some ideas for some non-dues revenue sources as well as our chamber podcasting guide, which is a free resource if you've ever considered doing a podcast for your own chamber. But today our guest is Kyle Sexton. Most of you will be familiar with Kyle, but Kyle is an award-winning marketing strategist and international speaker and author on topics of membership development, marketing, and innovation. He was recognized in 2011 by Chamber Executive Magazine as one of the most influential innovators in the Chamber of Commerce industry. He is a chamber industry's foremost authority on membership tiers and guides organizations through the transition from a traditional dues method to value-based tiers. His research and methods have been featured in industry publications as well as national conventions and regional conferences. Kyle's innovative social media accelerator has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, and he's the author of Follow You Anywhere and Remembership New Strategies for Remarkable Membership Organizations. I'm grateful to have Kyle with us today on Chamber Chat Podcast as we will be diving into some of these maybe more common mistakes that we see Chambers making as they dive into Tier Do's membership methods. And we will get into this discussion as soon as we hear from our sponsor. Every chamber is looking for new ways to increase their nondues revenue. Has your chamber found a good affinity program? I have a great affinity program to offer your chamber that will continue to increase in revenue year after year. I want to introduce you to Swypit for all of your credit card processing needs. Swypit has a unique affinity program.
02:42.242 Brandon Burton
That one lowers your credit card processing fees at the chamber, two helps your chamber members be more profitable, and three provides recurring nondues revenue to your chamber. To learn more, please visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC for credit card. Again, ChamberChatPodcast.com slash CC and get swiping with Swypit. All right, Kyle, we are back. Thank you for joining us today on Chamber Chat Podcast. If you would please take a moment to say hello to all the chamber champions out there and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit better.
03:26.466 Kyle Sexton
Hey, Brandon. Thank you for having me on the podcast. something interesting about myself. I I'm I'm so I'm so obsessed with with chambers of commerce and and helping them. And I think a lot of folks in the in the chamber world have have either read one of my books or they've seen me at one of their conferences, but they probably haven't seen me in my in my natural habitat. I I'm I'm I have a I talk to deer. That's something interesting about myself. I talk to the deer. I built my studio, my office here in the in the woods behind my house, and and I just love nature and peace and quiet, serenity. And yeah, if you if you come see me at my office as surrounded by windows into the woods, when the deer walk by, I will pause whatever I'm doing and say hello to the deer.
04:23.446 Brandon Burton
So if we have any sudden stops right now, we just we know that Kyle's out there talking to the deer. I mean, he has visitors. So yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. As we were starting the call off, Kyle kind of turned his his camera around and showed me outside and the beautiful woods there in Oregon where he's located. So that is that is something unique and to get that glimpse into your natural habitat. so share with us a little bit about your your company, your services, you know, just in case you know, any of these chamber champions out there have been living under a rock or haven't heard of Kyle Sexton, just fill in a little bit on what you have to offer.
05:04.866 Kyle Sexton
Yeah, well I h I help chambers make more money and I think that they should make more money because I see what they do with it. Chambers do really amazing, inspiring, community building things with their financial resources and and every chamber I've ever met ha has said they know what they would do if they had more money. And I so I'm I'm what's considered in the marketing world a top line guy. That means I don't care where you spend your money. But I can I know how to I know how to help you make more of it. I've been told many, many times that I shouldn't be working in the chamber world because I would be making a lot more money outside of chambers of commerce. I I've been told I charge about a fifth of what the market was worth. But I am committed to chambers of commerce precisely because I see what they do with the resources and I see how efficient. How community minded they are. and I I believe that chambers make the world a better place. One community, one neighborhood at a time. And it's really easy to get caught up in in the in the new ideas, in the latest and the innovative thing, and the nondu's revenue when when when we could just be sharpening our pencil around the the one Google is really good at the one thing. There have been books written about the one thing. Chambers of Commerce do a very poor job of identifying the one thing, but the chambers who do are winning. They're identifying the the one the one thing. And I think that if we figure out how to charge for that one thing, whatever that one thing is for you, if you can build a membership model around it. that that allows you to make more money and invest it back into a number of things, either the member experience or enhancing your community platform. And there's so much work to be done in every community. That's probably why it's hard to pick any one thing.
07:24.63 Brandon Burton
So as you talk about w for a chamber to find figure out what that one thing is, maybe can you share just maybe two or three examples of as you've worked with chambers and maybe some of those one things that have stood out to you. So if a chamber is maybe struggling to figure out what that means or what their one thing is, maybe that can spark an idea and point them in the right direction.
07:48.556 Kyle Sexton
Yeah. Well, for the the original I'll go back to the original why of why chambers started. A la that's what a lot of chambers are having come back to when times get tight is the is the original why, why we got started. It was for business advocacy to be a voice for business on business issues, wherever it may be. there's a lot of different ways that business advocacy takes place and some sometimes it's in public policy, sometimes it's in communications and marketing. sometimes it's in awards. Awards programs in communities advocate. They advocate for what we want the community to look like. to what we want how how we want people to treat each other, what people what we want they advocate for what we want people to do in their spare time. Think about all the awards programs that chambers offer around volunteerism, volunteer of the year, first citizen type award programs, neighborhood beautification. These are ways that we advocate for what we believe is best for our community, for our city, for our counties. And so but business advocacy, a lot of chambers sh shy away from that because they feel it's about politics. I think it's about politics if you're doing it wrong. It it's about leadership. Advocacy is about leadership and about expressing a voice for businesses who feel like they do not have a voice. If there's ever been a time in our history where where Chambers can represent businesses who feel like they don't have a voice, it is right now.
09:29.942 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Is there something going on right now that yeah. So we're we're recording this in July of of twenty twenty. So if anyone's listening to this, you know, well into the future or whatnot, this is we're kind of in the middle of this whole, you know, COVID nineteen pandemic and you know, stresses being put on businesses, large and small, trying to to pivot and Find new ways of doing business. And at the same time, chambers are needing to kind of reevaluate, go back to their the fundamentals and purpose about you know why they exist and and what those things are, what that one thing is that they're advocating for. So thank you for for shedding some light on that, Kyle. Appreciate that. So let's move on to more of the topic for this discussion today, about these mistakes. that we see with tiered membership models. what are are some of these mistakes that you see and more importantly, as you talk about how can we avoid these mistakes? How can how can chambers be careful around these things?
10:40.108 Kyle Sexton
Yeah. well there's I I've counted ten or eleven of I won't go through all of them, but I'll we'll we'll talk about the ones that I see the most frequently. And I think the number one mistake that a lot of chambers make is i in in doing this on their own is copying another chamber. And and and sure, Kyle, that's easy for you to say because you're you you built you build these things every day, right? But when I started, we we started researching in 2003 this tiered membership concept and we implemented it at my chamber in 2006. We spent three years doing that. I've met I've met many chambers who've also spent three or four years researching this trying to get it off the ground. One of the mistakes is having is not having a timeline. because business will take there's a principle that states that you the business will take as long as you allow for it. And if you don't have a deadline, if you don't have a timeline for this, it can cause analysis paralysis. It can cause it can cause you to tear apart and find if you spend enough time an and analyzing your own work, you will find many reasons why it won't work. But we don't need more people to admire the problem really. We just we need
12:00.29 Brandon Burton
Mm-hmm.
12:06.424 Kyle Sexton
to you know it that that imperfect action is always better than the perfect solution never started. that imperfect action is what gets that motion and the motion helps you create this momentum that allows you to pivot and and make changes but it's really hard to start from from nothing. So the the main thing is is to look at what your own members want from you. And w and the evidence is right there in your membership management software. It look at what they've bought from you in the past. Look at what they will promote about you. We don't need we don't need to we don't need to create eighteen different levels. You already have eighteen different levels. And the science says we need either three or five or seven. Though that is the that that is the prevailing science. So trying to so looking at some other chamber who did their own version of a value-based tiered membership structure is one of the common mistakes. You end up you end up looking like other chambers and not like your own community. Your own members deserve they they deserve to to be a member of a unique chamber of commerce that listens to them not the members of some other chamber in some other town. I'll I'll s I'll also share this the second most common the second most common mistake that I see is and and that I often get called in to fix is and it happens around year two, three or four of your tiered membership structure when you put in a when you put in sponsorship credits. Sponsorship credits look like a great idea on paper. What it usually is is we've run out of ideas to add value. but sponsorship credits are really only a value to one of the four different business profiles that we create for. And so that's one of the common mistakes. But and that leads me to the third mistake, the third most common mistake that I see, and that is assuming that all your members want the same things. And I mentioned that the sponsorship appeal sponsorship appeals to one of the four different business profiles that we serve.
14:28.57 Kyle Sexton
there are four different business profiles. And so often we see a tiered membership structure that only addresses the side of the chamber membership that does not scale. It does not, it won't grow with us. And that's the side of the chamber that shows up for things. That 20 to 35% of your membership that that will show up for things. And you've got a lot of tickets and things in your membership structure, but there are There are there should be at least two of your membership offerings that don't require anyone to show up for anything in order to get the maximum value from it. And if your if your membership structure has things in it that require that people show up in order to get benefit from them, then you're actually what you're doing is you're creating a reason for them to not select that level and to also not go higher than that level. And so so assuming that all of your members want to participate is a real mistake. If you think about it in marketing advertising terms, you know, our our chambers have mostly chambers have mostly stated static in their membership growth according to how many staff they have. Across the country, you could you could tie a you can tie a string between the number of members that you have and the number of employees that you have within one or two. And and the opportunity though is to break out of that model and to serve businesses who won't ever show up for anything that you do ever. That's okay. That's the scalable side of membership. We can serve remotely if you think about the needs of a remote member. We can serve them so much better if we just design a membership that is specific to them, that doesn't require that they show up in order to receive The value.
16:27.116 Brandon Burton
Yeah, I just recently interviewed Chris Romer at Vail Valley Partnership and he talked multiple times about providing non-invol non-involvement value. And in hearing that, I think it goes both ways too. I think the as a chamber you can provide value for your members. It doesn't require a ton of involvement from the chamber, you know, some kind of a program or service or whatnot. But it goes the other way too, as the member, to be able to get a value without needing to have that involvement to show up at something, but to still see that value and see the chamber working for you because of that membership. So I think that is a important mistake to to not to avoid that mistake.
17:16.022 Kyle Sexton
You bet.
17:17.73 Brandon Burton
So what are a a couple of these other mistakes that you you come across?
17:22.898 Kyle Sexton
the the number one reason that a chamber can't get their board to give them the thumbs up is is a very common mistake and that is they're focusing on revenue. And listen, I love telling stories about revenue. I love it. I love saying I love telling stories about how in a single in a single two day trip, I'm I can help a chamber make forty seven thousand dollars or a hundred and two thousand five hundred and eighty dollars. Like we do we make some awesome revenue in just a couple of days, feet on the ground, looking at looking at our members in the eye, getting their feedback on our new structure and asking them where they see themselves. so I love telling stories about that. But your board has made some assumptions because every other Every every other initiative that you've ever done in the chamber always starts with the board. Well, there in in the in the innovation world there's there's an alpha launch and there's a beta launch. And and a and a lot of chambers when they introduce something new, they skip both. And in the alpha launch
18:37.918 Brandon Burton
That's a mistake all in its own, right? Right.
18:39.82 Kyle Sexton
Right? We've seen it. We've seen it before. and it's a very common mistake, and I'm not I'm I'm not judging anyone for any of these mistakes. I've made a lot of them. That's how I learn about that's how that's how I realize that they they are mistakes. I've made them all. and that's why I g I love teaching about it, because I get to put myself in that story and say, Look, you're not alone here. But your board is going to assume that you're gonna start with them and they don't know what it looks like yet. So if you're focusing on revenue and not on value, they are assuming that you're talking about a fundraiser. They know that they're going to be asked to chip in first. So the alpha launch is when is when is when you introduce this you what whatever you're building to the people who helped build it. You show them what they helped build. The beta launch is to take it and show it. To and offer it to people who are not involved in building it. That means going to non-board members. So when we go ask for approval from the board to go test what we've built, we're actually not asking them to approve this new structure and build it into the bylaws. We're asking for them to go test for we're asking for their blessing for us to go test it and prove it. And this is a step that is often, often skipped. and what what you actually end up doing is you actually end up causing some of your board members to raise their hand and say, I'd like to be first. And that's it's totally different approach than than than than saying, by the way, at the end of this meeting, if you approve this, we expect you all to upgrade. Because I've seen that happen too.
20:30.444 Brandon Burton
Yeah. A another mistake on its own. So when you introduce the alpha and the beta launch, so the alpha I think makes sense. The beta, how do you how do you select you know, what businesses you would kind of target to be a part of that beta launch?
20:47.438 Kyle Sexton
Yeah, great question. we we look for early adopters who have credibility and influence and they're growing. And the earth so the early adopter mindset in your chamber, and you can chamber chamber folks everywhere can learn more about this by reading books like Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore or Books like that, they talk about the law of diffusion of innovations, how people adapt to change over time. The early adopter, they don't need things to be finished and polished and pretty. In fact, sometimes the early adopter doesn't even need you to finish your finish your sentence. They they know what you're trying to do, what you're trying to accomplish. And and they say, I'm in. not and now not not every one of them jumps in in the same way, but They don't they don't need things to be finished and polished and pretty. In fact, the early adopter wants to get their fingerprints on what you're doing. They want to help you finish it. So one of the common mistakes that's not even part of the ten mistakes in is you're referencing a a a video that I have at membershiptiers.com that helps teach people about this concept. But one of these one one of these ideas is I just I just lost my train of thought, Brann. It happened. No, don't edit. Don't edit. Leave it in there.
22:22.72 Brandon Burton
No problem.
22:31.118 Brandon Burton
So you were talking about the Yeah. So the early adopters often will finish your sentences and and they're jump on board before you even finish your whole thought. you reference the video. Yeah. Well, let's maybe make a little pivot here in our discussion. And so
22:44.14 Kyle Sexton
It'll come back. It'll come back.
22:56.596 Brandon Burton
Right now there's you know, we're seeing I mentioned earlier on in our discussion that we're seeing chambers that are needing to pivot to make things work in the current kind of economic clim climate, with the
23:08.066 Kyle Sexton
You you sound so calm when you say th words like pivot.
23:11.63 Brandon Burton
You know, I I'm behind a microphone. I'm not at a chamber. So yeah, so pivot, you know, to the exclamation exclamation points. what are your thoughts as far as the the tiered model as they go about pivoting? Are there maybe new offerings or offerings that they need to to reevaluate in their model? And and if I don't know if this would be part of the same question or a separate question all to get altogether. If a chamber has already adopted a tiers model, a tier do model, and they notice they've made some of these mistakes, where can they can they fix How do they how do they go about fixing these mistakes?
23:58.936 Kyle Sexton
Yeah, you know, if if you already have a tiered structure that focuses on value and some of the if you've been in the chamber world for under five years, you might be looking at your employee base levels and calling them tiered. You're not incorrect about that. but if you're looking at your at your tiered structure and you've not made changes before, then this is the time. And this is the time to start a new cadence, a new rhythm. Where you're going to update your membership offerings every single year. We start this process usually around two to three months before the change of the fiscal year. We do it in accordance with any annual staff planning session and an annual board retreat, etc. So we put that into the rhythm of your membership reviewing each. member benefit making sure that it is doing its job. If it if that program goes away, it comes out of the membership structure. And we need to replace it with something or roll the dice. so this is the time to look at to to review your structure and to make sure that it's doing what it was intended to do. As for those we're that we're building brand new right now, Are there new things? Well, there's new things to there's new things to a chamber if you've never worked with someone like me before that has a bag of tricks. But what what is new is I'd say we're we're doing we're putting less, we're putting fewer things in the membership structure than we were six months ago. The reason is we the majority of chambers that I'm talking to have fewer staff or newer staff. Yeah. And that's a and and that's a challenge. But I've always focused on your current situation. So we, you know, it's it's okay to build your structure and plan for growth, but we still want to do it with your existing staff and your existing budget. so that means creating your your minimum viable product today is gonna look a little bit different than your minimum viable product.
26:23.788 Kyle Sexton
would have if we had built six months, a year a year ago, six years ago, et cetera.
26:30.38 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense and great answer. so I've I've seen several chambers right now that are maybe for lack of a better term, they're being a little more lenient on their memberships right now. as they know businesses are struggling and they feel bad about asking them for dues, you know, at this time. Do you have any suggestions that would allow for a chamber to To show compassion to these businesses who they understand are struggling while at the same time keeping the integrity of their organization.
27:07.188 Kyle Sexton
absolutely. I like that word lenient. I haven't I haven't used that, but I might steal that. You're your the most important thing with your with any member is not the money, it's the relationship. And this is a really unique time. Any crisis is a unique time to show that leniency, to show compassion and to not be all about all about the money. Chambers everywhere have a reputation for showing up only for money. The phone rings. I was just on the phone the other day with someone who said, I inherited a chamber that has a reputation and I am hyper aware of it. So I'm approaching members specifically to build relationship, to build trust, and not talk about money. And it takes courage. It takes courage to do that. but w we can't be just about the renewal. Seth Godin says the attention is more important than the money, specifically because when you lose the money, you lose their attention for when when when you lose their attention in the relationship, you lose their money forever. But if you have their attention, you have their trust, the money can come and go. You can get it back.
28:27.446 Brandon Burton
I love that. Seth Godin's got words of wisdom for sure.
28:31.212 Kyle Sexton
yeah. But there is a there there's a specific structure that I have shared freely with chambers that they can get on chamberdaily.com that talks about the economic stimulus or the the economic recovery grant. Now so many grants have been introduced since I shared the structure which we started in two thousand eight, two thousand nine. Grant is not a great word for it anymore. but what you're essentially doing is you're rewarding members who have been with you for some period of time by offering them choices. One of those choices is to move to monthly payments. one of those choices is to is to is to move their renewal date. That's a very easy thing that we can do. And I think that's maybe where your leniency is is referring, is a lot of chambers. very simple thing that they can do is say, you know what, we're not going to drop anyone right now. We're going to review it all again in September. We're moving everybody who's who couldn't pay their dues. We're we automatically moving them to a September renewal date and we're going to revisit the entire thing in September. See how the world looks then. And before it was September, it was July, and before it was July it was May. So just moving that renewal date. But the third part, the third option is to offer them some granted dollar amount towards their membership renewal based on how many years they've been a member. So there there is a very specific structure that we know works. And in the chambers that that I'm helping who are who are using s structures like this to to have you know to have some c parameters around to have some rules around ha you know we can't just we we can't we can't just offer free membership to everybody. And so like that's that's a very poor business structure. So what do we do and how can we do it? To have some rules around it. They're telling me that not only is it working, but their membership renewals in many cases are up. Why on earth would that be? Because by offering it, we gained trust. That's right. They may have paid you before they paid other people because they trust you and they want you to keep doing that thing that you're doing.
30:56.972 Brandon Burton
That's right. So just this week I was talking with Becky Womble, who's the the chamber president at the Bastrop Chamber here in Texas. And she had mentioned that they've had some of their maybe larger businesses in the community step up and provide funding to kind of go along with this grant type situation that you're talking about. So that's right. As she's talking to some of these businesses that are struggling that are not able to renew at the moment. She's made this available and and said, you know, there's been some businesses that have stepped up and want to get through the I mean, that that slogan that I think we're all just getting tired of getting beat over the head with, but we're all in this together, you know. some of these businesses have stepped in to help out these other businesses. So she's saying, you know, there's funds available if you would like to renew. This business is basically going to sponsor you. They're going to help you this year with your membership dues. And that's been a a huge success for them. Now I know not every chamber is in that kind of situation where they have some of these businesses that can step up as donors, but it may be an option to explore and absolutely as long as we're getting creative.
32:12.706 Kyle Sexton
Yeah. in the book Go for No, the whole concept is you don't get what you don't ask for. I would challenge every chamber, you every chamber across the country in and in the US and Canada can do this. But you've got to go ask. And you've got to know your members well enough to know who to ask and whether it's a good time to ask or not. but there's such a an aversion to making the offer. Everyone is clinched. In this idea that businesses have have fewer resources. That's not the chamber's fault that the businesses have fewer resources. Meantime, your chamber also has fewer resources, so you're double clinched. Mm-hmm. And you do not come from a position of confidence. And you've got to transfer confidence, trust, and enthusiasm in order to make an offer to someone. So you've got to unclinch yourself around your own chambers situation. You have to unclinch yourself around. the around how you believe, true or not, and it's pr often not true, what you believe about the situation that your businesses are in.
33:22.595 Brandon Burton
That's
33:22.83 Kyle Sexton
Because there are a ton of businesses who have never told you about their cash reserves. There are a ton of businesses who've never told you about their access to capital because you have gone to them and asked them for more money and times that you didn't need it as bad as you did now. And we blew it. Very the answer was no. So what do you do when the when when you really are in a desperate situation? This isn't a desperate situation. This is just a new situation. It's desperate for it's desperate for the businesses that have hundreds or thousands of employees. That's who it's desperate for. Yeah. The chamber always finds a way. We've got great leadership and that's why we that's why we work hard to vet our board of directors and and get real community leaders in there. If you're looking around wondering why you're the only one working your ass off in the chamber, it might be because you haven't vetted your board and they're not in it with you.
34:18.85 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Good good point. So Kyle, as we start wrapping things up here, I'd I wanted to ask what would be one action item that you would suggest a chamber professional to take out of our discussion today that they can do to help take their chamber up to the next level?
34:36.994 Kyle Sexton
I would go I I would go on to Kyle Sexton.com, look at the map to remembership, learn that structure, and identify three different members in each of the four different business quadrants, schedule twenty minutes with each of them to go through a brief interview and ask them how they're doing, what they see, and what and what can we do. To be a better support to you. Don't ask them how we can be a better chamber. They're probably only a member of one chamber and they're not real clear on the value proposition you provide. But you ask them how you can support them. Ask them what keeps them up at night. Ask them, ask them what they're working on, what they're afraid of. That's how you get into the head of your members. Don't try to at don't ask them what, you know, how can the chamber, how can we be a better chamber? They They don't have anything to compare you to. Yeah. ask them what they're working on and you will find ways that you can support them and then gather those answers and put them in each of the four different b business profiles and you will find some common themes. They will give you the path if you just listen to your own members.
35:49.57 Brandon Burton
Very good. Now I ask this question to everyone that I have on the show, but everyone's always talking about the future of chambers and trying to look into that crystal ball. But as we look to the future of chambers, how do you see their purpose going forward?
36:06.392 Kyle Sexton
that's an interesting question. I think maybe I'm gonna have to defer my answer to like six months from now because I've been so like like like all of my chamber clients, I've been so focused on helping them put out fires and and what's happening currently. and it actually breaks breaks one of my rules. one of my rules is refuse to predict. And so when you ask about how I see the future of chambers of commerce, I'm an optimist, so I'm hopeful. but I also refuse to predict. And there's something about that rule about refusing to predict that helps you stay focused in the moment to help you listen to what matters the most and to help you build relationships with people who maybe do see the future differently than you do. Maybe they're not as optimistic as you, maybe they're more enthusiastic than you, but but they have a different viewpoint and they have a different r set of rules, perhaps. But so I don't really know how to answer that because it would it would it would cause me to to break one of my key rules.
37:10.755 Brandon Burton
Well we can you know come back six months from now and and slice that answer into here and I think that's
37:16.822 Kyle Sexton
I'll I'll say something that happened between July and and December and I'll s I'll say it and it'll I'll look like a nose to
37:23.892 Brandon Burton
You'll be right. That's right. Well, Kyle, I just I appreciate so much having you come on the show today. wanted to give you an opportunity to put your contact information out there. So if listeners wanted to connect with you, hire you, ask questions about what we discussed today, what would be the best ways for them to get in contact with you?
37:43.874 Kyle Sexton
I think the best way, thank you for the opportunity, Brandon, really to to be on the Chamber Chat podcast and and to have a a casual, candid conversation about about chambers because I I do care so much about about them. it's my life. I one of the easiest ways is to go on to Kyle Sexton.com or chamber daily dot com and just sign up for Chamber Daily and it and it's a way for you and I to help to start a conversation together with Some of my ideas that I've curated, and you'll have 30 days of of of delivered video conversation with you. but I'll also put out there that I think you know a lot of chambers right now are are trying to replace their event revenue. And I'm working on a program right now that I'll be launching shortly that is designed specifically for chambers who have to replace their event revenue with tiered membership revenue. and membership revenue is forever revenue. I call it for revenue. You like that? I made up a word. For revenue. And but so many have been putting off the tiered membership discussion 'cause they didn't know how where to go. Now they don't and now they don't know how they're gonna live without replacing their event revenue and membership revenue seems to be the answer. And so I'm putting together groups of chambers who want to go through this together and to replace your event revenue with for revenue and never be in this situation again. So I love helping chambers to never stop growing. I'm I'm your top line guy. I can help you make a lot more money and keep it too.
39:32.458 Brandon Burton
Say we will get those both websites up on our show notes page for this episode, which everybody can find at Chamber Chat Podcast.com slash episode eighty-eight and reach out to Kyle. Like you said at the very very beginning of this episode, he's here to help chambers make more money. And if that doesn't resonate with you as a chamber, I I'm not sure I'm not sure if you found what that one thing is yet, but Kyle can help you find that too. So again, Kyle, thank you for being with us today. I really appreciate it.
40:05.464 Kyle Sexton
Brandon, thanks for all you do for Chambers. I appreciate you.
40:08.928 Brandon Burton
If you are a Chamber Professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

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

Episode 87 — Fundraising with Amy Hoyes
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Amy Hoyes
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.842 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:18.464 Brandon Burton
Is back. He's my dad, Brandon Burton. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is your host, Brandon Burton, and you're joining us today for episode 87 of Chamber Chat Podcast, where it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas to help you better serve your chamber members and your community. Our guest today is Amy Hoyes, who's the president and CEO of the Grand Ledge Chamber of Commerce and has been since April of 2018.
00:48.504 Brandon Burton
Prior to the chamber, her career spanned from journalism to advertising sales before entering the nonprofit world. In the past two years, she's taken the chamber from barely breaking even at commu at a community event to posting a profit at all ten community wide events that the chamber hosts. Amy has been in fundraising since two thousand seven and believes the strategic this and believes the strategy sounded like President Bush there's strategic is to create a win-win for all parties rather than just writing a check. Community engagement is a mission match, are the heart of all fundraising campaigns. In her career, she's led a team to raise more than one million dollars in federal and state grants to local and corporate sponsorships. During her tenure with the Grand Ledge Chamber of Commerce, the fundraising has more than tripled in the past two years. So given Amy's background, you may guess that our topic for discussion today is going to be around fundraising, which is so important right now as chambers are trying to find ways to make up lost revenue with certain events being canceled or postponed indefinitely since we can't gather in groups of more than 10 or six or twenty, depending on where we are in the recovery. But we will get into this discussion with Amy as soon as we hear from our sponsor. Every chamber is looking for new ways to increase their non-dues revenue. Has your chamber found a good affinity program? I have a great affinity program to offer your chamber that will continue to increase in revenue year after year. I want to introduce you to Swypit for all of your credit card processing needs. Swypit has a unique affinity program that 1.2 Helps your chamber members be more profitable, and three, provides recurring nondues revenue to your chamber. To learn more, please visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC for credit card. Again ChamberChatPodcast dot com slash C C and get swiping with Swypit.
02:59.414 Brandon Burton
All right, Amy, we are back. Please take a moment to say hello to the chamber champions out there and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you little bit better.
03:09.62 Amy Hoyes
Hello, chamber champions. And Brandon, thank you so much for having me today and inviting me on your show. So something interesting about me, people seem to think it's interesting that I was a newspaper reporter during the Olympics in Atlanta. That was kind of a fun and unique time for me. I also wrote two children's books when my kids were little. So that's kind of something different. I've been married for 18 years to my husband. We have two daughters, two dogs, and a bunny rabbit. I love outdoors and usually up for kind of any adventure that my husband and kids want to go on. And during our social distancing summer, if you will, we've been kayaking a lot. We live along a river, so we've been doing that a lot. So that's been a lot of fun for us.
03:52.95 Brandon Burton
That is that is really cool. You you shared a few interesting facts. So as a newspaper reporter, did you get to interview any of the of the athletes that we would know or you see if we remember their name from the Atlanta Olympics?
04:05.58 Amy Hoyes
did the track and field. I did the bunch of the trials. I lived in Cobb County. So I covered the the effects on Cobb County and we did a lot of track and field up there. So I don't really honestly remember I didn't like Mary Ann Jones. I didn't interview her, but there was a couple, you know, different track stars that I got to meet and I got to go to a lot of the different I guess competitions, if you will. I I went to quite a few of those. So it was a fun time. I mean I was in my twenties and it was a fun time in Atlanta to be to be at the Olympics and be sort of in that rush of it. So yeah.
04:39.682 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So I think was I think Carl Lewis is probably still running at that time, right? I mean it was while ago. I'm I'm trying to go way back in my memory bank here.
04:49.262 Amy Hoyes
I can't I know I've I kept all my newspaper articles and from that that time but I honestly haven't looked at them in so long and it was and I left after I was done there I went and became a producer at CNN. So that that it was a fun, fun time. Yeah, it was a it was a good time. So life has kind of evolved and W when you have children you end up doing, you know, your career changes too as far as
04:58.058 Brandon Burton
That was a while back.
05:07.65 Brandon Burton
That is neat.
05:18.658 Amy Hoyes
things that you can do as, you know, be a mom and still have a career. So that's why I'm I'm blessed now for what I do.
05:24.386 Brandon Burton
Do absolutely. Absolutely. So share with us a little bit about the Grand Ledge Chamber of Commerce and help us give give a little more perspective where you're coming from, maybe the size of your chamber, budget, where you're located, things like that.
05:37.858 Amy Hoyes
Yeah, sure. Well, Grand Ledge, if you're not familiar, Grand Ledge is a town of about eight thousand people. we are about ten miles, I guess, west of Lansing. Grand Ledge is a long a little perspective of the town. Grand Ledge is along the Grand River, which the Grand River is, I think it's the state's longest river. Yes, yes, we kayak on that.
05:56.686 Brandon Burton
Yeah, great kayaking, that's what I hear.
06:00.93 Amy Hoyes
But Grand Ledge, the kind of a history of it, Grand Ledge got its name because of the river, but there's also these beautiful old sandstone ledges that hover over the river and the river trail. So the big claim to fame for Grand Ledge is the ledges and the parks around them. But for the chamber and for the city are they like to joke that we're a parade town because we do we do five parades every year and three of them actually the chamber hosts. So that's kind of the big the ledges. They they joke about that. But as far as the chamber, our chamber's been around for 50 years. our motto is to make Grand Ledge a great place to live and do business. And even though our city we have about 8,000 residents, our the chambers district is the Grand Ledge Public School District. So there's about 30,000 residents in that area. we've got about 250 members, so we're small, but we're mighty and we're really involved. and prior to the virus, we had hosted one event every four days. So we do quite a yeah, we do quite a quite a lot. We do free concerts in our park, along the river. We do movies in the baseball field. We do a three-day summer festival, which had to be canceled. We do a fall festival and river cruise, a beer festival, golf outing. The things that we're able to consistently still do is we do have monthly chamber breakfasts. We do different breakfasts and mix and mingles. and we do a business expo for our members and we also have an annual awards center. So we do a lot of different types of things just to reach our community and and connect our businesses and just, you know, provide some fun stuff for the community to do.
07:44.342 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So what does your your staff look like there and and membership look like?
07:50.286 Amy Hoyes
So we have, you know, like two hundred and fifty members. on staff, paid staff is just me. It's just me. And then we have yeah, it's just me. but I have twelve amazing board members. We really have a working board that really has involved in all of our event committees. So we have very active event committees for each event. So so yeah, it's just me. I I have an intern. roving interns once a week, when school was in session. But other than that it's just me and I've got great community partners. so that's kind of the structure of of what we do. But yeah.
08:30.751 Brandon Burton
So you've got some great partners, great volunteers, and a lot of energy to be able to pull off an event every four days by your s like on your own. That's amazing.
08:40.909 Amy Hoyes
Yeah, we well, and I think some of it is some of our stuff is is repeat events. So like our music in the park that we do every summer, Brandon, is we do thirteen weeks of free concerts. So it's like me and three other guys and we c we have it down. Like we know what we're doing, like I have my stuff, they have their stuff. We we we have the groove down with it, if you will. and then, you know, our breakfasts are pretty simple. You know, we just invite people, we bring breakfast and it's pretty easy to pull those off. So so yeah, it hasn't been I mean, yeah, it's every job I guess has its aspects of it's difficult to to do that, but you know, you just kinda jump in and do it and it works. So
09:22.318 Brandon Burton
That's right. Wow. Yeah. So I'm curious, you'd mentioned, and this is not really going down the topic of of our discussion, but you'd mentioned that the chamber hosts three parades. And I know a lot of chambers will talk about trying to get away from the parties, pageants, and parades. And you obviously see some value in in doing these three. So what do you what do you see from them? And and maybe it does come into our discussion today, but what what are you holding on to for?
09:49.666 Amy Hoyes
Well, our community loves them. This town loves the parades. So we do a St. Patrick's Day one in March. That one was canceled this year, but we do a St. Patrick's Day one that's huge. we work in partners with we have an opera house in town and we do a big Irish festival. You know, we've got a lot of pubs on our on our main street. So it's just it's a big old party all day that Saturday. So the community loves it. you know, a lot of the parades, you know, people use it for outreach. They use it to get the word out. it really brings the community together. it's just a it's a fun day. The St. Patrick's Day one is fun. Then we do one over the summer, it's called Yankee Doodle Days, and that's really kind of our Fourth of July celebration. and it's in conjunction with a whole day long of a kids' festival and music and it's a beer tent and food. So the parade kind of kicks it off where it's just it's very patriotic, obviously. and that one's That one's probably small. That one's probably a little smaller just because sometimes we don't have as many people in the parade because they're down kind of in the the park already with the kids' day stuff. But we do that one and people love it. and then the biggest one that we have is at Christmas. We do a night lights Christmas parade. And this one almost lasts it's about an hour and half long. it's a huge parade. We do a Christmas tree lighting. last year we introduced like we roasted marshmallows and sang Christmas Carols kind of thing in the plaza. But it's a huge night and like, you know, you've got the marching the school marching band, you've got, you know, dancers and all these trucks decorated in lights and it's fun. People really look forward to it. you know, you got the school bus decorated, the big semi trucks decorated. So people love People love the parades. We probably have close to three thousand people that come. So they're big, they're big for us. So There's two other ones. There's a Memorial Day one, and a home there's a Memorial Day one that the American Legion puts on and then there's also a homecoming parade that the high school puts on. So but the three that we do, yeah, I mean we have no time of canceling them. I mean that's something that we will continue doing. People really like the parades, so
12:02.6 Brandon Burton
But it seems like it aligns well with your community too. So I mean it does. Point taken, just because somebody says you shouldn't do parades, pageants and parties like doesn't mean that you you need to stop him. If it works for your community, by all means do it and and make it be something worthwhile.
12:18.872 Amy Hoyes
Yeah, they've definitely been something our community backs and and likes to likes to be involved in. So
12:23.768 Brandon Burton
That's awesome. Yeah. Well, let's we'll move on more onto our focus for discussion today around fundraising. So you've got some some background in that from you know, different sources of fundraising. And as I mentioned kind of in the introduction, we all know right now a lot of chambers are stressed. And hopefully as this episode comes out, we're recording this at you know, mid July of twenty twenty. Hopefully by the time it comes out that You know, chambers are starting to to get some answers and and seeing their way through some of the recovery and and helping their businesses at the same time. But budgets are stressed and chambers are looking for ways to replace some of their funding. And whether it means you know, looking at at more offerings in a tiered membership model or or different kind of events, we've seen these Zoom events, which I know Some chambers have had a hard time figuring out how do you charge for something like that, how do you make money on it. Right. so what are some some options that you see as being viable, especially in our current climate, that would help a chamber to to raise funds for their organization?
13:38.008 Amy Hoyes
Sure. Well, I think Brandon, budgets to me are always a concern. It's not just right now. I'm a big budget forecasting planning ahead. I think the biggest thing with any budget is having a realistic one. You've got to be able to plan ahead and forecast based on prior years. So kind of what happened last year, obviously this year is a different year for everybody to kind of look and see trends. But I also think with your budget, no matter where you are, is you have to have flexibility of several plans. You've got Things evolve, things change, especially now. I think everyone's got to be very flexible in their budget. so for us, you know, right now with what's going on in the world, you know, most of our revenue was from events. But also on the flip side, most of our expenses were from those events. So when our shutdown started in March, the first thing I really did, you know, first I had to my office was in City Hall, so I they shut City Hall down, so I had to move everything home. So the first thing I really did was sit down and go, okay, where are we? Like what's in the bank? What's in our budget? What what do we think might happen? You know, forecasting what our expenses just to operate for the rest of the year, to kind of see where we are. So, you know, subsequently we had to cancel about seventy five percent of our events for this year. So the only gener you know, revenue generator we have right now is our farmers market that we do on Saturday mornings. so we've really had to reinvent ourselves. You know, you were talking about the Zoom and different things. So we did different things like we partnered with the city and sold signs throughout the community, the little yard signs to sh to share positivity in the community. We did some different social media campaigns about telling why you like Grand Ledge. and that, you know, enhanced. I mean, I think we probably gained, you know Two or three Facebook followers every day just by constantly being out there. we also sold, I had kind of created and worked with a a chamber member business. we sold t-shirts. You've probably heard of other communities doing this too, but we sold t-shirts to support our businesses. we did that just to get like different things to get out there. as far as capital needs, you know, there's some grants out there that we were able to
15:57.204 Amy Hoyes
that we were eligible for for capital needs. And I think that's what some people are really gonna have to look for because if you were supported by events or supported by local businesses, you're not gonna have that revenue for a while. So the other key thing that I really recommend for anybody, I'm a real big community collaboration person. I think people really need a partner. so I think making sure your relationships are strong in a climate like this to support each other. there's ways you can partner, whether it's your local school system or your city or whoever. I think thinking about, especially in this climate and any other climate, how can you work together? You know, if you're all struggling, how can we brainstorm and work together? So there's been a lot of of that going on the past couple of months of just trying to work with other entities to to support each other. and and in turn that generates more members. That, you know, generates people caring about your cause and and they want to give to you just because they care that you care. So, so that's kind of what we've been looking at right now, if you will.
17:01.932 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So a lot of the events, normal events you'd have going on have been cancelled. So the farmers market is still a viable thing. the grants are though were those state or federal or combination that you were looking to?
17:15.917 Amy Hoyes
Pretty much state. there's some state ones that we were able to get into. There's also, you know, I've got good relationships with several of our businesses and there's some grants with foundations through like banks and insurance companies and that type of stuff. So it depends on where you live and what, you know, what businesses that you have. But I think when you have those relationships with people, they will let you know. You know, people would literally e email me and say, Hey Amy, this is available. So I think People, if you have these strong relationships, when a climate like this hits or something, you know, disastrous hits, people will reach out to you and let you know, like, hey, this company can help you, or we're willing to help you. So that's that's kind of what we saw come to us in this climate. So as far as the federal dollars know, I haven't really tapped into anything federal right now specifically for the chamber. that's all
18:11.31 Brandon Burton
been a hot topic with the PPP loans and yeah, not being able to get access.
18:16.736 Amy Hoyes
Yeah, we worked with a lot of our local businesses to help them get the PPP and we we could have, but we didn't need it at the time. So I didn't tap into that. But so many of our businesses tapped into the PPP. And then there was some local funders, some local community funders, and we helped them, you know, even if it was like a ten or twenty thousand dollar grant, they were able to get. There's several of our chamber members that were able to apply for some local stuff. So s a lot of it's some local dollars, some economic development dollars that people were able to to grasp.
18:48.46 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So are there certain fundraising sources that maybe not as plentiful right now, given the the immediate time frame and kind of the climate we're working through?
18:59.82 Amy Hoyes
Yeah, so I was on a webinar, actually a state chamber webinar, I don't know, a few weeks ago, and one of the key things I really took away from it, Brandon, was our recovery is not gonna look like a V, it's not gonna look like a U. It's gonna look like a bathtub. And that really hits home for me because I am a long term forecaster of, you know, financial aspects of it, is that it's gonna take a while for these local businesses to recover and to bounce back. So us being a local small chamber, we relied on our local support for our local events. So that's really gonna hurt us for 2021. And kind of what we did was we had a lot of sponsors who had already committed for 2020 with the checks in the bank. So we're really able to give them credit next year for their the events we can have in 2021. We'll give the people that actually wrote a check in 2020, we'll give them that marketing credit next year to help promote them. But I think I think it's gonna take at least, in my opinion, I mean I'm no expert, but I think in the next few years, you know, it's gonna be twenty twenty-three, you know, probably we're before we really see the turnaround for local dollars. But I think in the next couple of years, you're gonna see a lot more grants and foundations. You're gonna see the bigger banks, the big insurance, the utility companies, the grocery store chains. Those are the companies that, you know, were I guess the quote unquote essential businesses that stayed open. I think you're gonna see a lot more dollars coming out of those types of businesses that they will invest back in the community to support the local community. That's that's what I envision and see. that's what I'm looking forward to in twenty twenty one. Like I'm already kind of planning for that in twenty twenty one now, that those are the types of businesses they're gonna be able support us.
20:52.214 Brandon Burton
Yeah, absolutely. And I think yeah th there's oftentimes we want to make the assumption that all the businesses are struggling or right. Nobody can afford, you know, sponsorship for whatever the event is or or whatever you're doing. And and that's dangerous. Yeah, once you start assuming, because the whole idea of asking for a sponsorship is they're gonna receive value out of it. And if the business is struggling If they have some budget set aside for marketing, which they should if they want to survive, hopefully they're recognizing the value that they get by sponsoring different chamber events and will still hold to that to be able to help bring the business back. So we can't make that decision for these businesses. We need to present it to them, give them the opportunity, let them say no if they can't do it. And if it makes sense to to help them do it in a creative way, I think there's opportunities for that too. But it it the key word is being pivot, right? That's what everyone's doing right has pivoting.
21:48.755 Amy Hoyes
And
21:53.198 Amy Hoyes
It's constantly and well and see one of the things I was thinking about was okay, so next year for 2021, if if a company has already, you know, sponsored this year, we couldn't do the event. We like to offer outreach at our events to really I don't like people just to write a check. I want them to connect with customers. So at all these community events we do, we give them outreach. So this way next year they're not actually having to put the money out, but we're helping to market their business and we're helping to get their name out there. And so hopefully we will see that, you know, benefit both parties and really they can benefit it, you know, immediately and then then the following year that they'll be able to financially support what we do again. So you know, we want the community to suc to succeed. So whatever we can do to help make that happen, we we want to do that. So
22:41.482 Brandon Burton
So maybe shifting gears just a little bit, as you try to evaluate a new fundraising campaign, what kind of considerations do you put into it or what kind of thought as to what the that event or what that fundraising promotion is gonna be?
22:58.862 Amy Hoyes
Sure, sure. well, I don't consider myself an expert by any means in fundraising, but I ha I have been raising funds for thirteen years. And, you know, I don't have any idea how many events I've hosted or planned or whatever, but I know I've never lost money on an event. I can tell you that. And then that's not to toot my own horn, but I think just I'm so budget conscious of not spending beyond our means that we make a profit on each event. I don't want to do an event just to do an event. We have you know, a cost involved too to run the event. So the biggest thing I always do is plan. And people have asked me this before, like, how do I do this? And so to me it's when you embark on any campaign or you want to plan an event, you have to sit down and plan out what is it going to cost you to do it. Sit down and go on the budget of your expenses first and say, okay, how much is this going to cost us to do the event? You know, looking at everything, whether it's the facility, the The banners, the the print materials, the insurance, everything. You need to include everything in there that is is gonna be involved, every expense that's gonna be involved in having this event. And then look at, okay, based on what I'm gonna it's gonna cost me to do it, I need to at least, you know, make X amount of dollars. If you want to make 10% or whatever you wanna make, you need to figure that out. And then start building sponsorships around that. you know, start looking at your revenue streams. Am I gonna have ticket sales? Am I gonna have, you know, sponsorships or, you know, revenue from selling beer or bags or whatever you plan on selling and look at where your revenue is gonna come from. and then build your packages really on that. So that's that's something that I've really tried to do with every event, you know, in my in my career. and just make sure you're gonna deliver on your promises. Don't don't say I can offer billboard exposure if you can't really offer billboard exposure. So I I plan in the fall for the following year. So I write up sponsor packages that I actually start getting out before the end of the calendar year. And then so really by the beginning of January, we start getting the money in. So, you know, people are there's some people that want to write that check December 30th for the next year already. And it's really looking at cash flow and
25:19.192 Amy Hoyes
For us, you know, usually by the end of the first quarter, we've got a lot of our stuff funded. that really when you have the actual event, then you can generate the revenue the day of, if that makes sense. So like if you say the event costs you five thousand dollars to do, you want to have at least, you know, six to seven thousand dollars that you've made already before you have the event, if that makes sense. I just I like to make sure that we're going into the event, already have the money, then counting on having that event to actually even break even. So that's that's what I and and the other thing that I've really tried to do, Brandon, when I first took over the chamber and I did this in my past life too, is I get in people's budgets. So if you have a sponsor that's gonna give to you, you know, nine or ten thousand dollars every year, get in their budget and get that money every single year. You know, we're in our city's budget. We're in, you know, we try to really have these partnerships that We do what we say we're gonna do and we deliver on what we've promised. And then therefore every single year, they're giving us, you know, we're a line item for them. So they're really able to give that money to us every year because they see value in it.
26:31.614 Brandon Burton
so y you've hit on some really good things here. So I I've got a couple follow-up questions. Sure, sure. so first of all, I think it's a a very smart strategy to put together your sponsorship opportunity package in the fall and get that word out because there's people that are on, you know, their fiscal year follows the calendar year. And if they've got money left over in December from, you know, the previous year and They can spend it and it may be a new spend for them because they have the extra money and then you can become a budget item for them for the next year. So super smart doing that, but they also have the understanding they don't have to pay till the following year. So awesome. So not a question there, but how do you decide what percentage profit you want to make on each event?
27:23.128 Amy Hoyes
So what I it depends on the event, because some like we have one event that costs us like $20,000 just to do it. So we we usually net like $10,000 on it. what I do honestly is I make sure that we generate enough revenue on all of our events that we that's kind of rollover money. So how do I how do I explain this? So It's not an exact science of okay, ten percent or whatever. I'd like to at least have ten percent of of whatever it is, you know, whatever the the the expenses are, we go above and beyond that to to make to net a profit. what I look at is I look at our overall entire budget for the entire year. So I look at what do we cost what does it cost to run the chamber as a whole, and where is that money gonna come from to run the chamber? So whether your memberships are a given, I need to make X amount of dollars on all my events so that I meet my budgetary goals. So it's really not just case by case. It's really an overall arching plan for the entire budget for the chamber. That's how I do it.
28:31.662 Brandon Burton
How do you plan for like reserves? So you're looking at how much your your chamber costs to operate and then we're seeing the importance of having reserves set aside. So how do you I don't know if there's a a calculation or formula you work with?
28:47.532 Amy Hoyes
Well, I make sure that 'cause like when I do my budget, I also have a it's a budget to actual and I make sure where we are, like every two weeks I look at where we are budget wise, and then at the end of the month I really do a recap. But Brandon, I make sure at December thirtieth we have enough money in the bank for six months. Because so whatever our operating costs are for six months, by December thirtieth, I wanna make sure that we have enough money for January through June. So that we have that. Because you don't know how quickly people are gonna write checks and it's a constant it's a constant ebb and flow. So you wanna make sure you have enough money in the bank to cover you for six months. And that's just a general rule that I like to follow. I don't know that it's written anywhere. It's just something that I like to have.
29:32.295 Brandon Burton
I think it's smart. And I think now, I mean, some chambers may see the need to extend that, you know, eight, ten, or twelve months in
29:38.862 Amy Hoyes
Yeah, we had we had over a year when everything happened, we had enough for a year. So I was pleased about that. The other thing that we do, and I don't know, it's just how we're set up. You know, when people can pay online for memberships for different things, we have like a credit card holding account that we're able to actually have like a savings and investment. So we're able that's the other thing, you gotta have your rainy day fund. So I mean it takes time. I mean, I think the biggest thing is just, you know, I hate to see people have an event that doesn't make or they lose I'm like, well then what's the point of doing it, you know? And so much of it is you've got to plan in the beginning for what is it you gotta know how much this event costs you. I mean, I literally if an event ends on Sunday, by Monday morning I can tell my board what we made. Like I there's not a lag time in that because I know where we were before we went in and I know what we need to make. And I think it it helps drive your marketing too, if you know you have to sell three hundred tickets or you've gotta sell it helps you push too to know, you know, how much money you need to make. So, but yeah, those are just my suggestions. Like I said, it's not like, you know, a hard fast rule somewhere. It's just I like to have at least a certain amount and I and I I always make sure that we're netting something to really carry us through and and every chamber has a different budget, obviously. so I just like to make sure that we can hold our own, really, and and and get through.
31:01.422 Brandon Burton
So how do you do you have strategies you use to become a line item on somebody's budget?
31:08.802 Amy Hoyes
Yes. a lot of it's relationship, willing to work together. you know, I I really believe in community engagement and collaboration. So I really believe in I don't want you just to write a check. I want you to come to the event and I want you to meet customers, meet your potential customers. I you know, I try to have a relationship with my sponsors, you know, like get to know them, get to know where what types of of clients are looking for, how can I connect them with their customers and working with that business on what they need because if they if they see that I care about their business, they're gonna care about me. If they see that what I'm doing, you know, helps their business, they're gonna more likely give, you know, every year. as far as, you know, some other bigger businesses or municipalities giving to you, to me it's just relationship building. It's To me, it's you know taking people out to lunch. It's it's reaching out to them, it's hey, let's meet once a quarter, or you know, let's touch base with each other on how we can work together. To me, it's being flexible to work together and know that you're all in it for the common goal. You're all in it to help each other, to make your city look good, to make your community look good. So if you're all on the same page in that, you know, public relations and marketing kind of realm, I think that you'll see the benefit from that and people are willing to give to you because you care about them just as much as they care about their business, if that makes sense.
32:36.14 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Yeah, it makes perfect sense. So, Amy, as we start to wrap up here, I think you've provided some some great insight and some ideas. Hopefully you're sparking some thoughts of the people listening. But what would be one action item that you could suggest to a chamber champion that's listening that they can do to help take their chamber up to the next level?
32:58.982 Amy Hoyes
I would say look ahead. You have like we're, you know, it's July 2020. Where are you gonna be in July 2021? You can't just plan for the right now. You've got to plan a year in advance. you gotta look at where you are. how do you prepare for that? Are there grants out there you qualify for? Or is there a program or event you can start now that will generate money for you next year? so to me, the key action item is looking ahead at least a year, sometimes 18 months. But you gotta you've gotta look ahead. It would be the biggest action item I would say for people.
33:33.068 Brandon Burton
I love the quote of and and I'm horrible at attributing who says things, but the quote of the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago and the next best time is today. You know, so plant that tree today so you have that that revenue source in the future. Right. So talking about looking ahead, as we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see their purpose going f going forward?
33:49.726 Amy Hoyes
Right. Agreed. Absolutely.
34:00.622 Amy Hoyes
So I I really like to think of Chambers as a one-stop shop to really promote a town or a city. So I see us really as the public relations and marketing arm for businesses and even tourism in some cases. So we really want to be that marketing arm for everybody to help build everybody up. So and a lot of small towns don't have a department really solely designated for that. So I see chambers need to be more involved in economic development to promote their city, support their city, help expand the city. and whether that's through community collaboration, leadership programs, outreach programs. So to me, the key is really working with partners for common goal. I also really urge chambers to ask their members what they need. What do you need from us? You know, do you need to fill employment gaps? Do you need an advocate? What do you need from us? So before all those shutdowns happened, we were actually working with our members. And the local school school system on an employment pathways program to help get students into trade jobs and make those connections with our members. So we were I'm hoping by 20, the 2021, 22 school year that we can kind of revisit that. But the bit I I see our potential students getting jobs with our local chamber member businesses in the trade fields and it therefore invests long term in the community because they are investing back in the community and it and it further enhances that economic development for our city. So to me it's just investing back in that community. You know, if you're the head of a chamber or involved in a chamber, to me it's just, you know, collaborate with each other, whether it's the school system, the the city, how can you work together and advance each other? you know, whether it's employment for you know, you've got company that needs needs workers, how can you connect them with those workers? How can you partner and connect together? Cause think that keeps everybody relevant. So that that that to me is what I see happening in the future is just really that that portal for PR marketing and collaborating together.
36:06.22 Brandon Burton
That's very good. Yeah. So what would be a a good way for somebody listening to be able to reach out and connect with you if they have any questions about how you're doing things at the Grand Ledge Chamber or anything that we discussed today in this episode, what would be the best ways for them to reach out?
36:22.606 Amy Hoyes
Sure. Well, the the easiest way obviously right now too is just to email me. My email address is Amy. It's A M Y at Grand Ledge Chamber dot com. You also, if there's something you want to share with me or mail me or whatever, my office is in City Hall. the address, if I can share it, it's three ten Greenwood Street in Grand Ledge, Michigan. it's actually closed to the public right now as far as kind of where my office is, but I do go into my office on Mondays. I work from home the other days of the week. But you can call my office. The office number is five one seven six two seven twenty three eighty three and I'll call you back when I go in there on Mondays. Otherwise just email me throughout the week is the best way to reach me.
37:04.29 Brandon Burton
That is perfect. And I will update all your the ways to connect with you on our show notes page, which will be found at at ChamberChatPodcast.com slash episode eighty seven. But again, Amy, thank you for joining us today. I think this is valuable information, both intellectually but also i in reality when it comes to dollars and cents. And I I hope everybody listening got some value out of this and can turn it around and and take some action at at your chamber to to help raise more funds and and make up some of that lost revenue where you need.
37:36.756 Amy Hoyes
Right, right. Well thank you. I and Brandon, I want to say thank you too, because I think this pod your podcast is advocating for businesses as well. You're you're advocating for us. So I think it's a great service that you're providing chambers as well. So thank you.
37:50.112 Brandon Burton
You bet. In fact, I have this vision that I I'm going to affect millions of businesses as I as I work with chambers and and you know getting the word out, millions of businesses and even more people will be affected. So thank you for saying that and recognizing. I appreciate it. If you are a Chamber Professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

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

Episode 86 — Testimonial Strategies with Shari Pash
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Shari Pash
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.83 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:13.804 Shari Pash
Now your host. He believes in the philosophy of being more interested than interesting. He's my dad.
00:20.206 Brandon Burton
Brandon Burton. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is your host, Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. If you happen to be new to listening to Chamber Chat Podcast, I would invite you to check out our Get Started page found at Chamber Chat Podcast.com/slash start, where you can get some ideas for some nondues revenue sources as well as our free chamber podcasting guide. In case you've ever considered doing a podcast for your own chamber, you can check that out. But today, our guest is Shari Pash. And Shari is the founder of Strategic Solutions for Growth, a training and coaching company headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her work focus is on sustainable member and volunteer growth, which requires much more than just maintaining the status quo. It calls for innovation, creativity, and a strategic approach. She also conducts board of director planning and goal setting sessions and works alongside her clients to take their efforts to the next level. That's why chambers of commerce throughout the US and Canada are turning to Shari. In addition, Shari is a dynamic conference presenter for many national associations, including the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, Institute for Organization Management, Canadian Chamber of Commerce Executives, National Home Builders Association. and Canadian Home Builder Association. As a highly sought-after industry professional, she's regularly invited to share her knowledge at state and provincial conferences across the U.S. and Canada. I'm grateful to have Shari with us today on Chamber Chat Podcast. And maybe just a a little bit of background, as a few weeks ago she was presenting on one of the IOM webinars, and she had mentioned something about testimonials. gathering testimonials from from your chamber members, especially throughout this time of the the COVID pandemic. And that got me thinking that there's a whole nother level that we can kind of dive into about testimonial strategies. So I invited Shari to come on the show to to share some of her knowledge with us about this. And we will get into this discussion as soon as we hear from our sponsor. Every chamber is looking for new ways to increase their nondues revenue.
02:45.698 Brandon Burton
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03:47.504 Shari Pash
thanks Brandon. and thanks for inviting me to be with you all today. really exciting to to spend some time together here. notable how interesting it is, but I'm really excited that I'm in my tenth year of doing this now. And like many of you guys, I miss, you know, seeing everyone at conference. But also I think the main thing that I find fascinating is I'm blessed to have retired from Michigan State University at a really young age. And so I get to live my dream right now. And that to me is really cool. I retired and went to be VP of Sales in our convention bureau for a few years and then contracted as a VP with a local chamber. And you know, I just I love what I'm doing, what my long-term goal was all those years ago to really be a coach and trainer. And here I am ten years into it. So truly, if any of you who are listening have that bug, you want to do some consulting, coaching, training, it's on your heart. you know, follow it. It's it's the best stage to be at. And I was able to move closer to my son this last fall and his family and I'm able to work from anywhere. So for me that's really interesting. I get to work from anywhere and everywhere. So yeah, so that's I think think that's the best thing right now.
04:52.662 Brandon Burton
Yeah, the flexibility would be nice and the work is very rewarding as well. So that's that's amazing. So share with us a little bit about your company and kind of the services that you offer to to these organizations and chambers of commerce and kind of help give us all a little more perspective to where you're coming from.
05:11.426 Shari Pash
Yeah, well thanks thanks for asking that. But mainly I feel like I help chambers reach their goals and their potential. right now my work takes me all across the US, I think twenty-nine states and throughout Canada. And I think I enjoy everything about conferences and I miss this, but I really love the impact that my work can have in my business on working on-site with chambers, really creating customized recruitment and engagement tools and plans and helping to implement these tools. Not not like here's some new tools you can do. Good luck. I just I'm a part of implementing them, kind of shifting that culture of how chambers view membership. And I think a lot of that is also with those board sessions. How do you shift culture of how you're doing your work now? That's a lot of what I do do. and right now there's a lot of interest in that. Right now we have to do new new operations and a new direction for our operations. So I think that that in a nutshell, I just work with with hands-on with with c chambers. I create the tools with them, we do the training. We implement strategies for growth and that's my most exciting part.
06:14.7 Brandon Burton
That is awesome. You know, as you started off that that response and talked about helping chambers achieve their their goals and their potential. Potential is one of those those words that just whenever I hear it, my ears perk up. And it it's kind of a a trigger word for me to kind of remind me personally of of my potential. And and I hope these chambers and organizations you work with can recognize the impact they can make and the real potential that they have. And that can be a whole nother discussion that we could get into about potential, but it it's a a very powerful word. so as we look into our topic for discussion today, as I mentioned earlier, we'll be talking about testimonial strategies. on the IOM webinar, as you were presenting there, I you know, I was having these these thoughts, different directions that that chambers can go with gathering testimonial strategies, but then ways that they can broadcast it and repurpose the testimonial strategies to to get it out to their membership and and potential, there's that word again, potential members. But why don't you share with us some of the some of the different strategies that you've seen that work well, maybe why they work and it just kind of the the spectrum that you've seen.
07:42.86 Shari Pash
Yeah, well, I think what what I'd like to start with is just talking about that. Like why do I even need a strategy for testimonials, right? And thinking about okay, why we need the strategy, then how do we use that strategy in those in those tools? And then maybe we can wrap up a little bit on how do we get those testimonials then. But I think for the strategy I always talk about is it's like reviews. When we think about before we download an app on our phone, our tablet, our computers. we what do we do? We read the reviews. I can't think of anyone who doesn't read a review on an app. Same thing when we purchase almost anything today, anything we're spending money on, I feel like we read reviews like crazy to see other people's thoughts, other people's impression, good and bad, right? So we want to do that same thing for your members, your potential members, your sponsors, any opportunity that someone has to invest with you, we want to have. those reviews ready for them. So the strategy is to think of it as reviews. and diverse. we want to make sure we've got lots of different types of companies, different size members. A lot of people say, well I can get them from my board, but let's go deeper than your board. Your board is your board, you know, right? The board's always going to say something nice, right, Brandon?
08:59.49 Brandon Burton
They have a vested interest. Exactly.
09:02.014 Shari Pash
Exactly. So we want to make sure that we're also getting that just got Joe Schmoe member out there that's having a great experience. And we'll talk about how to get those from them as we go through here, talking a little bit, I think. But and then so you get those members diverse and then the benefits, all the different things. It might be some advocacy work, it might be obviously networking, it could be the website analytics, it could be a program that you offer, training. Just make sure we get all these different types of feedback and reviews along with the different types of companies and members and the d different DNA, the makeup of these companies, different generations, diversity. Really think of that when they're doing interviews. So that's part of the strategy I feel like.
09:44.172 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So with the diversity, and I don't mean to to cut you off, but I think we can probably wrap back around to that maybe a little bit further in our discussion about why it's so important to have a diverse amount of reviews in your testimonial strategies. So let's maybe kind of dog ear that to to come back to.
10:00.952 Shari Pash
Yeah, definitely. Let's do that too. And and also make sure in your strategy, are there written ones as well as video ones? We know the power of video right now, right? We know the power of audio. we're here on that today. and then we can show the written too, because when we talk about how we want to implement some of these, we'll want to talk about these different platforms or formats that we can use. But but remember in your strategy too, Brandon, I think it's important that they think about recruitment, renewals for membership, sponsorships. Basically any revenue producing area we need to have reviews on. Just like any product that you're buying, you know, online, you have reviews for that specific. So we want to have specific feedback and reviews on all the different ways that someone can invest money with you, basically.
10:47.212 Brandon Burton
That is very good. And hopefully listeners of this show have read some of the reviews for Chamber Chat Podcasts. There's some great ones out there. So yeah.
10:55.982 Shari Pash
Exactly. I bet for you that's a huge tool, isn't it? Because you're only as good as your last review in many ways.
11:00.408 Brandon Burton
It absolutely is. And yeah, I'll I'll put out that shameless plug. Please, if you enjoy the show, please leave us a review. So others that are are checking can can get that out there and and I have, you know, from time to time taken reviews and read them on the show, you know, at the introduction of the show. So it I think it helps with some of that reinforcement, you know, as others are listening to the show to be able to see what other people are getting out of it and and if you're the person leaving the review, it's kinda neat. to to see yourself, you know, being promoted out there. So
11:34.35 Shari Pash
That's right. And Brandon, that's one of the key strategies. We'll we'll talk a little bit more as we go, but just what you said there, you're you're showing kind of the that someone's kind of thought leader in the industry. They you're reading off that chamber's name. The same thing, when you end up using these reviews in some of the ways that we're going to talk about, you're right on because right there, if I I want to use a review on ABC company, when I promote, I'm gonna be promoting their company every time I use that. that str that testimonial or that review. So I'm now promoting their company each time I use their testimonial or review. So what business isn't gonna want to do that, right?
12:10.086 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. It it's a a free way of advertising for them. Get them out in the in the community for sure.
12:17.454 Shari Pash
Sure is. So yeah, definitely.
12:19.374 Brandon Burton
So when you see this as a strategy, how do you put that strategy to to use? What what would be kind of that format or template if there is one of of how you would go about implementing a strategy?
12:33.474 Shari Pash
Yeah, what I the some of the tools are the ways I'd like to use them. I think one of the most powerful ways that we can use them and and very few are using it this way, is especially in the written format, but video you could do this also, but is to collect those those testimonials. Now you're getting ready to email either a prospect who's interested in membership, a maybe a renewal that you're trying to really get that renewal to come in. Or even a sponsor, perhaps, that you're looking to really get an appointment with. Some of this you might use in an email just to get some time on the phone together. But when you send that email in the body of the email or under your your e your email signature, if you were to include a testimonial or a review, that's what might get you the actual appointment, more so than anything you've said in your email in many ways, because now they've seen what this company says. about you and now they want some of that too. And but it's really important that when you are emailing someone, you're pulling out a testimonial or a review to use that kind of fits the DNA of that company or maybe it's a benefit testimonial on a benefit you know would be important to a company like this. So you want to make sure to match them not just pull one out and attach it. Have a strategy what one will talk to this particular person and company and include that in that email. And it's amazing the difference that that can make in securing a phone appointment or an in-face appointment one day again. so that's I think one of the strongest ways we can use them, right?
14:08.226 Brandon Burton
And I think that goes back to the diversity in the reviews, which is where I was hoping we could kind of tie it back together. If you have a wide amount of diversity of the different types of reviews, then you can make that matching and pair that up as you're sending out a a renewal. you know, you could include a testimonial of somebody in a similar industry. Maybe not a direct competitor, but somebody that is somebody that can, you know, attest to the value that they get out of the chamber. And maybe hopefully some of these testimonials are showing value in some non-traditional ways, in ways that most members may not think of value coming from the chamber. And that'll just help support more that the value proposition the chamber has to provide.
14:53.122 Shari Pash
Yep, and that's exactly right. The more diverse you have, the bigger pool of testimonials to choose from, you can match it so much easier in that way. And again, you know, getting that appointment's your key goal so often. So you can do that. they're gonna say more than you could ever say yourself, exactly. And again, it's that storytelling, right? That's been around for years. Testimonials have been around for years. It's how we use them. and once you have that, Brandon, just like for yours, when you get those, using them in your social media. you can see in my LinkedIn profile if you go pull up my my Shari Pash LinkedIn profile. I plant those throughout my profile even in my about section and such. You can use them as on Facebook. You can be thanking a member for some fantastic feedback. We love partnering with companies like this. use them on the website. So but again, and just really promoting that member company. Hey, you know, again, I can be really promoting your company if you're comfortable with this feedback, something like that.
15:52.162 Brandon Burton
So Yeah, for sure. I can see like you said, social media. I can see I mean we we look at memes all the time on social media, right? I mean, if you had a little template card with maybe a a nice headshot of the owner of the business or whoever's giving the the testimonial with the little segment, it doesn't even have to be the whole testimonial, but just a little segment, a snippet of what they have to say. Yeah. Because you know, as people are scrolling through their social media feed. that's they're just looking for the little bits. They're not gonna stop and read a whole paragraph, but get the get the good valuable stuff, put it out there, and then you can repurpose it in other ways to have that longer form written content, or you could go a video route, which I think would be really cool to explore. Mm-hmm. are there's are there other ways that that you think of or that you've seen work well?
16:43.476 Shari Pash
Yeah, I think even leaving a voicemail message for somebody when you can give them that little teaser, you know, hey, as an example, I want to share a success story from a business like yours, just a teaser word or two. You know, remember businesses share that their website clicks have increased by 30% through the chambers directory. You know, it was an uptick of 200 clicks for them. Well, I'd like to talk with you about what type of success that type of success would mean to your business, perhaps. Something like that. Use them in in your conversations, in your your when you're talking about a return on investment make sure to put those stories with it people always want to hear other people not just we do this for you but this is what happens when your investment goes to work for you and sharing those I think just using them in our everyday conversations with anything that we're talking with an investment again I think it's important to use them in that way so in print with your your emails I should say not necessarily in print but in your emails in your phone messages in your social media, on your website, and just general conversations. Everyone in your and the beauty of having these is kind of on a in a library of sorts on a Word document or in a a file for your audio ones is that everyone in your team, all your staff, and if you're not a big staff and you have volunteers, but everybody has access to those where they can use those stories. They can share those stories because they don't all know those stories.
18:06.412 Brandon Burton
That's right. And I'm thinking as you're talking, my mind is just racing with all these different options and ways to do this. I love the whole discussion. I'm seeing, being that I'm in the podcast kind of segment, I'm seeing more and more chambers that are starting to introduce their own podcasts. And how cool would that be if you collected several of these testimonials and you started each episode of your chamber podcast with a testimonial, hopefully in that. in that person's voice, you know, get them to record it on audio. Or you could do the video route and have a YouTube channel dedicated to testimonials. And then you have your library there so you can plug in a link as you you know send out emails or you know have them embedded on your website and have a testimonial page that's just, you know, dozens of of testimonials from success stories. So That would be
18:59.48 Shari Pash
So excellent, Brandon. If people would do that, that's a fantastic way to use the especially when it's the members' own voice and then the the videos for sure when you can have a YouTube channel that has just those you know fed in there and then you can put those onto your Facebook and and Instagram and whatever else there is that people are using. So yeah, noah those are fantastic ways to use them and I like the digital piece of that.
19:22.552 Brandon Burton
So how do you go about getting the testimonials? So we've got some great strategies how to get it out, but how do you gather, how do you attract those testimonials and not make it seem like you're begging, you know? Exactly. That's right.
19:38.424 Shari Pash
Say something nice about me, please. Right. And everyone I talk with, so many of the clients in the conferences, I'm just not comfortable doing that. Well, this is a really easy way you can do this. You think about your day-to-day work and you think about phone calls. back when we were at events when you talk to somebody, think about your emails, think about the compliments that you're receiving already. People send you a note, my gosh, thank you for introducing me to this company, or what or You know, gosh, you know, you guys just saved us so much money on that this by by supporting that advocacy bill. We just saved ten thousand dollars or whatever in our company. These might be emails, these might be conversations. What we want to do is especially those easy voicemails, those phone calls, those emails as they come in, turn it back around and especially if it's an email, what they've complimented you on, don't change their words, but change the format. Write it into a testimonial, more or less from them, and then just email it back to them and say, You know, would you be comfortable? This feedback meant so much, and I know it could help other companies. Would you be comfortable if I was to use this as a testimonial throughout our social media and when I'm talking to other companies? And during that time I'll promote your business at the same time. Would that be all right with you? Well, who's gonna say no? They've already said the good things, they didn't have to do any of the work to turn it into a testimonial, and now you're gonna promote my business. So
21:00.706 Brandon Burton
Yeah. I think the key thing is and promote your business at the same time. No one's gonna say no to that. now when you get a video camera in front of they yeah, th that's a different story, but that's right. Yeah.
21:14.19 Shari Pash
Get more nervous when you're doing so so if it's not organic like that, we can gather so many just organically because we're getting that great feedback. So now just turning that into it. But if you know you w you you know there's a company having some great success or just somebody that would make a really great testimonial for you, that's where I think again you you approach them and you just talk about one, if you want that video, it it it does take people a little bit more. The spur of the moment can be good because you catch off guard and you get some grape, but You know, people sometimes like to plan, have a talking point in front of them. People get very nervous when it's video, and even audio at times. So make it comfortable for them, make it easy for them. I even will often say, you know, here's two or three keywords that I know I've heard you reference over the last few months. It would be fantastic if you could share just some words about These two or three words. It doesn't have to be long because on social media, people don't want to listen to, you know, too long. We just want a quick snippet of your feedback on these two or three words.
22:14.176 Brandon Burton
Exactly. Now I again my mind's racing as you're talking just ideas. So so maybe taking a step back to some of the organic ways. So you're at an event, hopefully sometime soon, talking on the phone, things like that. is there any tips to be able to keep this on the forefront of your mind of gathering testimonials or when somebody says something positive to think, I need to ask for A review. I need to add I I can see so many, you know, chamber presidents having these great conversations and hearing great feedback, but they've got a hundred other things on their plate and they're trying to move on to the next thing. So to pause to ask for that testimonial and how do you circle back to make sure that it actually happened?
23:04.15 Shari Pash
Yeah, and that's where it's when you're ha having that conversation, it you're right. You're you all sudden hang the phone up and go, that would have been a great testimonial. So and that's where I say maybe even in the phone call, you you don't have to remember to do it right then. It's take that that great conversation because it's probably part of a larger conversation you're having right then. But then as soon as you're off the phone, I would then take what you heard them say. and actually write it back to them as a testimonial. See as we talked yesterday or today or this afternoon or whatever, it really touched me that you had shared that kind of feedback. And this is what I heard you say. I've typed it into kind of a format of a t of of of some feedback. And then going right into that, would you be comfortable if I used your words to help other companies have the same success you had? Now if it's a larger company, they may not care about the exposure, but most do. And so Building so it's not like you have to do it right then, but then just keep that that on your to-do list every day. Testimonials, testimonials until the habit gets formed. Or just think back through your calls over the last two or three days, even. And I think if you did once a week like that, even you you're gonna recall those calls. And it's okay to follow up a couple of days later. Yeah. Because it is hard when you're in the moment.
24:20.896 Brandon Burton
So and my thought as you were giving that response is I had heard I and I I can't remember who I heard it from or when or anything, but the suggestion was to as a business owner to build equity in your business every day. And that may be, you know, an equity strategy is gathering testimonials, gathering reviews. So as a a a chamber professional, if you're thinking how can I add equity each day, and maybe, you know. Put that into your calendar where you spend three minutes and think about something positive somebody said and then jot down a note and send them an email. It's some way to add equity to your chamber.
25:02.11 Shari Pash
Love that. That's a fantastic and what value is there to to people's feedback of what you do? Talk about equity. That's that's fantastic. Yeah. I like that a lot. So yeah, and remember too that you I'm a big LinkedIn person, as a lot of people know. You can ask for those recommendations right through that system too, which sometimes makes it easy. It's a drop down, da da da da in two or three sentences I'll I'll say to somebody, you know, I know when we've been working You you mentioned this again, those two or three keywords, and I only need two or three sentences because we don't need a paragraph. We don't need, you know, volume. And some people will say, two or three words and two or three sent I can do that. And they pump it back out to you and then it's attached to your LinkedIn profile. But the best part, you copy it out of there and you use it all over the place again. Find the easy way to get for yourself, for sure.
25:46.786 Brandon Burton
Yep. Yeah. Ga I mean the the bottom line thing that I'm I'm getting out of this is you gather the testimonials and then repurpose the heck out of I mean
25:58.766 Shari Pash
That's exactly right. You get one, you use it ten times. Or ten ways I should say, yes.
26:02.444 Brandon Burton
Right. And it's supporting that business. So
26:08.022 Shari Pash
Exactly. That's the big that's the key words. And I'll be promoting your business at the same time.
26:13.312 Brandon Burton
Right. So I think you've shared a ton of great value ways for a chamber to add equity to their organization. But if you were to take from our whole discussion, what would be maybe one action item that a chamber professional can do to help take their chamber up to the next level? How where should they get started?
26:35.17 Shari Pash
With with these testimonials, I would say the main thing is start gathering them. Just get relevant testimonials, get that d that diverse DNA of the makeup of the companies and the people and get get the testimonials. So I can't I can only just say one, you know, it's gotta be two because once you gather them, implement them. But that's it's that simple. We just have to be very intentional, like you were talking about. How do you how are you intentional? Get that testimonial and just start start if nothing else, just start using them in your emails. And then figure out how to use them the rest of the way through.
27:07.018 Brandon Burton
And I I would also add, I mean, if you're a a chamber president CEO listening right now, if that ask is coming from you directly rather than a membership director or marketing, it I think it's gonna carry so much more weight. And that member is gonna feel that importance of, you know, the chamber president's asking for this. I'm gonna do it. So I think that'll help with the follow through.
27:32.238 Shari Pash
And sometimes I think we it in chambers we forget the the kind of the credibility or integrity we carry. And for a a business to have the president of the chamber ask for their feedback like that can really mean a lot to a business. We recognize them.
27:44.884 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. They th they know they're being seen. Yes. And that's a that's a level of value that they're getting out of their out of their membership. That it's kind of that intangible value. But that
27:59.02 Shari Pash
I always talk about too, there's like an emotional value to membership that we rarely talk about, but that's one of those emotions that I'm seeing, I'm important, I'm a part of our business community and I'm recognized. And there's a lot to that emotional piece of our investment.
28:13.634 Brandon Burton
Yes, for sure. So Shari, I I like to ask this question to everybody that I have on the Chamber Chat podcast, but as we look to the future, and I know right now the the water's a little murky, but as as we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see their purpose going forward?
28:33.496 Shari Pash
You know, th that's a really good question. we know ch you know, chambers serve a lot of roles and the communities vary so much. Some are festival driven, some are corporate and business driven. and definitely purpose has to be evolving right now. But I think maybe as each defines their purpose purpose, maybe, I think it's key that chambers maybe whatever your purpose is, that you begin to be seen more as visionaries, maybe instead of in and I hate to say in some cases as event managers. And I think that's had to change through this time. So kind of goes back to the brand of a chamber, but basically they need to have that visionary, they need to be inspiring their members, their staff, their community, really just have a really clear vision of where they're going. But I I also think that one of the purposes is going to be kind of that convener of information and resources that they've played such a key role in during this pandemic. And I think partnerships are going to evolve as something very important as a strategy and how we Kind of become more of a resource and a success tool for business, I think. So I think partnerships is definitely something that's going to come forward. So I'm not sure the purpose is going to definitely change. I don't think we're going to be just event organizations. And anyone who's been at a conference I've spoken at knows I've been pushing this for a while. And all of I mean, so many chambers have evolved to so much more than just events. But that message is so key now of what is your purpose, you know? And You know, I think through this this pandemic, Brandon really quick is I think chambers have really rebranded themselves in many cases. I think the chambers that were kind of known more for ribbon cuttings and networking, I think those chambers have had this opportunity to really showcase all the work they do beyond that. And they've really shown the relevance. And I think they've shined and I think they're going to show they have a different purpose than what maybe they have been perceived as having. So I think that some of it's you're gonna actually get recognized for the work that you are doing and have been doing. So that that's just my take on it. I think the purpose is definitely changing and evolving though. And we have to look at membership differently as well. there has to be the value conversations now and it we've got to move away from that transaction of I'm giving you five hundred dollars for membership, I want five hundred dollars back in value. And so that's a whole big I've I've been working for three months here on recovery sessions and
30:48.648 Shari Pash
I'm gonna be starting to do some full day recovery sessions at the very soon this fall. So and that's one thing we talk about, you know, is how do we move into these other realms with our with our membership at this point.
31:01.058 Brandon Burton
So you'd mentioned in that response that you see Yeah, I know, no, no. you'd mentioned the partnerships that you see coming out of this. What type of partnerships are you envisioning you know, coming out?
31:17.144 Shari Pash
You know, and I think that's a that's a great question. And I think it definitely with s different nonprofits. I think with maybe the some of the youth organizations even to to start to tackle some of the workforce pieces that are going to be so critical as we go forward. I think that's really important. I've seen some really great partnerships even in with the schools, and I know there's a lot of chambers listening that are already into those realms as well. but I do think it's gonna be partnerships that will help our members, and everyone's is gonna be a little bit different on what their key areas are. But I do think it's gonna be the collaborative efforts and really anything that's developing your businesses. I'd love to see more partnerships with how do we create kind of business in a box type feel? What kind of organizations do we need to bring together? Is it with a university or college in the area that can put together true training to help our businesses create become visionaries more or less? How do they put that into their product or service? They have this great product or service, but how do I become a great entrepreneur. So obviously there's a lot of partnerships in that way as well. But there's there's just such a variety. It could be even partnerships when you are trying to do those events, those big nonprofit type charitable events and such. So I don't have a really black and white answer on that, on where the partnerships lie, because I think there's such a value for every community to to research who by the person and by the organizations, who do I need to be collaborative with? and and realize we have to become collaborative. You know, I hate to even say the words, but do we need to do partnerships with our own chambers? Do we need to bring some of our smaller chambers, partnering with a larger chamber to do some of their marketing, some of their membership, but keep an identity in the small community still. So there's a lot of that's a whole nother another to conversation there, but I think partnerships are key.
33:01.24 Brandon Burton
Great response though. And the whole birth the whole reason I asked that was just to s kind of stoke some of those ideas. So as people are listening, they can think, yeah, you know, that makes sense in my community. So thank you for that. That was kind of an unexpected question, but great response. So Well Shari, I wanted to to thank you for joining us today on Chamber Chat Podcast. You've shared some great ideas about gathering test gathering and sharing testimonial strategies. Would you just
33:16.78 Shari Pash
Awesome, thank you.
33:31.106 Brandon Burton
Take a moment and share maybe the best ways for listeners to reach out to you if they have any questions about what we discussed or if they wanted to connect with you offline or bring you in to help their chamber or however they wanted to reach out.
33:43.726 Shari Pash
Okay, yeah, definitely. you can reach me by emails always fantastic way. It's shari s h ar I at sharipash.com. So my website is just that, shari s h-ar-i pash peas and paulas com. So shari at sharipash.com, super easy and LinkedIn. Find me on LinkedIn and connect with me there too.
34:04.376 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. We will put links to all of that on our show notes page, which will be found at chamberchatpodcast.com slash episode eighty-six. But again, Shari, thank you for spending time with us today. I think you delivered a lot of value. Thanks a lot.
34:17.934 Shari Pash
Well, Brandon, thank you. Thanks for having me on today. I sure appreciate it. Thanks for all the good work you're doing for Chambers too. I keep hearing your your name and Chamber podcasts everywhere. So it's fantastic. Thank you.
34:27.042 Brandon Burton
Thank you I'm gonna have to get a testimonial of that. I will
34:29.92 Shari Pash
Right one for sure. It only gotta be a couple of sentences, right? Definitely. I will do that when we're done here. Thank you.
34:32.918 Brandon Burton
That's right. If you are a Chamber professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

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

Episode 85 — Your Purpose Factor with Gabrielle Bosché
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Gabrielle Bosché
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.842 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:15.938 Brandon Burton
He loves going.
00:20.588 Brandon Burton
Welcome to the Chamber Chat Podcast. This is your host, Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. This is episode 85 of Chamber Chat Podcast. And our guest today is one of those people who will help you better serve your chamber members and your community. Our guest is Gabrielle Bosché, who is the co founder of the Purpose Company. She's a bestselling author and a TEDx speaker. She's worked with Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. military. Gabrielle and her work have been featured everywhere from NPR to Bloomberg, Fast Company, and Business Insider. Gabrielle and her husband Brian just published their most recent book, The Purpose Factor Extreme Clarity for Why You're Here and What to Do About It. I'm grateful to have Gabrielle with us today to talk more about what the purpose purpose factor is or what your purpose factor is. And we will get into our conversation with Gabrielle as soon as we hear from our sponsor. Every chamber is looking for new ways to increase their non-dues revenue. Has your chamber found a good affinity program? I have a great affinity program to offer your chamber that will continue to increase in revenue year after year. I want to introduce you to Swypit for all of your credit card processing needs. Swypit has a unique affinity program that 1, lowers your credit card processing fees at the chamber, 2. Helps your chamber members be more profitable, and three provides recurring non-dues revenue to your chamber. To learn more, please visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash C C for credit card. Again, ChamberChatPodcast.com slash CC and get swiping with Swypit. Alright, Gabrielle, we are back. Thank you.
02:23.224 Brandon Burton
for joining us on Chamber Chat Podcast. If you would, say hello to all the Chamber champions that are out there listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit better.
02:35.502 Gabrielle Bosché
Sure. Well, thanks for having me on, Brandon. I'm very excited to be joining you and all the chamber champions. You guys are leaders, you're influencers, you're the folks on the front lines, not only bringing our communities and our businesses together, but really doing an incredible job, especially during these days where businesses are really looking for that leadership right now. So you guys are are doing some incredible work. I am a California native, transplant to DC, transplant to Dallas, where I live currently with my my husband Brian. And yeah, we co-founded the Purpose Company after working with major companies, organizations, the military, helping them bridge the generation gap, which I think we'll probably chat about here in a moment. because we recognize that so many organizations, although they were looking at millennials and generations as a problem, the real consistency was that folks, whether they're consumers or clients or employees, we're wanting to find significance. So we spent the last six years really honing in on how do you talk about purpose at work.
03:41.138 Brandon Burton
That is very important and will lead into a good discussion today. kind of piggybacking on your your interesting fact, Gabrielle and I figured we found out as we were setting up this interview that we both grew up in the Sacramento area and now we both live in the Dallas area. So in fact we were in Sacramento, attended the same school district, kind of rival high schools a little bit. So it's neat to to connect with her and and and build a little bit of a relationship here. But Gabrielle, if you would share maybe I mean you've shared a little bit about your company, but what kind of drives that that work with the purpose company?
04:24.974 Gabrielle Bosché
So we really founded the purpose company because we recognized that so many people were talking about purpose, but there wasn't a system to be able to discover and then utilize purpose at work. So when I was in my teens and twenties, like most folks who are probably listening, great mentors and influencers told me, Find your purpose. And it's great advice, but it's agonizing to execute if you have no idea what to do.
04:51.146 Brandon Burton
Get a little direction, right?
04:53.07 Gabrielle Bosché
Absolutely. And I think for most people is they would follow through on their purpose if they actually knew what it was or they if they knew how to find it. And so we are kind of systems thinkers and we kind of thought after a while, if this is so important to find, there has to be some sort of system to to discover purpose. And we found out that there wasn't. So we spent years researching everything from ancient philosophies, popular religions, modern motivators, looking at what do they all have in common. And what we discovered was there are these four elements that really help solidify someone's purpose. And so we created the system, called it the purpose factor, and have been teaching it for the last few years to organizations, the military, Fortune 500s, stay-at-home moms, consultants, people around the world to help them really get clear about their individual purpose. And most importantly, how they can apply it to what they do every day.
05:50.875 Brandon Burton
That's very good. you were kind enough to share a a copy of the purpose factor with me in leading up to this interview. And I found it to be very insightful and kind of narrowing down what my purpose is, and and I think I had some idea. you may not be surprised to know that I'm a builder and a craftsman and slash messenger, given that I do the podcast and so forth, but that would that'll mean more to you guys as you dive into the book a little bit. But right now, the chamber of commerce industry is really maybe rediscovering their purpose. in the book, you guys talk about how your purpose doesn't change, but who you serve does. And I think right now, chambers of commerce throughout the country and and even throughout the world, as we navigate our way through this COVID. pandemic are really getting back to the roots about what the purpose is of their organization, why they were founded, and who it is that they served. you had shared the thought with me that we are in a a purpose economy. would you mind elaborating a little more about what it means to be in a purpose economy and kind of how that relates to chambers of commerce, understanding their purpose.
07:12.962 Gabrielle Bosché
Absolutely. I think in the past we were really dealing with an economy that was much more transactional. I work for you, I do this for you, you pay me, or there there's some sort of value exchange. Then we started moving into what we call the transformation economy, where I come in and I work for you or I buy a product from you and I want to become transformed or changed in the process. That's still all about me. What we're seeing now, really in the last six months. the economy transforming from that kind of more transactional and even that transformational element to this purpose-driven economy where people are now wanting to know what's my individual purpose, what's the purpose of the organization that I'm a part of, what is the the purpose of the products that I'm consuming. And people are becoming much more interested, aware, and invested in the purpose of the organizations that they're coming in contact with. And I think that there are number of reasons for that. I think that the shift in values of people recognizing that the economy isn't just about dollars and cents. I think that this COVID crisis really shined an important and beautiful light on the fact that people matter and that they matter more than, you know, profit and they matter more than just kind of the the standards or some of kind of the normal way of life that people have kind of gotten stuck in. We have stopped everything because we recognize people's lives, their health, their safety, their purpose that matters. And so I think emerging and even as we're pushing through this crisis together, I think the conversation is so appropriately back on the foundation, rebuilding from the start, saying, who are we and who are we supposed to help?
09:01.006 Brandon Burton
So and I think as a organization for a chamber of commerce, that's definitely where they're at now with getting back to the roots of who are we and who are we here to help? part of that answer, I think, as far as who they're here to help, is they serve the business community in their individual communities. You had mentioned how the kind of the economy is going more from transactional to transformational now to purpose. And how can a a chamber of commerce help their business community understand their purpose and where they fit in. And I asked this question amid this COVID recovery, I hope to call it right now, where there were some businesses that were deemed to be non-essential. So w how does that reflect your purpose when you're told that your position, your your job is non-essential?
09:55.734 Gabrielle Bosché
I I think that that has certainly been challenging for most folks. As a business owner myself, you know, having someone say that you're non-essential versus another organization or entity that is essential. Any person who is employing other people is essential. That relationship that you have with your customers, your clients and your employees, your vendors, your community, you're an essential element of of the organization of of American cities today. And I think that that role is so incredibly important. But I I think that the question really comes to not asking, you know, why am I here and finding our why? It's really who are we and who are we supposed to help? The entire economy is about who. It's who are you serving? It's it's how how are you solving the problem that those people in your community, those members that you have, those business owners that you serve, who are they and what problems do they Do they have today that you can serve them in? And I think that that's really right sizing our economy is again, we're getting really back to basics. Whereas the old school economy used to be build it and they will come. We've now really entered this purpose economy where it's find out who they are and help and serve them better. And so really focusing on that who again of who are we and who are we supposed to help, I think is going to be a clarifying question and that defining question. that's going to really separate the leaders from the losers in this next economy.
11:25.686 Brandon Burton
I love that whole thought of going from build and they will come to who is it that we need to serve and then build something to fit the who and the why. that makes all the difference, I believe. And hopefully the businesses that are a part of a chamber of commerce in the in the business community have some idea of what their purpose is, of why they went into business and who they're serving. But I think you're right. Right now our economy is kind of right sizing and really making us look internally to say, what is it that I'm doing? And and you've seen a lot of businesses pivoting to make a change in what they offer to their customers or how they offer their services or goods to customers. And a lot of that I think reflects back to their purpose and and who it is that they're trying to serve. So I know you've you've talked a lot about next generation chambers as you've worked with ACCE and and other organizations. What how do you see the next generation of chambers of commerce?
12:32.162 Gabrielle Bosché
think that the role of chambers are certainly shifting and changing and and becoming much more organic. I think again where it used to be here are programs that we offer, you know, does it work for you? It's we're now shifting and recognizing that our members want to become partners with us. And that is really influenced with a newer generation who wants to partner with the entities that they're a part of. It isn't just about attending events or doing the networking or or benefiting from some of the more traditional aspects of the chamber. It's that partnership. It's that peer influence. It's recognizing that there's expertise, brilliance and insight from newer members of the organization as well as those who are more established. So I I think that that kind of organic relationship and that flattening so to speak of organizations is certainly what the new generation of chambers is going to look like. We did we've done a number of studies on that next generation chamber, especially working with chambers around the country on helping them reach that newer generation of member and recognizing that that newer generation wanted to have more more training, more development, more more opportunities to connect with people in a very intentional way and and wanted to have even more structure than many organizations necessarily thought. And And so creating that opportunity again to partner, that's really the the key element is to partner with that that next generation member to make sure that you're not just creating something for them and saying, does this work? But you're creating something with them to ensure that it will.
14:14.99 Brandon Burton
That's right. And as you're giving that response, I was thinking of you know some different business models. for example, Tom's, you know, TOMS shoes. They have a a huge customer base because there's a certain segment of the population that sees the great value of a company who so they're taking your money in that transaction, but then they have a greater purpose of providing shoes to those in need. And their customer base supports that. They get on on board with that mission and purpose. and drive that. And I I can see where as this next generation is is kind of looking to chambers of commerce for that that those partnerships and more of a a true investment in the organization and and what they're gonna get out of it as far as training and development and so forth. So I think you're you're pretty spot on with that.
15:04.246 Gabrielle Bosché
Well, I love that you you said that too, because branding you're spot on, because TOMS Shoes also too represents the new consumer base, which when I purchase something as a new consumer, it I'm purchasing it because it says something about me. And so as a chamber, you have to recognize as you're bringing in those next generation members, they're joining because it says something about them. Whereas in the past it was that's just what you do as a business. New new generation chambers recognize that they're competing with pop-up groups and virtual networking and LinkedIn and all these other entities. And so you have to recognize that this new generation of of members will join, but you have to really dig deep into considering what does joining your chamber say about them. When I buy something from TOMS Shoes, it says that I'm interested in fashion, I'm interested in giving back, I'm ph philanthropic. And so creating that avatar of who is it that this new generation member is and what about their values resonates with our values, that's really where the opportunity comes in to really deliver on that partnership promise.
16:15.51 Brandon Burton
That's right. And I think as people see the chamber logo in a business window or in an email signature or wherever it's coming, there's a certain resonance that comes with that, or there should be. So as another person or business owner sees that, they should know what that business stands for, what that means for them to be a member of the chamber. And I done a whole episode about frequency, vibrations, resonation, that totally kind of aligns with what we're talking about right there. But what does your chamber reson how does your chamber resonate with others? Yeah, what is that frequency that you're putting off and how are others going to resonate with that? So great point. I I appreciate that. So let's talk a little bit more, maybe specifically, about the book, the purpose factor. As somebody picks up the book, just share with us what they can expect to get out of it. I think the name itself, the purpose factor and the the the subtitle are are pretty descriptive as to what they get. But there were as I read through it, I think a few things that stood out to me that I thought, huh, I didn't really expect to to get that as I read through this book. So what would a the reader what could they expect as they pick up your book?
17:37.054 Gabrielle Bosché
Sure. The the book itself is really written for that individual who knows that they were made for more, the organizations who recognize that that they have to focus more on their purpose as an entity and that as leaders they need to discover their purpose and help their employees discover their purpose. And so that's what's been so great is we've got teams lead reading the book together. We've been doing virtual trainings for organizations around the world on helping them find their purpose. as individuals than discussing how they can use their individual purpose to help their employees, help their members, help their customers. It's really incredible. So the book itself is the most practical approach to purpose discovery ever created. It takes you from recognizing the myths that many of us believe about purpose, debunks a lot of those myths, help you helps you with the mindset you need to be able to discover your purpose. takes you through the four steps of purpose discovery and then, and this is my favorite part, takes you to the three steps of applying your purpose to your organization or to your life. And so that way if you don't just rest in knowing that I have a purpose and you have those warm fuzzy feelings, that's great. But that's step one. In order to be able to execute on that purpose, serve your members better, serve your family better, your community better. you need to have an application plan. And so we have a very simple three step plan to apply your purpose to what you do every day.
19:10.104 Brandon Burton
Very good. One of the things that really I guess it kinda gave me a chuckle because you kind of set the stage with it early on in the book is you mentioned that passion is a barely controllable emotion. And people all the time say just follow your passion. Follow you know, follow your passion. And you guys point out how dangerous that can be if you don't understand what your purpose is, because the passion can change day to day. It can it can move as the wind blows. So I I love those kind of little snippets you guys included throughout the book that really make you evaluate and and look from a different perspective at what what maybe you thought your purpose was to look at it from another angle. And I also I feel like this is a very timely book as a lot of people as they've been shutting aside for months and maybe been laid off from their jobs or furloughed or different, you know, situations. I think a lot of people are asking themselves that question, what is my purpose? You know, what am what am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to serve? And when you're leaving your control up to your employer or government or whatever your situation is, it can become kind of detrimental to somebody's you know, how they feel about themselves or self esteem. So can you talk a little bit to that, maybe the the impact that people are seeing right now and how the book can help them through?
20:45.106 Gabrielle Bosché
Felt going into this season that we had a choice. We could either see this season of working from home and things kind of slowing down. We could see the season as a gift, or we could see it as a crisis. We could see it as something that would benefit us and something we were grateful for, or we could see it as something that had to be handled and we would spend our time reacting to the world around us. And so what I've recognized is many organizations are really taking this time to think deeply about who they are and who they can help. They're reconsidering what programs do they actually need to invest in, what's actually going to move the needle. They're taking the time to breathe more life into the some of the programs that maybe they've been intending to go after, but they've had to delay because there have been things that are or at least appear to be more pressing. So I'm really seeing this season where people are taking the time with the white space that we have because we're not busy running kids around, we're not busy running to and from meetings, we're doing everything digitally and virtually. And so I I think it's really causing people to ask some of those big life questions. And I think that the timing of this book being released is certainly very interesting. We've got incredible feedback from folks and we've got endorsements from folks like The Rock and Tony Dungy and and Simone Biles and Gary Keller and things like that, which is incredible. And I think why we're seeing so much momentum on this book is because the timing of asking who am I and who am I supposed to help as an individual first and as an organization second is really going to be the defining factor for those coming out of this crisis to determine whether or not they're going to be leading the future of the purpose economy. Or they're going to be stuck in the old ways of the past, reacting and waiting for things to return to normal.
22:43.062 Brandon Burton
And those structures of the past, I think they'll they'll last for a little while, but they're gonna struggle as they as they last before they they dwindle away. So I mean we're seeing a lot of chambers making that pivot, you know, where they're seeing they have a lot of in-person events that have been canceled or postponed indefinitely because they don't know when they can meet in in a room again with people, you know, more than a group of ten or whatever. but they're pivoting to do things over Zoom or all different, you know, offerings altogether and seeing more chambers getting into podcasting to be able to share their advocacy efforts with their membership and and even have a a wider purpose in in connecting with their community at large and not just the business community. So I think you're right. It's a a huge opportunity to be able to reevaluate and see how do we come out of this better? How can we look at this as an opportunity, define our purpose and come out of it better. So I I appreciate you sharing that. So besides first of all, I mean we've talked about the timing of the book and when it's released. Do you want to share with the audience when when your book does come out?
23:51.768 Gabrielle Bosché
So it's available for pre-order right now on purposefactor book dot com and the books will officially be released at the end of September, September twenty-ninth.
24:03.554 Brandon Burton
All right. And I assume once it's released, I mean they could still get it through your website or some of these other locations that Amazon and things like that, which I I I'd probably encourage people to go to your website. I think Amazon's getting plenty of business right now. But but yeah, so that again that's purposefactor book dot com and we'll we'll put that in the show notes for this episode as well. But Gabrielle, I wanted to ask you what would be one action item that a a chamber champion who's listening right now, what's something that they could do at their chamber to help take their their organization up to the next level?
24:48.918 Gabrielle Bosché
Sure, I I really think that it's focusing on that who. When you start with a who, everything else falls into place. So there's a story that we tell in the book about the tumbleweed tank. So the tumbleweed tank was created during World War II to cr to protect soldiers and it had everything. It would protect them against mustard gas and it would protect them against landmines, and it was really this innovative solution to keeping soldiers safe. The only problem was that there were no windows. And there was no door. And so oftentimes as organizations, we create entities, movements, programs that do everything that seems like needs to be done. If we protect our members, we serve them, we inform them, but we don't think about the windows and the doors. And so as an organization, you have an opportunity and frankly a responsibility during this time to really get to know your members more. It's start with who first. Who are they and what do they need? So really spending time on focus groups, one-on-one interviews, spending time getting to know them and what their deepest challenges are. Because when you start with who first, everything else comes into place. When you start to understand their challenges, their fears, their anxieties, their their opportunities, what they hope for in the future, then you can really dig deep into how you can best serve them. Because again, the role of the chamber is changing. Your your purpose isn't changed, but but how you serve those people is certainly going to change. And so as you get to know your your people, and we always talk about starting with people first, as you get to know your people better, you're going to be able to become sharper, more competitive, and and more holistic in the way that you're serving your members today.
26:40.118 Brandon Burton
Right. I would love to have an interview with whoever it was that designed the tumbleweed tank and just ask, what were you thinking? I know their intentions were good, but really, what were you thinking? It was a a great example that was shared in the book there. So this question I asked everybody that I have on the on the show, and I think it aligns very well with your company and with your book and and with your purpose. But as we look to the future of chambers of commerce. How do you see their purpose going forward?
27:13.678 Gabrielle Bosché
I really see the role of the chamber really shifting to again be that partner with with the businesses that that are members and really seeing them as continuing to expand and grow their voice. Whereas before I think that chambers really played an important role when it came to membership and networking and advocating on behalf of their members. Now we're really seeing, especially with next generation employers coming on the scene, that they're looking for education and development in a very deep way. And so the role of chamber is no longer just going to be that entity that is going to, you know, advocate and inform that Chamber of Commerce is going to start getting involved in everything from helping certify a new generation of employees. Whereas Generation Z. That generation who's graduating right now is the first generation most likely to not attend a traditional four-year university. They're getting certifications, they're attending trade schools, they're they're getting mentorship one-on-one through apprenticeship programs. So I think the role of the Chamber of Commerce is going to help on the recruiting side of things. I think that it's going to help in educating individuals outside of just the member base. And and I think that it's really going to start to shift and change even the conversation around the role of employer in the community. And I know many who I'm sure are listening right now are part of that shift. And I and I think that it's such an incredible movement that the chamber is really stepping into and a huge opportunity to be able to not only influence a new generation of employers and employees, but really lead the way for the future of what we call the purpose economy.
29:06.934 Brandon Burton
Great response. And I think you're right on cue. I've been doing for the last two years, I've done Chamber of the Year finalist series where ACC I've I've interviewed the each chamber that's been up for the Chamber of the Year award from ACCE. And almost every one of them talks about some type of apprenticeship program that they are highlighting in their application. working with the school districts, having a partnership there, working with their local colleges and universities and trade schools and and partnering with the major employers in their community to find out what their needs are and to be able to help train and bring up the next generation of employees and really supporting the industry in their community. So I think you're spot on with the the direction that chambers of commerce are going. So Gabrielle, as we wrap up here, I wanted to to give you an opportunity to maybe put your contact information out there. If somebody wanted to learn more about you or connect with you offline about anything that we discussed today, what would be the best way for them to to reach out and to find you and and go ahead and plug your the website again for the book as well.
30:18.382 Gabrielle Bosché
Sure. Well thank you, Brandon. So they can reach out to us at purposefactorbook.com or purposecompany.co. And that's where you'll get all of our information, find out where we're speaking, how to get access to the book and more information about our programs and what we're most excited about these days.
30:38.028 Brandon Burton
That is perfect. I will get both of your websites on the show notes page for this episode, which everybody can find at ChamberChatPodcast.com slash episode eighty-five. Gabrielle, I appreciate you spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. I hope those chamber champions listening are able to maybe refocus on what their purpose factor is and pick up the book and and see what you have to offer. Thanks a lot.
31:05.614 Gabrielle Bosché
Thanks for having me on.
31:08.16 Brandon Burton
If you are a Chamber professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

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

Episode 84 — Tulsa Regional Chamber 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Michael Neal & Justin McLaughlin
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guests: Michael Neal and Justin McLaughlin
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.294 Brandon Burton
This special episode is part of our 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist series, where you get to hear from some of the top chambers across the country. I hope you find great value in this series, but first, the intro. This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community. And now your host, the offensive line for my dad, Brandon Burton. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. This is episode eighty-four of Chamber Chat Podcast. It's also our thirteenth and final episode.
00:55.07 Brandon Burton
Chamber of the Year interview, the Chamber of the Year Finalist Series interview. And in this interview will be it's kind of a special one. It's my first time that I've I have a a tag team. we've got we've got a twofer on this this episode as we're highlighting the the Tulsa regional chamber. We've got both Mike Neal, their the president and CEO, and Justin McLaughlin, their executive VP and COO. But I would like to just mention before we get into this, if if you're newer to listening to Chamber Chat Podcast, I'd encourage you to check out our get started page at Chamber Chat Podcast.com slash start, where you can get some ideas for some nondues revenue for your chamber, which I know is important right now, as well as the free resource that we have there of our chamber podcasting guide. So again, both both of those resources can be found at Chamber Chat Podcast.com slash start. So we'll start off this episode as I share the a brief bio for both Mike and Justin. So Mike Neal, the president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, which was previously the Tulsa Metro Chamber, was named Chamber of the Year in two thousand five, two thousand eight, and twenty ten, and was a finalist for the award in twenty eighteen, and now again here in two thousand twenty. Mike has spent time as the president and CEO of the Nashville, Tennessee Area Chamber, as well as his hometown chamber of Monroe, Louisiana. Mike is also heavily involved with the US Chamber of Commerce, serving on various boards and committees. Mike is a graduate, a accounting graduate from the University of Louisiana, Monroe, where he played baseball. Justin comes from a background of governmental affairs and economic development as he worked in the public sector as well as in at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and at the Bartlesville Development Corporation and Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce. Justin has a finance degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. He and his wife are the parents of three children. We're excited to have both Mike and Justin.
03:10.344 Brandon Burton
on the podcast today and we will be talking about what makes the Tulsa Regional Chamber stand out to be considered yet again for Chamber of the Year. We will get into this discussion as soon as we get back from hearing from our sponsor. Chambers are not considered for Chamber of the Year without having great programs and steady streams of non-dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swypit. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swypit is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swypit Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the Chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swypit Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit. ChamberChatPodcast.com slash CC for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swypit. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit ChamberChatPodcast.comslash C C to start swiping with Swypit. Alright, Mike and Justin, we are back. I'd like for you both to take just a minute to say hello to the chamber champions out there that are listening and and if you'd both share something interesting about yourself, it's fun to to get you know get to know you both a little better.
04:43.586 Justin McLaughlin
Hey Brandon, this is Mike. I'm this is my 30th year in the chamber business. I I think I got into this by accident 30 years ago and I had no idea that I would be doing this 30 years later, having done it now in three states. and it's been a it's been a it's been quite a quite an experience, quite a blast. it's just so much fun to meet chamber folks and college economic development folks across this country. probably a thing about me is that I'm a I'm a big L S U Tiger fan and we finally had a good football team. We finally had a good quarterback and a good football team. It's been a while coming, but we're not gonna live that down.
05:22.434 Brandon Burton
Then he moved on to the NFL. So start again next year, right? Justin, why don't you tell us about yourself?
05:33.198 Michael Neal
So Justin McLaughlin, originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, born and raised here. And I've been doing economic development and chamber profession for a little over 15 years now. I've been with the Tulsa Chamber for going on 10 years and really love the profession. And I would say what we get to do and make a difference in our communities and really be at the heart of all those things that are going on is what I really enjoy. I would I would say interesting facts about me. I'm very much an outdoors person. I love the outdoors, hiking in the mountains, hiking anywhere is what I like to do on weekends and and for vacation.
06:11.32 Brandon Burton
Right. It's nice to be able to get out and especially in times like right now, it'd be nice to get out into the mountains somewhere. And in fact just a few weeks ago we my family and I were we're in the Dallas area and we ventured up to the Wichita Mountains, which you know, people in other parts of the country might not realize that Oklahoma has mountains, but they it has this really neat little mountain range up there. So went went for an escape for a day. Let's dive in and talk a little bit about The Tulsa Regional Chamber, if you guys wanna just explain, maybe give a little bit of perspective where you guys are coming from in this discussion so people can better understand maybe the size and location, budget, staff, things like that, so we know where you're coming from.
06:55.5 Justin McLaughlin
Great, thanks, Brandon. We're a little bit of a unique animal in that we are a consolidated organization. And by virtue of that, we happen to be one of the probably top five chambers in America size-wise, by virtue of the fact that we have a Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau, an Economic Development Corporation, a Sports Commission, a Small Business Group, a Film Music, Arts and Culture Group, a manufacturers group, a chamber foundation as well as three different political action committees. And so we're we we share common management, common common strategic plan. we're very aligned. we have some twenty two hundred twenty-one twenty two hundred member members in our of our organization. We represent some hundred and eighty thousand workers in northeast Oklahoma, second most populated city in the state. Tulsa, Oklahoma City drive two-thirds of our state's economy. Our MSA is basically, we've just topped the million, one million mark as far as MSA. We had what I'll refer to as a pre-pandemic budget of in the 16 to 17 million range and a staff of 75. Flux that's fluctuating now with COVID. But we have been really charged with driving. both regional and in and individual prosperity in northeast Oklahoma. we by virtue of our of our size, we deliver a a ton of programs, wide variety of programs and services to businesses of all shapes and sizes throughout our our area. We're in a we're an entity, Brandon, that's been around for a while. We're 118 years old. and we have really been charged with like many most chambers are really trying to make their community a great place to live, work. play and visit. And our our tagline is your partner in prosperity. And in and by that we really mean that every strategy, every program, every service that our chamber provides is specifically intended to increase prosperity for our city and for our members.
09:04.022 Brandon Burton
Yeah, as you were telling about the the Tulsa Regional Chamber, it I I hear a lot of similarities to the Oklahoma City Chamber, but for good or bad, but we had Roy Williams on the show a few months ago and in hearing him talk about the Oklahoma City Chamber and hearing you talk about the Tulsa Regional Chamber, you guys both are doing a lot of things that are not typical for chambers to do. Yeah.
09:28.15 Justin McLaughlin
Roy's great yeah, Roy's a great friend. our our teams, our government affairs teams work together at the state legislature. They work together in Washington, DC. Our economic development teams work together and recruit to together, both really domestically as well as internationally. And so we're great partners. And as I said, our two cities drive two thirds of our state's economy. So it's really important that we work together and collaborate to the best of our ability.
09:57.758 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. I I just mentioned that for the fact of things that regular chambers don't you don't normally hear them doing. just for the the point that not every chamber out there listening right now has the same resources or abilities, but as you listen, there may be some of those things that that that Mike and Justin are talking about here at the Tulsa Regional Chamber. that you can't necessarily mimic the whole thing, but there may be bits and pieces. You could say, you know what, let's try that back in our community. And and really that's what this podcast is all about, is being able to get those ideas, see what you can what sparks you can get and what you what kind of fire you can ignite back in your own community. So I just wanted to shed some light on that as we as we get started on this. So as as you guys submitted the application for Chamber of the Year, I know there's the portion for the the synopsis where get to highlight a couple of programs that you guys are proud of and and things that are working for you. Could you share with us what those synopsis are and and we can dive into those a little bit.
11:07.032 Justin McLaughlin
Sure. Brandon, I'll cover the first one. Justin will cover the second one. Our first one really had to do with our work to build tribal partnerships as part of our Tulsa Future Regional Economic Development Strategic Plan and our economic development strategy. And we are we're fortunate in that about sixteen years ago we started a an economic development organization and it it it w initially was a one county. City County Economic Development Organization has now grown to a 20-county regional economic development partnership that our chamber leads. We align our resources with the work of more than 200 public and private investors in that program. That program, Tulsa's Future, has really had its hand in working with businesses that have created some 70,000 new jobs and facilitated almost $4 billion. of capital investment in Northeast Oklahoma since that program began in 2006. And I would say that one of the unique things about our chamber in Oklahoma is that we have tribal nations, sovereign tribal nations, that have become really integral partners in all of our work, in all of our chamber work, our tourism work, our economic development work. But for the purpose of this application, we really chatted about Our economic development work and part of a part of the ACCE Horizon initiative of resource alignment, we've really worked hard to engage the three major tribes in our in our region. They all come together and our s their their borders meet in in the center of our city, but they but they all three represent huge portions of Northeast Oklahoma. They're the Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and the Osage Nation. And I'd say they are part of what I would contend. is one of the strongest public-private partnerships that really exist in this country. And I would just say, as we've had a a significant number of very high profile economic development projects and successes over these past few years, the tribal governments have been unbelievably engaged. And it's whether whether it's talent recruitment, whether it's helping provide transportation,
13:31.032 Justin McLaughlin
whether it's to help provide, you know, critically needed infrastructure funding to to help a company get a building built or infrastructure for for our new capital investment started. They've been un they've been astounding partners. Justin, who used to lead our economic development efforts, can certainly elaborate on some of those.
13:50.632 Michael Neal
Yes. Several really successful projects that the tribal nations have been involved in. And those would go back several years to a large Macy's distribution center that we recruited here. they helped provide some incentives as well as workforce and a pipeline of talented workforce into the Macy's project. also had another $100 million facility that was about 600 new jobs called Greenheck Group, and they're continuing to grow. the tribe, the Cherokee Nation was also very active in that. and then we had a a tissue paper manufacturer that's a huge project, about a $360 million project that the tribes have also been very active and helping with. And so they just they just continue to be at the table for us and are just something that gives us a uniqueness that a lot of communities don't have. they all three of the tribes said chief chiefs sit on our board, and so it it's just been a really great partnership for us. And and I and I and and I think beneficial to them. based on what they tell us as well.
14:51.202 Brandon Burton
That is great. I love that partnership and and I never would have thought, of course I'm not in your your region, but as far as reaching out to the the tribal nations for those partners partnerships and strategic partnerships. And Justin mentioned three hundred million dollar tissue paper menu. I I'm in the wrong business. I need to I need to get in tissue paper.
15:11.234 Justin McLaughlin
The first project that the tribe became involved in is this Macy's Order Fulfillment Center that Justin referenced, and it it now employs in excess of 5,000 people on a in a combination of part-time, full-time, and seasonal workers. another and an Amazon order fulfillment center. The Greenheck Group is grow going to Justin referenced, started out at a 600 jobs, it's now gonna grow to in excess of a thousand jobs. We're we the the according to the media. highly acclaimed media reports lately. We are supposedly a a finalist along with Austin, Texas, for a four or five billion dollar Tesla manufacturing facility. And the tribes are heavily engaged with our governor, with our local elected officials, with our chamber, our economic development team. So they're they're they're phenomenal partners.
16:02.88 Brandon Burton
I've been seeing that on social media and everything about being in the running for Tesla and and trying to remember who it must have been somebody there at the chamber put up a a logo with it said Tulsa it Tulsa for Tesla I think or but the the font was the same as Tesla. It looked it was pretty slick. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I can see why.
16:23.47 Justin McLaughlin
It's looking good.
16:27.682 Justin McLaughlin
That really segues to our next project having to do with donation of some historic chamber board minutes really relating back to our nineteen twenty one Tulsa race massacre. And I'll ask Justin to tell you about that.
16:42.668 Michael Neal
Yeah, so so last year the Tulsa Regional Chamber publicly donated minutes from the period of this nineteen twenty-one race massacre, when there was hundreds of African Americans who killed in what was an affluent Greenwood district that was known as Black Wall Street and was basically burned to the ground and crippling the African American business community. and there were some troubling passages in in this these minutes. But they really offered some insights into some of the attitudes and actions of those at that time that were in power. you know, and we we after after a lot of soul searching and thought that went into this and and certainly brought in some some experts to help us with that, the chamber apologized for its response at the donation ceremony to the massacre and also for not acknowledging its history for so many years. This effort really supported the Horizon initiatives of addressing political and social fragmentation and helping to provide catalytic leadership for change. One of the things that we've had for a long time is what we call our mosaic program. It's really about making the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion. And so we use that program as a platform to really elevate this work for some new audiences. to help prompt dialogue and action that's moved beyond the chamber and into the wider community. The thing that we're looking at as a community right now is we have that centennial coming up in 2021. And so the question that's going to be asked is what looks different today. And so that that is really what's been on on our minds, our communities minds, our board of directors' minds, to make sure that that we have that we've can we continue to make progress. I don't think anybody would suggest that we're where we need to be, but it's something that we're working on, or this community is very much actively engaged in what that looks like moving forward. And so it really has helped bring about a lot of conversations that we got started. I will say one more thing about that that was also neat is we were able to with we in partnership with the Hilti Corporation brought in a group called Catalyst that does a a men advocating for real change event.
18:58.238 Michael Neal
and it's it's made up of a diverse group, men, women, and diverse individuals, but basically going through a two day session with CEOs and and looking at a variety of perspectives and it's just a really good piece of training that helps move communities forward. So we were able to get a large group of CEOs to go through that. It took two days out of their schedule. and and I think, you know, had we not maybe started some of these conversations with this, those might might have not happened. I don't know. So it's that's we've started this dialogue which has been good.
19:31.032 Brandon Burton
So I'm curious with the centennial year coming up next year, is there some kind of plans to commemorate or or draw attention to or recognize the I don't know how you recognize the effects of the the massacre, but to to shed some light and kind of take a pulse of where Tulsa is now versus what it was then? Is there something in the works?
19:54.134 Michael Neal
Yes, there there is a series of of some centennial projects. probably the largest one is a museum that's that basically has the funding raised for it right now. and they're, you know, looking to break ground before too long. So that that would be probably one of the biggest projects, but there's a number of projects that are out there and then really fe really working to make sure that it's you know it's memorialized in an appropriate way. in that coming year. And so that that there's there's a lot of plans being made for that.
20:25.388 Justin McLaughlin
And I'd say, Brandon, one of the things that I think we're we're we're extremely proud of is our Mosaic program. Mosaic is an outgrowth of what used to be our Diversity Business Council. And Mosaic really builds the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion. And we have a senior vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion who does a great job leading that program, is very heavily engaged with the Centennial Commission and with the North Tulsa business community. and African American business leaders and like elected officials to help keep us heavily engaged. we try to leverage the work of mosaic everywhere we possibly can.
21:05.568 Brandon Burton
I think it's great that you guys are are bringing attention to this and that those those minutes were donated to be able to to draw attention to it. A while back I had come across a it was a podcast series on it was called American History Tellers that talked it had a whole series on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. And before that, my knowledge of it was very, very little. I had I'd heard about it in passing, but never really had spent time on it. And I just I bring that up for anybody who may not be totally familiar with what happened to be able to check out that series because it really does shed some light and and it's a a proud thing to to see the chamber bringing attention to it and trying to make sure it's memorialized in in an appropriate way.
21:54.208 Justin McLaughlin
And Brandon, to Justin's point, it's been something that we as a community have been horrified about and embarrassed about for decades now. but one of the things I learned, and we all learned throughout this process is during about a three or four year period of time surrounding this time frame, there was literally hundreds of race riots that occurred all over our country. it just so happens that we probably had the one that was the most well known. maybe tragic but but these occurred literally all over our country back in that time frame.
22:26.19 Brandon Burton
something I I mean I can see where where i it would be appropriate I guess to have some shame for it, but also to be able to try to move past and mend those those wounds. So I I applaud you guys for doing that. So as as we take a a step back and kind of look at with you guys being up for as a finalist again for Chamber of the Year, in your opinion, what is it about Tulsa that's making you guys stand out to be considered again as Chamber of the Year?
22:38.862 Justin McLaughlin
Thank you.
22:56.312 Justin McLaughlin
Well, I think number one as an organization, we really, Brandon, aim to be the best. that we we are focused on continu continual quality improvement processes. we were we were thrilled to win this award in our first three times we ever applied. and then next time we reapplied two years ago to be a finalist and now a finalist again and so we are honored and humbled to be considered once again. and we learned a lot over the years in going through this chamber of the year process. It forces you to really look at yourself and compare yourself to the best chambers in this country of all shapes and sizes. The other thing is that we really embarked upon after having won it three times was we really worked with our Oklahoma Quality Foundation to try to figure out a way that we really could focus on this, as I mentioned, the continuous quality improvement processes because we found ourselves as about the most unprocess oriented organization in America, despite the fact we thought we were good chamber, we we didn't have any processes in place. And so it's really been helpful to us and we've been fortunate to win three different awards of three different levels of awards of commitment to excellence by the Oklahoma Quality Foundation. But the processes have really helped our team, helped our volunteers tremendously. The other thing that we've really tried to do to distinguish ourselves from any other chamber in America is that we're the only chamber with four accreditations, a five-star US Chamber of Accreditation, an accredited economic development organization through the International Economic Development Council, IEDC, and an accredited destination marketing organization through destinations international. And then likewise, we have the only accredited City Film Commission through the Association of Film Commissioners International in the state of Oklahoma. And so we think those accreditations have really given us great credibility. You know, I'd say one of the things that's probably most distinguished us if you if you as you look back over the last fourteen, fifteen years, is the fact that we have tried to become a collaborating machine. And we've really tried to work very aggressively in collaborating with regional partners.
25:15.862 Justin McLaughlin
whether it be on economic development or tourism or advocacy, as you look as you look and work across the Northeast Oklahoma region, that collaboration has just been so essential for us. And and I think really for our future.
25:30.066 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. I think you go a lot further together, that's for sure. Yes. So the next question I wanted to ask is as as a country, as a world, as we're hopefully all by now on on the road to recovery from the COVID pandemic, what are your plans as far as leading your business community to recovery, specifically as as far as economic impact is concerned?
25:58.008 Michael Neal
Sure. You know, I I think if you go back to the middle of March, really, I think it was just about the second week in March, we sat down as an executive leadership team and and really made the realization together that, you know, a lot of what we do as a chamber of commerce is going to change for a while. And I so I think the first step for us was realizing that, you know, us us bringing a bunch of people together into rooms to, as Mike talked about, collaborate and convene and make decisions was going to look different. how we recruited jobs and helped companies expand during a pandemic when a lot of companies are not expanding was going to look different. how we recruited tourism groups into town was gonna also look different. So we realized our business really changed. And so we had we had to figure things out. First thing we did is we went out and we talked to every single member that we have. Mike and I personally called all of our board of directors. and we have a a great resource development team that went out and and called every single member. that we have a visit with them about what get their thoughts. we did a series of surveys, and really what we landed on was a new strategy that focused on five things. Number one was empowering business. Number two is advocating for relief, three is visibly leading, four is convening and connecting, and five is securing funding. And I'll talk about each one of those individually. The first one about empowering business, that's really providing businesses. With the resources they need to survive and recover. We've done a lot, we've put out a lot of fact sheets, we've boiled down information, we've done business support series twice a week to really get businesses the resources that they need. And it's not just been for chamber members, we've also made it available to everybody in the community. the second is advocating for relief, and that's really about championing legislation to make sure that we we're bringing in the funding that we can from the federal government, from the state level and the local level, and just being that advocate. For relief, and we've done a lot of that. the third is is visibly leading. And really, what we feel like is as a as a chamber of commerce, we have a great opportunity to lead and be visible and to be positive during this recovery. And so that's something that we're very much doing and trying to help this our community recover faster than other communities. That's one of the goals that we've set forth. The next one is convening and connecting.
28:22.622 Michael Neal
and that's really about bringing people together and building community in meaningful ways. And and what we mean by that is we can't physically get in a room together, but we can still convene people. We've learned as ever as all of us have, we've learned how to do those things remotely. we've learned how to how to make, you know, we've it's kind of funny, we've gone back to talking on the phone a whole lot more than we have in the past. I spend my day on the phone, Mike's the day on the phone, you know, instead of doing as much email. And so it's really about trying to connect connect with more people. And the last thing is, and this is all internal focused, really, is securing funding to make sure that we can continue our work. you know, every every chamber has had their challenges during this time. we have we have not been immune from that with our business community. we've had a significant drop in oil prices in our state. we have a lot of the a lot of those businesses here. We've also had the COVID-19. So we've been hit by two different things that have affected that have affected our ability to be able to raise funds and to be able to you know, for for members. And so securing funding's been really important. And our board has stepped up in a big way to help us help us through this.
29:30.006 Brandon Burton
Just as a quick summary, I'm gonna run through that again. So empowering businesses, advocate for relief, visibly lead, convene and connect, and secure funding so you can continue with your operations and and be there for your business community. I think those are are good key principles that every chamber can at least, you know, adopt some portion of that into their organization to try to help lead through the this recovery. So as we start to wrap things up here, I wanted to ask what would be one action item or or piece of advice that you could offer to the the chamber champions out there that are listening that they could do to to take their organization up to the next level?
30:14.782 Justin McLaughlin
I would say probably from my perspective, two things. Number one is to become involved and engaged in organizations such as ACCE, your State Chamber Association, or any other local or regional group like that, it gives you a chance to build a peer network and a chance to learn from experts across your state, your region, the country, et cetera. And I think the important thing about that is this gives you an opportunity to develop industry relationships and partnerships and friendships. And I will tell you if now having done this for 30 years, those relationships and friendships will last you a lifetime. the second thing I would say is that you've got to continue to invest in yourself and in your organization. And in our chamber, we have invested significantly in leadership training, whether it be through attendance at ACCE, IEDC, et cetera. But we've gone we've gone through our our leadership team has read a book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. And it's and so we try to pick a book a year or something like that that we can go through and study and take a chapter or two at a time that we can analyze. And it just really forces us to to to kind of focus focus on the future. And try to focus strategically.
31:45.078 Brandon Burton
I really like that idea of having that
31:47.586 Justin McLaughlin
The day to day grind that we can find ourselves in in embedded in er you know, nonstop. Just to go out.
31:55.958 Michael Neal
Two yeah, two things to add to that too. I know you said one, we'll give you five.
31:59.616 Brandon Burton
All right.
32:02.99 Michael Neal
But I think it's been important too. We we have hired a leadership consultant to help us and they they come and help our executive leadership team with retreats to keep us on topic, to keep help us think through things, and it's really been helpful to give us an outside perspective. So that's been another thing that I'd add on to Mike's talking about leadership training. The other thing that I would mention is I just I I can't say enough how important it is to spend time focusing on your strategy and your business. You know, we get we get going a hundred miles an hour, people want our time, people want us to be at this event or be at that. But to be able to sit in your office for a little while or sit somewhere quiet and really think about the business and think about what we should be doing, thinking about our strategy and thinking about the direction. I just don't think that, you know, it does it's not it doesn't look good. You're not you're not at a podium. but to me it's it's just as and maybe even more important than being at a podium is making sure that you're setting that strategy for your team. And so I would say that that's that's where I know what I would say.
33:02.434 Brandon Burton
Those are all great pieces of advice and and those everybody listening just got three extra bonuses out of that. So that is awesome. Now everybody I have on the show, I'd like to ask this question too, that you know, we're always thinking about how chambers can can stay relevant. So as we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see their purpose going forward?
33:25.624 Michael Neal
You know, think a couple of things. The chambers are really going to be essential in driving economic recovery from the pandemic. I mean, we talked about that through our strategy and how we can provide positivity as we move through this and be, you know, a a voice of hope in the community. we're also going to be help helped by bringing people together to bridge political and other divides. I mean, there's a lot of division in our country, and I think a chamber of commerce can really provide that bridge for for people and for organizations. and that really also helps reference I mean I'm sorry, that also helps with the Horizon initiative of addressing that political and social fragmentation, which we seems to be you know, in some ways getting worse at the national level. we feel like that at the local level there are ways that we can really help bridge those gaps. And so that's something that we try to do at the chamber.
34:12.373 Justin McLaughlin
And Brandon, I'd add two things to Justin's point, is number one, we must continue to be relevant. COVID nineteen has forced us to address relevancy, as Justin has just finished referencing. But you we we've got to stay relevant. We've got to change continually so we can stay relevant. And I'd say number two, that we've got to continue to drive economic development and job creation in our local communities, whether it's through existing business. retention and expansion or whether it's through new business recruitment, we've got to drive economic growth in our cities and in our regions and in our states.
34:50.644 Brandon Burton
Again, bonuses. That's awesome. Thank you for that. So I'd like to to give you guys both an opportunity for for those that are listening, if they wanted to reach out to either of you about what you've discussed with us today on the program, or just to continue this conversation offline, what would be the best ways for them to reach out and connect with you guys?
35:13.784 Justin McLaughlin
Best way to reach me is Mike Neal N E A L at TulsaChamber dot com. Mike Neal at Tulsachamber dot com or you can call me on my cell phone at nine one eight four zero nine one seven three two. Nine one eight four zero nine one seven three two.
35:32.428 Michael Neal
My email address is Justin McLaughlin C L A U G H L I N at Tulsachamber dot com.
35:40.672 Brandon Burton
All right. I will get your contact information updated in the show notes for this episode, which will be found at ChamberChatPodcast.com slash episode eighty-four. And again, Mike and Justin, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to share with us the great things you guys are doing at the Tulsa Regional Chamber. You guys provided a lot of value to the listeners out there. And I wish you guys and and your chamber the best with Chamber of the Year.
36:09.656 Justin McLaughlin
Thank you, Brandon. We appreciate it.
36:11.404 Michael Neal
Appreciate it.
36:13.558 Brandon Burton
If you are a Chamber Professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

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

Episode 83 — Greater Irving Las-Colinas Chamber 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Beth Bowman
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Beth Bowman
Editorial QA: Source transcript incomplete; closing segment requires recovery.

00:00.2 Brandon Burton
This special episode is part of our 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist series, where you get to hear from some of the top chambers across the country. I hope you find great value in this series, but first, the intro. This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:33.102 Brandon Burton
Brandon Burton. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your Chamber members and your community. This is episode 83 of Chamber Chat Podcast, and I'm excited to continue this ACCE Chamber of the Year finalist series that we're doing now for the second year in a row. And This week we have Beth Bowman with us. She is the president and CEO of the Greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce and the Irving Economic Development Partnership. But I I wanted to mention too, if you are new to listening to Chamber Chat Podcast, I'd encourage you to check out our get started page at Chamber Chat Podcast.com slash start, where you can find some resources for some nondues revenues, non dues revenue ideas for your chamber. as well as our free chamber podcasting guide if you've ever considered starting a podcast for your own chamber. Again, that's found at ChamberChatPodcast.com/slash start. So as I mentioned, Beth Bowman is our our guest today as we will be talking about the great things that the Greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber is doing. But first a little bit about Beth. Beth Bowman is a highly regarded Chamber of Commerce executive and economic development professional. in Irving, Texas, which is the 13th most populous city in the state and one of the most diverse communities in the nation. She is president and CEO of the Greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, the first five-star accredited chamber in Texas, and president of the Irving Economic Development Partnership, an alliance of private and public entities with the mission to maintain and recruit local, national and international corporations to the city. Located in the epicenter of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. Under her leadership, the Irving Las Colinas Chamber was a finalist for the ACCE Chamber of the Year in 2019, which you can learn more about last year on our previous episode with her at chamberchatpodcast.com/slash episode 35. But Beth is a champion for business industry.
02:55.45 Brandon Burton
The city of Irving, Las Colinas and its citizens working to improve the quality of life, education, and opportunities for all. She was recently appointed by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins to the Dallas County Economic Recovery Advisory Committee to help develop guidelines for reopening the businesses in the COVID nineteen environment. In 2012, she was honored by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the 40 under 40 most influential businesses and community leaders. She is also the recipient of the ACCE 2019 40 under 40 award and a member of the ACCE Board of Directors 2019. The US Chamber of Commerce named Beth to its Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. She served as a judge in the 2015 and 2016 for the ACCE Chamber of the Year Award. She also serves on the board of the Texas Association of Business, one of the most influential business organizations in the state advocating for public policies. Her professional achievements include the certified Chamber of Commerce Executive designation. She's a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organizational Management at Loyola Marymount University in California and is a certified lean six Sigma greenbelt. Beth is a graduate of Baylor University with a Bachelor in Arts in Communications and minor in business. She and her husband Steven enjoy spending their free time with their children. I'm excited to get into these highlights of what's making the greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber stand out to be considered as a Chamber of the Year finalist again for a second year in a row. And we'll get into that discussion as soon as we get back from hearing from our sponsor. Chambers are not considered for Chamber of the Year without having great programs and steady streams of non dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swypit. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swypit is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swypit Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing.
05:11.598 Brandon Burton
Fees at the chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swypit Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit ChamberChatPodcast.com slash CC for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swypit. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit chamberchatpodcast dot com slash C C to start swiping with Swypit. All right, Beth, we are back. I'm excited to have you back on Chamber Chat Podcast again and would love for you to to say hello to all the chamber champions out there that are listening and share something interesting about yourself so we all get to know Beth Bowman a little bit better.
06:06.722 Beth Bowman
Brandon, thank you so much for inviting me onto your podcast. It's great to be with you again. as I believe you shared in my introduction, it's our second year that our Greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce has been a chamber of the year finalist. So on behalf of our 16 member team, just really proud to represent our organization. And be recognized for for our accomplishments. It has been one of our goals in our powering progress strategic plan and a great honor to be considered amongst some of the most outstanding caliber chambers within the country. but it's a bit of serendipity that brought me to the chamber and truly an opportunity to work with not only business leaders from across our community, region, state, and nation, but also our elected officials as we keep championing opportunities for business industry, and I've had the pleasure to do that over the past 15 years. a little interesting fact, I have the privilege to be the first woman president of the Greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce and its 88-year history and the first female to also lead the public-private partnership where we have a one-stop shop towards our economic development approach here in Irving, Texas.
07:54.582 Brandon Burton
That is awesome. And as you were giving that little introducti you know, continued introduction about yourself, I didn't know about the the sports marketing background. That would have been a fun career too, but maybe not as quite as rewarding as what you're currently doing.
08:08.93 Beth Bowman
It was bun, yes.
08:10.828 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So if you could share a little bit more with us about the the Greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber and and you mentioned it it has the economic development responsibility as well for Irving. you had mentioned a staff of of sixteen, but if you could share with us a little bit more about the the size, location, budget. we know you're you're in the D F W Metroplex, but but share with us a little more to give listeners a a better perspective where you're coming from.
08:39.032 Beth Bowman
So I'll just share as people think about the North Texas area or the DFW area, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Welcome, you know, home to the center of that. So we are truly the center of North Texas and proud of our location. let me touch on the chamber first and then I'll broaden it up to talk about Irving Las Colinas. And so we have a small but highly productive team, as I shared in the beginning, 16 men and women that manage our programs and activities for approximately 1,900 member investors. And those member investors represent just over 220,000 employees. so we have a budget of about 4 million. that includes our member investor dues. And then a $2.7 million services contract with our partners at the city of Irving to provide economic development, marketing, business recruitment, business retention, expansion, services. And also we lead the private investor fund for economic development. It's a pleasure to oversee. Irving's International Affairs, Sister Cities Program, Foreign Dignitary and Foreign Delegations, Inbound, Outbound missions. We also organize trade missions where we get to amplify the Irving Las Colinas story, educational programs such as how to develop an import-export business strategy. We support small businesses, our entrepreneurs, startup companies, through such activities and Programs is SCORE, which is a complementary consulting service for entrepreneurs through the U.S. Small Business Administration. We also have memorandum of understandings, MOUs with organizations like the US Mexico Chamber that help us accomplish our goals and strategies laid out in our Powering Progress Strategic Plan. We amplify and support women in minority-owned businesses.
10:53.068 Beth Bowman
with programs through our partners at Women's Leadership Live, bringing awareness and celebrating International Women's Day. And we've also integrated the US Chamber of Commerce for Small Business Masterclass program two years ago. So as we transition from from the chamber to our community, as I shared, you know Irving is is really the heart of the DFW area. In fact, the airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, is located, a portion of that airport is located within our city limits. Our central location, our rapid transit system, modern day infrastructure, and business-friendly environment give us an important advantage for attracting major corporations. In fact, I'm sure Brandon, as you know and your your viewers know, we are the headquarters of headquarters in Texas. We're very proud of that. it is the eight Fortune 500 companies and four Fortune 1000 companies that have determined Irving Las Colinas is their home for their global headquarters. we also have about 150 foreign-based corporations. To complement about 8,500 small and mid-sized businesses in our community. We have a young, skilled workforce and one of the most diversive codes in the country, as you shared in the introduction. About 35% of our population is foreign born. Las Colinas is one of the city's two master plan communities. Las Colinas is a 12,000 acre. as we like to call it masterpiece of a master planned urban center. it's the largest master plan community in the US. It was built around a 21-acre Lake Carolyn with Venetian-style canals lined with shops and restaurants and lakefront housing opportunities. And for those that can see
13:06.863 Beth Bowman
my my Zoom digital background, you're looking at our Las Colinas vibrant urban center.
13:14.868 Brandon Burton
It's a beautiful picture and I'll I'll make sure it goes in the show notes so everybody can see where Beth is located.
13:21.294 Beth Bowman
Thank you. We would welcome anyone to come visit. And you know, our team would would really love you to stay a while. We have also brought the Toyota Music Factory, a world-class entertainment district with an 8,000-seat indoor-outdoor ample theater and 50,000 square feet of event plaza into our community. that is just down the street from our convention center and our Westin Convention Center Hotel across the street from residential living. And it's really been a great asset to our community and to capture, you know, the after-five business that our business community and their workforce has wanted for so many years. We're a model transit-oriented development or TOD, which means we've developed a complete community where people can live. work, play, walk, and visit without even getting into a car. And for that, you know, we're so thankful for our elected officials and business leaders that have laid an extremely firm foundation. And today I have the pleasure to continue to activate their leadership and foundation into the future.
14:43.35 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. So if anybody couldn't tell, Irving is a happening place. I happen to to be close in proximity to to Irving and and just I think the location being right there by the airport and just being in s very central to the DFW Metroplex make it very desirable for these headquarters, as Beth was saying, be the headquarters for headquarters. It makes a lot of sense. So Beth, as we transition a little bit into the chamber of the year application process, I know each chamber is submitting a couple of programs and your your synopsis on the application. Could you take us through and just touch on the the highlights from your synopsis that you submitted?
15:29.422 Beth Bowman
Absolutely, Brandon. So I would say, you know, the Chamber of the Year application is a healthy exercise for us to reflect on the great work that we do day in, day out to advance our mission and continue to capitalize on the catalytic leadership that we have in our community. This past year, our application really focused on two initiatives. our small business blitz as well as our share tank programs. Let me give you a couple highlights on our small business blitz. As you have shared, you know, we're an extremely competitive regional market and our focus has traditionally been on business recruitment. And but last year, prior to the public health pandemic, Data showed that we needed to shift some of our efforts to really look at business retention. So we organized our inaugural small business blitz with the goal of personally visiting 1,000 businesses in one day. Up 10% of our community, right? It sounds so simple. and with the enlistment and training of a Blitz team.
16:49.688 Beth Bowman
Comprised of 55 member investors, including our mayor and our city council, our city manager, and our chamber leadership team and staff. we were set out to accomplish three things. The first was a simple thank you to our small businesses for doing business in Irving Las Colinas. Second, We wanted to get feedback on their needs and if they had any concerns to address those or commit to get back to them. And third, find solutions to any challenges that they brought up. For example, you know, issues around signage or traffic control and flow or parking for their employees. We were able to find about 90% of their solutions were solved, which is really exciting. And the 10% that we weren't able to solve in a short term, we are continuing to work on long-term strategies. What the small bliss created was an incredible amount of goodwill for our small businesses. This effort provided a new value-based opportunity for our member investors and has become a part of our community building mission. So, Brandon, if I can just share with you and take your viewers on a little bit of a virtual small business blitz. Imagine leadership from the chamber, their business neighbors, and our elected officials coming in just to say thank you. and dropping off a small business resource kit full of swag, key numbers and information that can be key to the success of their business and and walking away.
18:56.278 Beth Bowman
Our businesses were so thankful and truly had never experienced that before. So we were really proud to be the creator and conduit to executing a successful small business split. And it's just become the fabric of our organization. And obviously with COVID 19 this year, we've had to shift a little bit. small business resource kit and swag, it's really been focused on safety and how to safely re-office or reopen. As as we like to share here in Irving, you know, our business has always been your business. Now let's get back to it. And that small business blitz fits nicely into our reopening, reofficing campaign.
19:48.416 Brandon Burton
I like that. Our business is your business. Let's get back to it. Yes. That's awesome.
19:54.494 Beth Bowman
yeah, the second opportunity that we focused on was ShareTank. ShareTank is a chamber program that collaborates with community and business partners to provide a four-day complementary business management training and educational seminars for our local nonprofit organizations. the event concludes with an opportunity for these nonprofits that participate to pitch their organization to a panel of businesses for an opportunity to receive private industry funding. Over the past four years, we've had about 50 nonprofits participate in the ShareTank program. So that's 50 nonprofits that are receiving about 40 hours of complimentary management and educational. programming as well as being provided the opportunity to receive a hundred and thirty thousand dollars in financial support to continue their mission and positive impact on on the community. this program has helped many nonprofits better manage and grow their organization. It's increased it has significantly increased interest and population Outside of Irvings. We've had many nonprofits outside of Irving that have wished to participate, and we've been very focused on supporting our local nonprofits in Irving that are helping Irving while being a conduit to helping our businesses warmly get introduced to nonprofits for them to be a part of their. giving strategy and if they're not part of their giving strategy, Share Tank is a part of their giving strategy. So now our nonprofits, instead of being able to pitch and ask for you know a thousand dollars to support a program, they might be able to secure six thousand dollars and continue to deliver their program, which helps some of our most vulnerable population in our community.
22:04.878 Brandon Burton
I love the idea that that program brings about the awareness for the nonprofit, but I'm sure there's been some good partnerships that have come out of it too, with the private funding helping out those nonprofits.
22:16.396 Beth Bowman
Yes. So, you know, we are often criticized, you know, in our community known as the headquarters of headquarters, that we we only focus on big business. And that is definitely not the case. And we're really proud of the work that we do with our small businesses, as well as being a conduit to aid and supporting our most vulnerable in the community has really provided us recognition to be a finalist for the chamber of the year category four.
22:45.806 Brandon Burton
So share tank sounds a lot like Shark Tank, and I think we talked about that a little bit last year. Have you had any luck getting Mark Cuban to come in as one of those funders?
22:57.92 Beth Bowman
we we always are open to entrepreneurs and funders to check out the program. And you know, our region is very fortunate to have Mr. Cuban be a key champion for entrepreneurs and just continues to amplify the in-lead philanthropic efforts throughout the region with which Irving has benefited from.
23:24.726 Brandon Burton
That's right. So I wanted to ask you with the these are great programs, by the way, that that you guys submitted on your application and and I can see why the Irving Las Colinas Chamber is standing out, but maybe aside from these programs, what do you feel it is about the Irving Las Colinas Chamber that stands out maybe above other chambers? What are some things that you guys are doing that maybe some other chambers wouldn't normally do?
23:53.902 Beth Bowman
Brandon, I I I believe it's three areas that that we are really standing out in a crowd and and get asked to provide a lot of our feedback or intelligence or docu share to our peers. professional certification, benchmarking, competitive collaboration, and advocacy would be the top three. Let me touch on professional certification. First of all, we recruit team members that have a spirit of servitude. They love what they do and serve to others in their Authentic skill set and priorities. So we hire servant leaders, period. Secondly, we put a lot of emphasis on professional training and certification for our staff, and we're very thankful for our board chair and our board of directors that continue to make sure that our staff is getting the training that they need to be current and allow our chamber. to be an extension of their teams day in and day out. We encourage our team to also be leaders in the community. We encourage them to serve on nonprofit boards or serve on regional foundations. So in terms of certification, you know, we we encourage our team to go for the highest certification you can obtain in the industry. the certified chamber executive. And I'm really proud to say, you know, that we have two CCEs on our team. We have one that is very close to meeting the minimum requirements and another just shortly behind that individual. So that's really exciting that we could potentially have four CCEs on our team. And then also
25:57.352 Beth Bowman
IOM through the US Chamber of Commerce, Institute of Organizational Management certification. And we not only have colleagues and team members that have gone through that, but they've gone back to serve as class advisors on the board of directors for different institute sites. And then in terms of you know, within the region, we encourage, you know, our Colleagues to take advantage of our local leadership Irving program, our regional leadership North Texas program through our partners of the North Texas Commission, and then state and national leadership programs through Leadership Texas. So professional certifications and just professional development is really a key area within our chamber. And our staff, in addition to being servant leaders, are really lifetime learners. So we're continuing to get energized and bring back latest trends and data and approaches that only helps advance our mission as well as our member investors. the second item, you know, benchmarking and competitive collaboration. So we're in an extremely competitive regional market. we enjoy collaboration with our peers and we routinely benchmark our performance with other chambers and economic development organizations. So in Irving, you know, our business industry gets to benefit from our one-stop shop approach to economic development. What does that mean? So you're a business that's looking to relocate. You believe Irving Las Colinas would be a good fit. You come to the chamber. And the chamber acts as an extension of your team, and we bring in other stakeholders, our partners of the city, our partners of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Las Colinas Association, the Art Center, and we listen and we respond and we provide solutions to your questions, overcome your concerns, all at the same table. And so really being able to deliver.
28:19.414 Beth Bowman
deliver an authentic one-stop shopping experience for our customers.
28:26.082 Brandon Burton
I I'd like to add you had mentioned being in a competitive area. And just for listeners to understand, where Irving Las Colinas is last year, the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce, which is one of the neighbors to the Irving Las Colinas Chamber, was a finalist for Chamber of the Year. And this year, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, which is another one of their neighbors, is a finalist for Chamber of the Year. So it is very an extremely competitive area as far as chambers go. And great chamber leadership throughout the DFW Metroplex. So I just I felt like I had to add that in there.
29:00.59 Beth Bowman
Absolutely. Yeah. And we're really, you know, I I I know our friends in Arlington, my my peer Michael Jacobson and and his team, congratulations. And we know there are finalists in category three. And, you know, our friends in Gainesville and Tulsa, I mean, wow, we couldn't be in better company in category four. And, you know, the judges really have their work cut out for them. and and just to be in the company of these finalists is success. to our team as we really look to those chambers as leading the way and and an example of excellence. So we couldn't be more proud to be in the company with Tulsa and Gainesville. so getting back to the third item in terms of where we stand out is our advocacy efforts. We do what most businesses are unable to do for themselves, and that's advocate for favorable public policies at the state, local, and federal levels, and make sure that they are aligned with other like business industries so they're not alone. We get to bring the power and the access to 220,000 employees that are also in alignment with their needs. And we get to champion that effort on their behalf so they can continue to focus on running their business. We also track and report legislative updates to our member investors. And we have a PAC. It's an issues pack. It's our citizens, it's called CIVBI. It's our Committee to Inform Voters on Business Issues. And it's set up to support initiatives that are a top priority for business. So we've had the pleasure to overcome and change the Texas Constitution. We've run local elections that are really important for the future of our city and really supportive that our PAC board is pretty aggressive and allows us to really respond to business industry issues in a strategic manner.
31:16.45 Brandon Burton
Very good. I think those are all great examples of why the Irving Las Colinas is standing out of the chamber. I wanted to to shift gears a little bit. As we look around the country, many of the businesses right now are looking to to see how they can best kind of bounce back from the economic impact from the the COVID nineteen pandemic. Would you mind sharing with us what your plans are to help lead your business community? through the recovery specifically on the the economic front.
31:50.83 Beth Bowman
Absolutely, Brandon. And I'd like to touch on nine areas. And before I begin, I just want to say, you know, this is uncharted territory and an unprecedented time. And we are asking our employers, employees, including the chamber, to truly provide acts that are unhumane. You know, we first started to ask everyone to stay home. Okay, everybody was getting adjusted to that. Then we really asked you, you know, to continue to to stay at home and and really not go to any, you know, recreation or retail establishments unless it was an ins a necessity. All right. So you're home, you can't go out, you're you know, your your personal. Schedule has been significantly impacted. And then for those that have dependent responsibilities, whether you're caring for children or caring for, you know, our seasoned population, we're now asking you to be the teacher or be an extension of the teacher at home in this digital environment that some districts or private schools were able to. pivot and and execute pretty quickly. But then we were also for those that felt that their loved ones might be in a vulnerable state in assisted living, you know, some brought their loved ones home to care for them. So stay at home, continue to work, don't go anywhere unless you have to go. Make sure when you go, have PPE. by the way, while you're working and staying at home, We're gonna ask you to educate your children or provide supplementary education and entertainment for your children. And we're also gonna ask that you care for your dependents if you feel that's a better environment for them to be in. I mean, Brendan, who words cannot express in anybody that is projecting, you know, when we're gonna be back to normal.
34:06.512 Beth Bowman
I I wish I had their crystal ball. So what we can share today is really the nine areas that we've been working and so proud of our team, our elected leaders, and our chamber board for just really persevering, being patient, extending grace and kindness during this time as we work together. to reopen and re-office Irving Las Colinas. So let me share with you first. I was asked and appointed by our county judge, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, to serve on the Dallas County Economic Recovery Advisory Committee to help provide recommendation and guidelines for the reopening of businesses in the COVID-19 environment. We connect and have daily, weekly dialogue. as well as provide direct feedback to the judge. And he is very open to you know reopening or reofficing strategies that are going be a benefit to all with the focus of keeping everyone safe and healthy. Been able to bring the interaction at the county level, you know, right into our community. And our our chamber has hosted from the beginning We brought business industry to Judge Jenkins and hosted weekly calls with our county judge and other public health care leaders for the latest information on COVID-19 and how our community was responding. On a national level, as we focus on our small businesses, many of them significantly impacted, you know, we worked with the SBA. the most requested information to date is on the US small business administration program of grants and loans. We hosted virtual Zoom, you know, digital meetings with the assistant disaster informational meetings with the with the business assistance disaster international meet in informational meetings. Let me let me correct myself. Is that
36:27.755 Brandon Burton
Mm-hmm.
36:29.126 Beth Bowman
We hosted business assistant disaster informational meetings. So, how could our small businesses get disaster assistance loans that provided guidance to small business owners on applying for assistance and dedicated a section of their website to providing the latest updated information? We also took it a step further and did research in into our local banks. We surveyed more than 50 local banks to determine their participation in the SBA's PPP program or the Paycheck Protection Program, which we posted on our website as a resource for all our small businesses. So again, our team pivoting, in addition to being a trusted advisor to business industry, we were also trying to make sure to really elevate and highlight our local banks, you know, who was going to be just taking care of their current customers, who was going to be taking new customers, who was going to be participating in the PPP, not participating, etc. We provided that one stop shop of information on our website. There's no doubt the hospitality industry has been hit the hardest. And Brandon, that is our number one industry in Irving Las Colinas. Immediately we reached out to our local restaurants. We contacted about a hundred and launched a distance socially eat locally campaign, providing the latest up-to-date information on restaurants and those that were available for takeout or delivery services and just really want to amplify and celebrate our our restauranteers, those that have been able to pivot and make it through these times. We've continued to keep that restaurant on our website and also amplified their services through social media channels. Webinars, our our team has participated in webinars to stay current on developments. I mean, I think it was such an overload on information the first, you know, four to eight weeks. And once it was receiving the information, we then had to comb through it to provide the facts in a manner that
38:42.242 Beth Bowman
you know, not only our enterprise businesses, but our small businesses could comprehend, as well as helpful tips for our Irving Las Colinas businesses to begin to reopen and reopen in a safe manner. and we hosted policy experts, our partners at the US Chamber, to provide weekly updates on loan and grant relief programs. Our team turned into personal consultants. We were around the clock just checking in on our member investors. How are you doing? Are you okay? How are your employees? We are here for you. Please call or text, send an email if there's anything we can do to help you.
39:34.562 Beth Bowman
Facilitated donations. I am so proud. I mean, I think our community showed their best spirit. You know, our businesses that were willing to immediately get PPE equipment to our hospitals. And we have two hospitals in our community to where our hospital said, we are good. Thank you so much. Because of business industry's efforts, we are stopped on PPE. So then we turned to our nursing homes, our partners at the city to make sure they had PPE. And then we also made sure as we work with our small businesses that they have access to it. So again, I can't thank our enterprise large businesses for leveraging their supply network and making sure our community had efficient PPE. We also had a lot of our member investors that were pivoting their business model. we had one of our member investors that converted their plastics business to producing face shields. So that was really exciting to see our entrepreneurs really being able to pivot on the dime to serve our community. And then we continue and we have surveyed our member investors and why we want to make sure we are continu continuing to deliver service deliver services that matter. and we want to make sure during this very fluid time that we have the most accurate information to serve our business community in ways that they need help real time. And we will continue to do that through our reopening and re-officing efforts.
41:22.326 Brandon Burton
Very good. I think there's a lot of good tips in there that chambers throughout the world can can take and and apply bits and pieces that make sense to their organizations. But Beth, as we start to wrap things up here, I wanted to ask you what would be one action item or piece of advice that you could give to the the chamber champions that are listening that they can do to help take their chamber up to the next level?
41:46.198 Beth Bowman
Yeah, so I would just share, you know, two two items. Very important that chamber champions are catalytic leaders and many of my peers do this day in and day out, but have an extr a very close professional relationship with your your city management, your mayor council, school districts, nonprofits. After all, we're all in this together. And if COVID nineteen has shown us anything. It's hard to build a relationship during a pandemic. And we are really spoiled in Irving Las Colinas that we have unshakable trust amongst our partners. And we've just been able to pick up the phone, text any hour of the day, any day of the week, and respond. this you especially during this unique time, collaboration and partnerships demonstrate the essential s synergies. That the community needs, including our employers, their employees, in both the public and private sector. And also, we are more than just a business membership organization. We are more than that. We are advisors, we are coordinators, facilitators, and we are the conduit in the community that drives results.
43:13.92 Brandon Burton
I couldn't agree more. The conduit that drives results. I I asked this question to you last year when when we had you on the show, but I ask everyone that I have on. As we are always thinking about chambers staying relevant, as we look to the future, how do you view the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose going forward?
43:38.446 Beth Bowman
That that is a loaded question of time. So I'm gonna respond realistically, but also with a a glimmer of of hope. And I know hope is not a strong strategy. This pandemic has fundamentally changed the world we live in and businesses that operate in it. Everyone's safety is put as the number one priority. It's startling for me to hear from our National Association, ACCE, who I highly respect and believe Sheree Anne Kelly's doing an incredible job, that about 25% of my peers are not likely to continue operating through COVID-19. We are already.
feeling the strain of businesses looking to cut costs and cut memberships or association participation.
Now is a time where chambers need to unite and help our neighboring chambers that might be struggling to amplify our brand and communicate our value that it is stronger now more than ever, as our business industry is going to have major hurdles to overcome.
Also, our industry's ability to quickly pivot and adapt from routine businesses to becoming the experts on everything from federal policy, accounting and financial experts on loans and grant relief programming to a sounding board for elected officials as they're considering putting orders in place or providing resources to the community. We've had to do that all overnight.
45:36.51 Brandon Burton
It is a different time. That's for sure.
45:39.508 Beth Bowman
Chamber and chambers are and have always been the voice of business. And we'll continue to be that moving forward as we find new ways of delivering value and aligning with our colleagues nationally to amplify that value.
46:00.392 Brandon Burton
Speaking of value, I Beth, I think you brought a lot of it to this our discussion today and the example and leadership that you display there at the Irving Las Colinas Chamber. And I thank you for for sharing your time with us and and your insights that you shared. If somebody listening wanted to reach out and connect with you or maybe further this discussion offline, what would be the best way for them to to reach out and connect and connect?
46:28.386 Beth Bowman
Yes, I'd be happy to share our number at the chamber. We've remained open during this pandemic and will continue to remain open to create, advance, and promote our member investors and community today and beyond. I can be reached via phone at 214-217-8484 or via email at bbowman@irvingchamber.com
47:01.43 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. And I will get that updated in our show notes for this episode, which will be found at Chamberchatpodcast dot com slash episode eighty three. And again, Beth, thank you for taking time to be with us today. And I wish you and the Irving Las Colinas chamber the best of luck with Chamber of the Year.
47:20.014 Beth Bowman
Brandon, thank you so much.
47:23.382 Brandon Burton
If you are a Chamber Professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

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

Episode 82 — Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Eric Godet, Sr.
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Eric Godet, Sr.
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.242 Brandon Burton
This special episode is part of our 2020 Chamber of the Year Finalist series, where you get to hear from some of the top chambers across the country. I hope you find great value in this series, but first, the intro. This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.
00:29.354 Brandon Burton
And now your host. He loves watching football at any level. He's my dad, Brandon Burton. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. This is Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. This is episode 82 of Chamber Chat Podcast, and is also our 11th interview in our 2020 Chamber of the Year. ACCE Chamber of the Year finalist series. And our guest today is Eric Godet. It's Eric Godet Sr. President and CEO of the Greater Gainesville Chamber in Florida. If you happen to be new to listening to Chamber Chat Podcast, I'd invite you to check out our Get Started page at ChamberChatPodcast.com/start. And there you can find some resources for some nondues revenue ideas as well as our free podcasting free chamber podcasting guides so you can get started with your own chamber podcast. Again, that's at ChamberChatPodcast.com slash start. So as I mentioned, our our guest today is Eric Godet of the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce. And Eric was named the president and CEO of the Greater Gainesville Chamber in December of 2018. Under his leadership, the chamber continues its mission to facilitate economic opportunity. Business success and community progress for the Greater Gainesville region. Eric has served the community for many years. Prior to accepting the chamber position, he worked as vice president of organizational advancement for Haven Hospice. Eric was also founding member of RTI Surgical, working as a change agent within the operations, marketing, distribution, donor services, and communications departments. Eric has a long history of leadership within the chamber, having served as interim president and CEO, Chair of the Public Policy Committee, Chair of the Council of Economic Outreach, and Chair of the Board of Directors. I'm excited to get into my discussion today with Eric to learn more about how the Greater Gainesville Chamber is standing out to be considered as a Chamber of the Year finalist. We'll get
02:53.258 Brandon Burton
Into that discussion as soon as we get back from hearing from our sponsor. Chambers are not considered for chamber of the year without having great programs and steady streams of non-dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swypit. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swypit is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swypit Affinity program, You can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swypit Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit ChamberChatPodcast.com/cc for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swypit. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit ChamberChatPodcast.com/cc to start swiping with Swypit. All right, Eric, we are back. If you would please take a moment to say hello to the chamber champions out there that are listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit better.
04:12.93 Eric Godet, Sr.
Well, Brandon, thank you so much for having me on the Chamber Chat. It is truly an honor. I will share something about myself. I was actually born in Nashville, Tennessee, but grew up in the Bahamas. My parents moved there when I was two years old. My dad and his family is from that area, and so we have family throughout the islands. It was truly an honor and a privilege growing up there. But when I was 14, I was shipped to boarding school up in Nashville, Tennessee. Up there in the mountains, not in Nashville, but in Sewanee, Tennessee, between Nashville and Chattanooga. Up there by the University of the South, it was the St Andrew's Sewanee Academy where I was at. And it was really an incredible place, totally different than the Bahamas, but still have many of my best friends that were from there and we stay in very close contact to this day.
05:05.462 Brandon Burton
Yeah, imagine the climate is very different from Tennessee and from the Bahamas. But where in the Bahamas did you grow up?
05:13.11 Eric Godet, Sr.
I grew up in Nassau. It's it was really neat. It's different than it is today, but there are tons of tourists and but we have family throughout. So many of what we call the family islands are our favorite. My favorite place was the Abacos, but since the hurricane last year we haven't been able to go back as frequently as we like, but you know it's great having family that close.
05:38.698 Brandon Burton
it's nice to have a good reason to go hang out in the Bahamas too. So can't complain about that. So let's let's take a moment and have you share with us a little bit more about the Greater Gainesville Chamber, kind of give us a better perspective where you're coming from with the size, location, budget, staff, just so we can all get get an idea of of kind of your background at the chamber as we get into our discussion.
06:05.026 Eric Godet, Sr.
Absolutely. The Greater Gainesville Chamber is located here in the wonderful city of Gainesville, Florida, which is in Alachua County. Our largest entity or engine, I would say, in our area would be the University of Florida. And we are centrally located within the county and surrounded by eight other municipalities, eight other cities. So eight other mayors, eight other groups have that input within us. We have a staff. Of 18 individuals. I would say we're majority women within our chamber. And probably about 50%, 50-50% in terms of diversity. We have African Americans, Hispanics, we have an Asian, you know, we have combination of a variety of ethnicities within there that tried to really represent our business community. We within that scope. Try to make sure that we're serving everyone. And so we call ourselves the Greater Gainesville Chamber because of the mere fact that we have focused in the past years on these outlying municipalities and we share with them we are greater because of them. Those other cities with all their unique Attractions that they bring to our community as an entity here in North Central Florida. One of the things I like to share with people, we currently have a budget about 1.2 million is what we work off per year. And we're a chamber that's 50-50 in terms of membership and investment. And so it's been really an ideal situation for us because we can work with our economic development alongside. Our chamber initiative and mission where they work seamlessly together. And for our county and a neighboring county, we are the economic development engine for that. And so it helps clear a lot of hurdles and makes things a lot easier by having that seamless transition and the work with our board. We currently have a board of about 46 individuals on there, and we're just so excited to be able to serve our local community.
08:24.642 Brandon Burton
That is great. A couple of those things that stood out to me just as you're talking about your staff and the different backgrounds and ethnicity and diversity is being able to have that synergy and get everybody to work together towards a common goal and interest, even with differences being there. And to see that carrying over, as you mentioned, having nine cities within your area that you account for in your geography of what the the Greater Gainesville covers and to have that synergy kind of refocused to really make the greater Gainesville area greater by work pulling everybody together and and working towards those common goals. So I think those great insights, whether or not you you realized it when you said it, they really stood out to me and resonated well with me. But let's look at the the Chamber of the Year finalist process. The I guess looking more specifically at the synopsis that were submitted with your application. Would you mind taking us through those highlights and kind of sharing those highlights with us?
09:31.598 Eric Godet, Sr.
Absolutely. I would gladly do it. So the first synopsis is transforming Greater Gainesville. we call that our TGG program, and with that it was a true community strategy with over a hundred and fifty stakeholders with meetings and research and it was designed to elevate our region's economy. We were very focused on how do we bring our community together to get a vision of what we would like to see our community look like. And overwhelmingly, people wanted us to transform our community, especially from an economic development standpoint. I share this because we have the University of Florida, which is the largest employer, then we have our region's probably largest VA that exists, probably between Florida, Georgia, going down to You know, the Virgin Islands and that kind of stuff, just one of the largest VAs in this area. And so you have that large government and state presence from a federal and state level. And those are wonderful attributes and great jobs, but we wanted to focus on more diversity of technology, manufacturing, and those kind of jobs. So we created what we called targeted industry clusters. And from this targeted sector analysis, we focused on advanced logistics, advanced materials, agriculture life science, humanities. We also, when I say humanities, it's with our human life sciences and software IT. Our focus with that is we knew if we hit those sectors, we would be bringing great quality jobs to our area that can really help individuals buy homes, take care of their families, and that level that quality of life. We're very excited by our Transforming Greater Gainesville initiative because it brought everyone in as a stakeholder. We got to focus on the attributes of each community in terms of how they can really help us. But more importantly, it did wonders for strengthening our communication, especially within the business community. And so it's through that communication we were able to really push this initiative. And the best thing about it is.
11:52.128 Eric Godet, Sr.
It just brought huge credibility to the chamber because we were so successful. When we looked back at it, we had a goal of three thousand five hundred jobs within those sectors that we wanted to make happen. And our results at the end of that period, we had already achieved over five thousand and twenty-one jobs in that area, with another two thousand two hundred and fifty in the pipeline within those sectors as we end it. What was really great about that, we wanted to have two hundred and fifty million in CapEx at that time. We achieved over 277 at that time in investment in the community. We wanted over a billion dollars in regional investment. And we achieved that and blew that out the water. And what really made a difference is in addition to those original 3,500 jobs we wanted in that sector, we had a total of over 12,627 jobs. And what really made up that factor were a lot of retail jobs that we didn't See coming and expect. And what was really exciting about that is because those were areas that many of our businesses considered weaknesses in our community, not having the supporting amenities and opportunities in the shopping and the stuff in our community. And we saw an explosion happen in our community at that time. So not only did we transform the number of jobs and the businesses that came to our area, we transformed the look. So if you go on certain streets like Arch Road, Newbury Road, the new The new retail outlets and stores and live work play communities have just blown up and soared. And it's incredible with big names throughout our nation that are now here, that weren't located here before, that really makes it so exciting and a place of pride for us to drive and take people through and show. And so for us, it was really one of those exciting moments of really not only transforming it from an economic standpoint in our community. but also from a physical standpoint that you can also see.
13:54.058 Brandon Burton
It's nice like you mentioned those retail jobs that came along with it that weren't necessarily expected. But I think sometimes those retail businesses have that that crystal ball to look into to see where that growth is gonna go. They used to say you could follow McDonald's and see where new franchises were opening up and then that's where the the trend of growth would go. I don't think that's the same with McDonald's today as it used to be, but some of these other retail businesses I think they have access to some of this data that that maybe we all need to tap into and see what is it they're looking at to see where the growth is going to be granted. Yeah, I d I'm not trying to to put aside the the hard work you guys are doing too to help stimulate that growth because that's very important what you guys are are working on. Well
14:41.58 Eric Godet, Sr.
Yeah. Go ahead. You bring up a good point. I was just gonna say that encouraged us to not only continue to reach out to the retailers and a lot of developers in there, but to create a stronger relationship where we exchange more information now with our large retailers and expanders and developers in these areas to let them see what we're seeing and they open up and share with us what they're seeing. And it just helps us protect. our region and strengthen our region and prepare for what's coming. You know, created dialogue which didn't exist before.
15:18.604 Brandon Burton
Yeah, no, that is great to tap into that resource. A lot of times we look at the the public private partnerships, but look at the the chamber to the you know, the retail sector partnerships too. That's a great insight. what is your your other synopsis that was submitted?
15:37.678 Eric Godet, Sr.
So our other synopsis was really a unique situation. And just to give a little background to this, it's one that's tied into public policy. We call it our power up public policy initiative that we had there. And to give a little history of what was going on, we had a lot of strong advocacy type issues and stuff that were out there. And we did a great job representing the business community. And sometimes we could probably be a little heavy-handed, maybe, you know, a little tough on some of our local city government folks or whatever. And we have really put out a strong initiative against them that was tied to one of our utility companies that's run by our city. The utility company itself does an incredible job. The concern was really the finances and the resources. How they were being spent and the continued raising of rates and taxes tied to this on the business community. And so we put out a huge documentation in terms of the facts and powering it up, sharing the information that was out there, getting everyone to understand and with a lot of data. And it really rubbed a lot of our city officials the wrong way. And to that point, it was so adversarial that when I came on board, I didn't even think some of them wanted to talk to me or even take the phone call or the meeting or whatever. And you know, it was one of those things I said, look, it is what it is. We're putting it to the voters, they're gonna decide. And that's it. That's the best form of home rule, letting the voters decide, you know, and why would we not work on other initiatives because of this? And with the dialogue and they I guess they realized I wasn't going away and I was gonna keep making We trying to build this relationship and talk to them. And I know it's not gonna happen in a vacuum, so they knew they couldn't shake me. And what I really found out are their initiatives and concerns that they wanted. And many of them tied in with what the business community needed and wanted also. And so when we look at education, our school system, we looked at what we call our I3, putting children first. It was our infrastructure on investment and initiative, their infrastructure investment initiative, which we call I3.
17:59.468 Eric Godet, Sr.
We had started out with a lot of other initiatives in there and whittle them down and we as a community decided on the Putting Children First Initiative. Our schools, the physical component were in need of much repair. We have incredible scores that were coming out that people are all excited about and grades and stuff and AP scores and what our students locally were doing. And academics is a big deal here, and a lot of these kids are, you know, children of professors at the university. So that's to be expected, but the facilities were lacking substantially. And so with that, we created this initiative that we took to the community, and we were also very supportive of a children's trust initiative that was going on at the same time. And with this, we really created a lot of dialogue and a lot of goodwill through the community and with the city and the county governments because there wasn't going to be a municipality that wasn't touched. There wasn't a family that wouldn't be touched, there wouldn't be a community that wouldn't be touched. we're a hit with our contractors and our building group here because they realized there's gonna be a lot of money on the table to build these things. And so which was so exciting to see the whole community and we wanted it to go to local contractors. And so it was really a great initiative, but what we watched is a whole transformation of trust, relationship, and growth that by working together we can accomplish so much more. And part of my conversations that I would have with our elected officials. during that adverse time was like there are so many things that we agree upon, so much more than what we disagree. Let's focus on taking care of those and we all win. And these other things, we'd be amazed how they take care of themselves. And so it was the beginning of a huge launch and a transformation. And it was one that happened so quickly that it was really stunning to even some of our board members. So we had one of our leaders on our board on our executive committee was We're having a retreat thing and he was really adamant, Well, I'm not buying that they're on board and they're they believe that we're working together. It's just so adversarial unless I hear the mayor come out and say himself what kind of
20:07.852 Eric Godet, Sr.
How would you feel if they gave us some money? Well, if they're giving us money, that would be a whole different story because they left and weren't members of the chamber anymore. I said, Well, not only have they both rejoined the chamber, but they're the biggest donors that we have in our newest initiative as we look forward to moving and identifying what sectors we need to focus on training our students for future jobs that's going on right now. And we before we even made that whole asking thing public, they had made the largest commitments and we had already received the money, you know, and one and then she's like, Okay, well then I changed my position.
20:44.554 Brandon Burton
That's right. Money talks. Yeah, it shows that support.
20:47.734 Eric Godet, Sr.
It does. And so for us, it was just a confirmation that we were doing the correct thing. We were making sure that we knew the best way to serve our business community was to have all hands on deck that impact the business community. Because if we have groups that are adversely impacting business in our community, I my focus was you're adversely impacting your tax base to do the things you want to do in the community. And that's why we work together. The more successful our businesses are and the rate of growth we're having. the more tax revenue to do what you need to do and help our community to grow and flourish.
21:25.166 Brandon Burton
That's right. I think probably one of those outcomes that maybe wasn't sketched out in the initial planning for power up public policy, but a beneficial outcome is I'm sure these city officials, elected officials are now willing to take your phone call and and probably even look forward to talking to you.
21:45.08 Eric Godet, Sr.
You're absolutely right. It's the amount of communication is amazing. the amount of text that I had, even this morning with the city manager and the county manager, the back and forth is amazing in our commissioners and it proved to be really fruitful during this challenge with COVID nineteen.
22:05.624 Brandon Burton
That's right. That's the way it should be at open communication. But Eric, I wanted to ask you, wha as being considered as a a chamber of the year finalists, a lot of the the chambers throughout the country can look to you as a as an example of the things that you're doing at your chamber, but personally, what do you feel makes the greater Gainesville chamber stand out? What are some things maybe that you're doing that other chambers might not be doing?
22:31.854 Eric Godet, Sr.
I think one of the things that we try to do is really focus on having a large impact in our community, really being essential to the engine or as a catalyst to make sure we're moving forward in the proper direction. And I believe all chambers desire to do this and are working to make that happen. But what we do is really drill down more. And look at to really anticipate what's happening, what changes out there. And with us, we want to focus on we're watching exponential growth happen in our community. Now we've seen this happening prior to COVID 19. We started this year, and it's probably one of the most successful years. I talked to our retailers, it can be. Anyone from an owner of a shoe store that's been around for 30 years to a tech company, they were having a record January, record February. They're on pace. It was amazing what was going on. And we saw as the chamber, we were on a record pace. We were listing a hundred new jobs per week happening in this community and dealing with a lot of focus coming in. So we saw this exponential growth happening. And we wanted to make sure that we're prepared for it. So we started working on three major goals that were tied around opportunity, talent, and place. And as we focused on our opportunity, we wanted to make sure how can we promote economic growth and diversification to create quality jobs for all of our residents and all skill levels. And we wanted to do this because we knew that by creating a stronger region. And better lives together, everyone can do well. We know that there's an abundance of resources because we watch what happened, everyone's aware of the transformation that's happened in our community, but how do we position? So that's where we started the focus where we've got the city and the county that made the large commitment to make sure we're looking at the skills needed and doing a study in terms of the jobs we need to have our students being prepared for in this community. We also wanted to look at how do we help.
24:51.542 Eric Godet, Sr.
Adults pivot because the jobs that were in existence before won't be here five years from now, we were thinking. Now we have to ramp that up as we reopen our area, you know, and restart that we have to accelerate that because the exponential growth has changed already. One of the biggest examples is talent, and we talk about talent. There was such demand for talent. We were at our lowest unemployment. But we wanted to make sure we wanted to attract and retain our skilled individuals so we can build a world-class workplace. One of our challenges before was really getting middle and senior level skilled individuals. Because of the university and Santa Fe College, we were bringing in a lot of entry-level folks that were incredible and make those and meet those needs. And so we started looking at a new approach and researching. What's the greatest percentage of people we see that move into our area and come back? There were people who had either lived here before or individuals who were alumni of the university and knew the area and were watching what's happening and were excited about what's happening. So for us, it was instead of taking a shotgun approach and using Monster and all these other groups that are out there, Indeed, et cetera, and maybe even spending a lot of money on a headhunter, we started partnering. With our business community, the University of Florida's Alumni Association, and we created an entity that we call StartupGNV. And it was startGNV. And through startGNV, we focused on really identifying individuals that met the skills for the openings that we had in these senior and mid-level management positions and targeting them. And we found out that to be extremely successful. And so we were pivoting. In that direction from a talent standpoint. When we looked at place, we wanted to create a more vibrant, attracted, and livable community for all of our current and future residents. Well, one of the things we've experienced recently is the advent of the live work play areas that are cropping up all over our community. And these are a hit with our startup companies, these are a hit with our tech, manufacturing, bio, and what's really neat is.
27:15.362 Eric Godet, Sr.
We realized we need to focus on ramping this up from a place standpoint. One of the things as we dug in, we found out that our county is one of the largest landowners in our city. And this has happened over decades of acquisitions. nothing recently, but it's still been there. And I talked to the city and the mayor, I'm like, Do you how much money's being off the tax rolls because it's, you know, with the county? We need to get this in private hands. And so there's a whole plan and study and group to come and how to change that and really be a catalyst to enhance what's already happening organically. And so for us it's being prepared for exponential growth that we know that's coming, but we have to lay the foundation in place and keep our community abreast and communicating with them on how do we prepare and how do we in a safe, smart, step by step Process, build our way out of this COVID-19 experience and get back on the path that we were prior to it.
28:21.442 Brandon Burton
That's right. So that kind of goes along with my my next question. You talked about the that exponential growth and the hundred jobs a week before, you know, pre COVID nineteen. what are some of your plans as far as leading in the recovery of the economic impact from from COVID nineteen? how do you see that unfolding?
28:41.678 Eric Godet, Sr.
Well, that's a really great question, Brandon. And what we did is when COVID nineteen first happened, we were at the forefront in sharing the CISA guidelines from the federal government on the essential businesses. And so we created with our county a process on how individuals can send applications through our county website and get reviewed as a essential business and you know how does that interpret based on the federal guidelines and what's been initiated by our state. And the final authority came down to our local county. And I think in the first week we had over like 300 that we helped push through that system. Every week there was another initiative and the next week we were focusing on getting through the SBA program, all of our groups tied in and applications and stuff filed and really making sure we were present. And we just want to continue the dialogue and communication. As we move out of this, we've been feeding the information to our local county and city officials on how to make sure we are pushing all the latest phases information to our county and city officials. And through leading that, one of the first things I shared with them was letting them know that hey. We have a call coming this afternoon from our governor, because I got a message from his office, you know, and then we got it through our Florida chamber to let them know. Being the conduit of information and dialogue, as soon as the president's report came out on the phases, making sure that we're at the table sharing that with them. As soon as the governor through the state making sure we're there. And so from that, being that conduit of information and that facilitator of bringing everyone together. And more importantly, on our website, sharing information and creating different templates and tables and pages, you know, a business component with COVID-19, together, what's happening in the community, which restaurants are open and being served, you know, EAT GNV, you know, it's all of these things, FEED GNV, working and bringing our restaurant together to feed our homeless.
30:51.532 Eric Godet, Sr.
Being at the forefront of all these initiatives and apart and bringing the community together and recognizing those wonderful things that are happening, we're really using best practices to share with each industry group. So I'll give you an example. Some of our restaurants here have taken this opportunity to totally redo their place. They pulled up the carpet, they've removed stuff out of off the walls, they cleared up the debris and clutter. Many some of them have even removed the booths so that they can have more table space in between to create the distance and have it there and there. Add extra areas so that takeout can take out. We've watched some groups that barely did any takeout. If they did, that's the majority of their business. They're doing more in takeout than they were doing with sit-down. And so they're re-looking at how they're gonna continue to operate. You know, so it's we're trying to bring best practices and thinking ahead and encouraging Encouraging our community to pivot. We cannot do things the way we were historically. Another example would be a large multinational company like nationwide that nationally recognized that 98% of their workforce was working from home. And the level of production they were getting from the people working at home were better than what they had in their office. So why would you spend more money to keep these huge campuses and huge buildings and have people travel daily? When you're getting better production if they're at home. They pivoted. And a couple of weeks ago, one of their attorneys was telling me that, hey, they got a call that they won't be going back to the office. Things are changing. They're, you know, everyone still has their job. That's not a problem. But they're gonna close down 16 locations across the country and just keep the headquarters, I think, in Columbus and another one in Des Moines. And that's a huge savings for them. But the beautiful thing is they made this pivot and increased production. So I just think these are the kind of things that you know we have to look at as communities and be prepared, like those two examples, to pivot.
32:58.158 Brandon Burton
Yeah, it it's interesting, the whole environment of the workforce, the office space, it was all set up pre-technology era, you know, where we didn't have internet necessarily when the traditional office space was set up, the cubicles and, you know, offices and things. And it takes something like this, like a a global pandemic, to take a a look outside the box and say, you know what, there may be other ways, maybe even better ways to accomplish the same goals. w with a slight different, you know, restructure of how things look. So I think that nationwide example is very interesting, very insightful.
33:37.506 Eric Godet, Sr.
Yeah, it's one of those things. Why would you pay more more money for less production?
33:42.722 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. so Eric, as as we get towards the end of this and and starting to wrap things up, I wanted to ask you if there's you know one action item, one piece of advice that you could share with the the chamber champions out there that are listening to help them take their chamber up to the next level.
34:07.39 Eric Godet, Sr.
Say the most important thing is really listening, listening to your community and truly hearing what they're saying. And for me, it was really an opportune moment when I first came in. Because I don't think too many people wanted to hear from me or whatever, it gave me an opportunity to hear from them or what was on there.
34:34.323 Brandon Burton
Whether you want to or not, right? Yeah.
34:37.76 Eric Godet, Sr.
And listening to everyone, not just the largest, not just the most influential individuals in the community, but you know, the smaller places and the less influential businesses, the less the communities that are smaller in in number, and making sure they understand that you truly care and that you're there for them. And once that trust is earned, it is amazing. what information they will share to help you make your job as a chamber so much easier to be successful. It's kinda like, help me help you. I don't know the challenges you have. I need you to share them with me so that you know our team can think and work and come up with solutions on how we can help and be of assistance. And I think the more seamless your organization is, the better. We have an advantage by having our economic development group inside our chamber and we work hand in hand. And with you know the revenues being about the same from each, it helps so we can prioritize together and move in a seamless manner. And I think that's the best thing. First, I would say listen, find out what the thoughts are, concerns and issues, because by listening you make an impact by individuals knowing that you care and you care about their perception, their thoughts, and being diligent to follow up and keep that communication in place as you deliver on that.
36:21.918 Brandon Burton
I love that. Not just listening, but really showing that you care and and completing that communication with the follow-up. I think that's something that gets missed very often. So I appreciate you sharing that. So Eric, one question I I'd like to ask everyone that I have on on Chamber Chat Podcast is as we look to the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose, how do you see that going forward?
36:49.292 Eric Godet, Sr.
I really believe and I've always had that chambers were very influential and very critical to a community. And I didn't recognize this until it was probably about five years ago. I was at a rotary meeting, and they had an individual from Germany that came and spoke to the chamber. And I can't remember what town it was in Germany, but he shared that every business. Has the first joined the chamber before they, you know, can register with the town. And I was like, wow, that's wow, amazing. And I didn't understand why. And I was chatting with him afterwards, and it was because he was saying, look, it's so important that we're on the same page and we create a unified front when we work with our communities, that it's been the best thing in their community and their type of growth. And I recognize If we took the approach that every business is a chamber member, we have financial chamber members, non-financial chamber members, but they're all members because we're out there advocating for them and on their behalf. And we will help any of them. And the beautiful thing about it is that approach helps us all win. And so our VP of membership, he says here, hey, there are Current chamber members that are financial, and there are future chamber members that are financial. And for us, it's one of those things that we continue to focus on showing the value that we bring to our community every day. We've gotten called, even in the midst of this crisis, COVID-19, of people wanting to join our chamber because of the information we've been putting out and sharing. And they all say, I didn't know the chamber did this. I didn't know the chamber did that. I didn't vote, you know. And so for us, I think, especially in this rebuilding phase, as we look at it as a nation, I think it's more important. And so my dialogue with our civic leaders is so important to make sure that they understand the concerns and have a voice as a conduit and make sure I can put them in plu in touch with the members that can share exactly what they're feeling and let them know that we are here truly representing and
39:15.608 Eric Godet, Sr.
Like I tell the city manager, the more successful we are as the business community, the more successful you will be to achieve all those goals and transform our community that you would like to grow.
39:28.658 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. Well, Eric, I wanted to thank you for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast, sharing your your leadership and insight with us. I think you've truly brought a lot of value. And I'd like to give you an opportunity for to put out your contact information in case there's listeners that would like to get in contact with you about how you're doing things at the Greater Gainesville Chamber or just to continue this conversation offline. what would be the best way Or best ways for them to reach out and connect with you.
40:01.774 Eric Godet, Sr.
Absolutely. Well, I can I'll give you my email address. That is egodet@gainesvillechamber.com. And you can reach me at three five two three three four seven one zero zero. That's three five two three three four seven one zero zero. Email again E G O D E T at Gainesville Chamber dot com.
40:39.106 Brandon Burton
That is perfect. I will get that updated in the show notes for this episode as well. So if somebody's driving or hopefully they've got somewhere to be driving to by the time they hear this, but that show notes page will be found at chamber chatpodcast.com slash episode eighty two and we'll have all that in there. But again, Eric again, thank you so much for for sharing your insights with us. I truly do appreciate it, and I wish you and your chamber the best of luck with the The Chamber of the Year.
41:09.838 Eric Godet, Sr.
Thank you so much, Brandon. We are truly honored to be considered a premise.
41:15.19 Brandon Burton
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