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Episode 28 — Greater Louisville Inc. 2019 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Kent Oyler
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Kent Oyler
Automated QA: Manual Review — Show notes summary was not identified

00:00.192 Brandon Burton
This is a special edition of Chamber Chat Podcast as I begin a series of interviewing the finalist for Chamber of the Year for 2019. I hope you enjoyed 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.
00:29.944 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us for our fifth interview of our special series of the twenty nineteen ACCE Chamber of the Year Finalists. This is episode twenty-eight of Chamber Chat Podcast and I'm Brandon Burton. It is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. If you're new to Chamber Chat Podcast, please visit Chamberchat Podcast.com slash start to learn more about what you can expect from the show. And you can receive some valuable tips for non-dues revenue ideas that you can use at your chamber. Again, that is chamberchatpodcast.com slash start. Before we jump into the show today, let's take a quick moment to learn about our sponsor for this episode. Chambers are not considered for chamber of the year without having great programs and steady streams of non-dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swipe It. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swipeit is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swipe It Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the Chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swipe It Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit Chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swipeit. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash cc to start swiping with swipeit. Alright, our guest today Is Kent Euler from the Greater Louisville Inc., the Metro Chamber in Kentucky. Kent joined GLI as its president and CEO in June 2014. He currently leads GLI, the Metro Chamber of Commerce, in retaining and growing existing businesses, supporting the entrepreneurial and startup community, attracting and preparing a skilled workforce.
02:47.614 Brandon Burton
And driving advocacy efforts aimed at creating a more business friendly environment. Kent led a turnaround of GLI, which is now financially and operationally strong, and for the second year in a row is a finalist for ACCE Large Chamber of the Year. Kent, please say hello to the chamber chat audience and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit better.
03:13.62 Kent Oyler
Sure. Thanks, Brandon, and hello people in Chamber World. great opportunity to be here on the Chamber Chat podcast and share a little bit about what's going on at GLI and what's going on from our perspective in and around the Chamber World. so something interesting about me, I suppose, would be that I'm really not what you would call a typical chamber of commerce guy. I came from the entrepreneurial side. when I joined five years ago, just over five years ago. I was actually drafted off the board where I served h on here. And we were in a little bit of a dark place and they wanted somebody with a background that was a little more entrepreneurial, that had some built in networks and had a financial background. So I sort of fit that, and joined the chamber and you know, it's been a great ride since. I really have come to appreciate and and love what people in the chamber do.
04:06.503 Brandon Burton
That's great. So I am a little bit curious, what does the entrepreneurial background look like for you?
04:12.812 Kent Oyler
I'm I'm what you would call a serial entrepreneur. I I guess I had a short attention span. I mean as my staff will tell you I still have a short attention span here. I s founded twenty-one different companies over the past 20 years and when I came to the chamber I had four companies going, one in packaging, protective packaging, one in consumer services, one in accounting, an accounting company, entrepreneurial accounting company. And another one in cost reduction. But prior to that I did things at railroads, development, leasing, manufacturing, and had an IPO in the internet boom back in nineteen ninety nine.
04:55.872 Brandon Burton
Wow, I guess having been involved in that many entrepreneurial endeavors does qualify you as being serial. That's great. can you share with us a little bit about the size of GLI so we can all relate a little bit better to your chamber and what all you have going on there?
05:12.834 Kent Oyler
Yeah, GLI is the regional chamber for the Greater Louisville region. That's fifteen counties. the population in those fifteen counties is about a million and a half. The city of Louisville itself is seven hundred and fifty thousand, but the region that we serve, which stretches out really one ring from the main county, is one point five million people. Our chamber has just over seventeen hundred members. We're growing pretty fast though. And we have members in fifty-five different counties and and I believe five or six states. So fairly regional there. Our budget's just shy of six million dollars all in. we are not the tourist tourism that is separate from us, so we don't include that in our budget. And Louisville's fairly diverse community, about twenty-one percent of our metropolitan area is multicultural. Obviously we have a black population, we have a Hispanic population that are big. then we have a lot of folks from Cuba, which is interesting that have landed here, and followed by people from India. So that's they found their home here. It's great place for you know it's a mid sized city, it's not a big city. Mid sized city. And I think also interestingly enough, we've been very well noted nationally for being very gay friendly. So very the L B G community here is pretty active and we've in fact been helping get a LBGTQ chambers stood up.
06:48.736 Brandon Burton
Alright, so that is very multicultural. I had no idea that Louisville was s that diverse. That's great. So as I kind of explained in the bio as I read that, this is the second year in a row that you guys are being considered for Chamber of the Year as a finalist or as a finalist for Chamber of the Year. What are you guys doing there at GLI to stand out? And I understand in the last five years there's been a big turnaround, which will get some attention. But can you touch on some of those things that are making you stand out to be considered yet again for chamber of the year?
07:20.972 Kent Oyler
Yeah, I I think I can share what at least the feedback we've received from last year when we were up. we obviously came in as one of the runners up. We had Charleston, which did end up winning. They'd been up for two years and Tulsa was out there also. So we didn't win last year, but we're back. This year we're the only chamber that's repeat this year in in our category. So we're excited about that because I think it says it is hard to put a year together at all and this is judged Mostly on the work that was done in twenty eighteen, though they kind of la extended, you know, the last eighteen months is really what they take a look at. And to know where we are, you have to maybe appreciate where we came from. And five years ago, our chamber was really on the verge of going out of business. We had had a series of interim leadership. The fellow who head the chamber had moved on. We had a miss hire that didn't work out. The mayor became frustrated and pulled a very large economic development contract from us. We're losing money, we were losing members, and you know, our board was in a bit of flux. so you know, we're kind of in a dark place, and the press had turned on us at that point. In fact, we didn't have a PR person here here to even kind of fight back. So we were not a good place. And that's you know, I I like challenges. I've always loved the chamber. I served on the board eight years. i in a term, eight-year term a few years ago, and then had just come back on the board as part of our entrepreneurial efforts, which are s we're very strong still. And, you know, knew what I was getting into, or at least I thought I did, but turned out it was a lot more work than expected. So when we came back, we started concentrating, we knew we had to concentrate on something that really was relevant and made a difference and where we could make a difference and we weren't competing also. So we picked advocacy first. and hired a very strong person to run our advocacy efforts and and in the since then have really built up to be just right neck and neck with the state chamber in terms of our effectiveness in advocacy and and our staffing and and funding and everything that goes with that. So over the years we've fixed our financial house, we put processes in place, we've probably turned over about eighty five percent of the staff is different today than it was five years ago.
09:49.45 Kent Oyler
not that they were bad, I just you know, some of them were frustrated and and wanted to leave and and some of them you know needed to leave. So we turned the chamber over and really started from the beginning with a rebranding. We reinvented we went through a strategic planning process and really went back to the core of why we exist and built back from there. We created new mission and vision statements, really started over. So we redid our governance structure twice. Which was a bit painful, cutting back our executive committee, which is a hard thing to do. And built a solid foundation. And over the last five years, we have built upon that to where we are, you know, in our second year of consideration for chamber of the year. And I think chamber of the year is a lot to do with how solid your process is and how well you operate your chamber. So the staff that we have here I think does a great job now operating. A quality chamber of commerce. part of it is about the programming and part of it is about some of the unique program we we do. I know that gets attention when when we get feedback. We've got feedback from last year. But really was getting the chamber down to where you know we had a solid foundation and we could build upon that. So coming into the present, we have rebuilt our financial stability. We are have run a surplus now for the last four years. we have also that's been in the midst of a capital campaign. We've never done a capital campaign before. So we have a capital campaign that we started in twenty eighteen and we just passed the eighty percent mark of trying to raise seven and a half million dollars on top of what our operating budget is. you know, we instituted a lot of changes in our development department to reverse the trend of the outflow of membership. One of the most successful things was we created an association health plan, which is a pretty darn complex thing to do. But w once we did it, it has been incredibly successful at saving members money on their health insurance, kind of on average about twenty percent from the company's two to fifty employees primarily. And it has also generated a lot of earned income for the chamber. I think in the past year it's about two hundred thousand dollars between the dues that you have to be members to participate in and the fee we charge.
12:13.42 Kent Oyler
So been very, very helpful there.
12:16.716 Brandon Burton
Yeah, I like how when you guys were looking to rebuild the chamber, you looked at asking the question of where can we make a difference and to not be in competition. It seems like the association healthcare plan seems to be a good way or a good target to do that without competing with other businesses or organizations that are already serving the community. How has that unfolded for you? I know that some other chambers have unrolled association healthcare plans. And have come across some pretty big hurdles and obstacles, but what has your experience been like?
12:50.124 Kent Oyler
Well, as I said, it was very complex. I think we spent about fifty thousand dollars worth of legal fees to set up the first five four associations that we did. It it if if you're not familiar with it, it took me and and I am a finance guy, about four explanations before I go, that's what it is. It is it is pretty complex. We we do benefit from the fact that Humana is located in Louisville and our plan is with Humana. But once we had it set up it's marketed through independent agents. So basically any company if if they're a member of the chamber can go to their agent. They don't have to come to us. We don't some sometimes it's done where you have one designated agent. We don't do it that way. They go to their agent, they say, Hey, would you price it through the GLI plan? They do that. If it saves them money then they can join the chamber. If they're not already members or if they are members, they pay it in s small administrative fee to us. and they begin savings. And like I said, it's most of the reports we've heard of saving around twenty percent. So it's been a value to the companies and it's been a value to us. And over the two years that that particular asset has been in place, we've added about we have about three hundred companies now participating in our health plan. You know, some of them were members before already and some of them were not.
14:13.634 Brandon Burton
That's great. So I recently interviewed Radonna Hessel from the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce. She's also up for Chamber of the Year for a different size category. And we were talking about the association healthcare plan that they were setting up and they got things set up and has getting started started to get people enrolled. And there was legislation in Washington that has kind of put all of that on hold. Is that not affecting you guys since you're using independent agents rather than one general provider?
14:46.03 Kent Oyler
the that that ruling did affect us, but it did not affect the the plan that we are operating with two to fifty employees. What the the legal obstacle which people are trying to get fixed, and we were very anxious to get it fixed ourselves because we were literally a month away from market on a sole proprietor ten ninety nine gig worker type of a plan. And that's that's a different animal and there was some of the states, including the attorney general from Kentucky, sued and the judge put an injunction on that for now. So we're we're waiting to see if that can be reversed or something happened. Because that that was an interesting one because it allowed chambers to address those individuals that really have a hard time accessing health insurance, those sole proprietors or people, you know, maybe it's somebody that's running a podcast that they're a sole proprietor and they can't get health insurance or it's very, very expensive to get health. So that's what got held up. The actual we were grandfathered in because our associations already existed. I'm not sure how that would have affected a new, you know, if if they were starting to get set up.
15:56.78 Brandon Burton
Yeah, I think as long as they were already established, they were able to continue with providing service to those people, but they were not allowed to accept any new applications.
16:05.952 Kent Oyler
We could take new applications. We just can't we c our understanding is it affects the sole proprietors. That that was it was not an issue with the kind of association that we have. But other people may have different associations and there are also state laws that come.
16:22.294 Brandon Burton
Yeah, for sure. So so let's look at the other initiative you guys have submitted to ACCE with your application for Chamber of the Year having to do with the Year of the Entrepreneur. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and what that's all about? Sure.
16:39.522 Kent Oyler
So something I learned from a different organization when I was chairing years ago was to create some themes. And I think this is actually something that many of your your listeners might want to pay attention to as well. So we picked a theme for the year, and last year our theme for the year was the year of the entrepreneur. And we did that strategically. We felt that as we have an entrepreneurial support organization which we've housed for about twenty years, it's the largest in the city, provided some level of services to the entrepreneurial ecosystem here. But we felt that entrepreneurs really needed to get some attention. We'd seen a little fall-off in venture capital investing. The the ecosystem, because the economy was doing so well, was not seeing as many startups. So we really wanted to kind of jumpstart that. So we picked that theme for the year. And when you do that, we we developed and then a series of events, milestone events that would punctuate the year and bring attention to entrepreneurship. Then we did other events that where we weaved entrepreneurship into the discussion. For instance, another place we weaved it in during the year of the entrepreneur was at each of our six board meetings, we had a five minute entrepreneurial pitch. So we'd bring in an entrepreneur, they do a five minute pitch, same kind of pitch they would do in front of a venture capital person. To tell about their business.
18:09.678 Brandon Burton
Your own little shark tank.
18:12.172 Kent Oyler
Yeah, l a little shark dang. It's and that brought awareness at least to the board. But the big events that we did, we we set our eyes on Steve Case and Rise of the Rest, and we were able to get the Rise of the Rest to come to Louisville and make us a Rise of the Rest city. And that took a bunch of effort. We had to actually vote ourselves onto the island because we were not on his schedule. But he had a voting online voting and we got the university and other people involved and And we're able to get enough votes that we came one of the Rise of Rest City. So we had Rise of the Rest, which was Steve Case, it's a very big deal in the entrepreneur world. We had another big event that we do called the Evening of Entrepreneurship, or E3, which was a convening of the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem, bring in speakers, do an state of entrepreneurship report, and it's a big evening and another punctuation point. And then we have a Super accelerator, global super accelerator chapter of endeavor here. people may not be familiar with that, but if you're in the venture world, it's very familiar. It's like Tech Stars or one of these other kind of global, very big deals. And we were able to lure their international selection panel. That's where they pick companies that they admit into their acceleration program. Their international panel, so we got that here. That was a big event. Again, brought a lot of press and attention to it. We we hosted a Breakfast had brought in the entrepreneurial community and they met with the people that were in from out of town and some of the big names that were in the venture world. And then one of the other big things that we did, we opened our entrepreneur center. So we've been working on this for years and to get an entrepreneur center here. And we were able to open our privately funded six and a half million dollar forty thousand square foot entrepreneur center, was finished up in Towards the t end of 2018. And now that's kind of the focal point for entrepreneurship. It gives them a home in the city. Lots of events there, some event space. So another big entrepreneurial thing. We knew that was gonna come into the year. And then finally we kind of did some creative destruction on ourselves and others and created a well, I said we've housed our entrepreneurial programs for the city for 20 years.
20:29.954 Kent Oyler
We created a new partnership with the university and with some people in healthcare and some accelerators and the state of Kentucky and we're able to bring in about five times as much funding as we were getting for the entrepreneurship world. So all those things kind of created a critical mass and awareness, lots of press. We designed a logo for it, which we stamped on everything for you know the you're the entrepreneur. We talked about it in public speaking, we did at our annual meetings and and elsewhere. And wrote about it a lot. So just a lot of awareness that created what turned out to be the best year. And if you look at the metrics and what actually happened during the year, we we measure what we call million dollar babies. And million dollar babies are companies that either reach a million dollars in revenue or receive a million dollars in a single equity round. And these are entrepreneurial startup companies. There's definitions around that. And we have had been working on a goal to double the number of those year. We blew away the goal last year for the year of the entrepreneur, we had seventeen. We had launched entrepreneurial coaching, we launched a mentorship program, we launched a sales training program called Revit or sorry, the that's the marketing program's called Revit, a sales one one to teach we found out entrepreneurs don't know how to sell necessarily. So launched a bunch of programming around that. And we also were able to get twenty six startups funded to the tune of fourteen million dollars. So, yeah, really by kind of wrapping this this theme and this this package around it and calling it the year of the entrepreneur, it really did come together and it worked. So we're very proud of that. We've taken that into this year. we realize that we need to evolve our economy and be more of a technology center. we're not recognized as a tech center yet. But we do have thirteen hundred companies and twenty thousand people working in tech companies by the t official definition. So we have designated twenty nineteen to be the year of tech, year of technology. We're in very similar ways. We've got themed events, we've created a logo, we've got partnership marketing program where we're now loving any event that's tech, whether it's ours or somebody else, to carry this new logo and this branding to create critical mass. And we've commissioned a tech inventory, a mapping of the ecosystem.
22:56.536 Kent Oyler
So we'll graphically and and and also contact wise know all the people that are players in in the ecosystem. So so similar thing this year is what we did last year with the entrepreneurs. Now it's about the year of technology.
23:08.182 Brandon Burton
So I love the idea about picking a theme for the year and finding out what the needs are in your community and your area and really going full bore at that theme. As you're explaining all of these different programs involved for you're the entrepreneur, some of those things stand out as you have entrepreneurs who are chamber members who obviously this would resonate with. How did you guys go about getting messaging out to the general community? where an entrepreneur may not be a chamber member yet because they're brand new or they haven't really gone to market with their idea, or maybe they're still a wantpreneur that hasn't acted. How did you go about doing that messaging?
23:48.684 Kent Oyler
Well, I it i i it is dip quite honestly, prob probably more than half of the operators that we work with through our enter our enterprise corp is what we call our entrepreneurial department. Enterprise corp. But that the Enterprise Corp works with are not chamber members. Financially it it may be about a little out of their range. We do offer a fifty percent discount to entrepreneurs. Our minimum price for membership Here is six hundred dollars, so they could they can get in at three hundred dollars if they choose and take advantage. But you know, chambers have a big megaphone. We have a big megaphone. We have thousands or tens of thousands of people on our email lists and our social media that we use. So we put a lot of it out there. We do sixty-five ticketed events here. several of them are entrepreneurial, and so we're able to draw that crowd to those events. Things like E3, which I talked about, are pure entrepreneur events and those are our events, but they're entrepreneur events, so those folks show up. And then some of our staff serves on the other entrepreneurial organizations. We have a group here called Venture Connectors, which is sort of a pitch club, meets once a month and gives 150 or so people. A lot of entrepreneurs show up at that. And our the head of our enterprise corp is one of the board members and and reports out at that meeting every month so She's maintains contact. And then fun thing we did, we formed something called the Justice League. And that is a group of about 40 different entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial support organizations. We happen to be the biggest one, but there's lots of other ones. Some of them are very specialized. there's you know minority groups, there's groups that are very specialized in social justice type investing. E S or benefit cor corporations. So pulled all those people together and you know created a discussion around you know how are we best supporting the entrepreneurs. So a lot of cross pollination that happened in
26:01.442 Brandon Burton
That's terrific. I love this whole discussion about Year of the Entrepreneur. You had mentioned the million dollar babies. That seems to be the opportunity to talk about the success stories. Is there a way to get those stories out to the general membership or community so they can learn about these success stories?
26:19.898 Kent Oyler
I think some of them may be featured on our websites, but we we absolutely we write about them in our entrepreneurial newsletters. Some of those million dollar babies were the companies that we invited in to pitch at the to our board to give them a little more visibility. Some of them we use on panels for some of the entrepreneurial events. A lot of them use on panels. And then we have an advisory board around the Enterprise Corp. So some of them are drawn in to be on the board, if you will, of Enterprise Corp, where they get visibility as well. So a lot of it's very successful. Some of are technology, some of them are medical, some of them are restaurants or I one of them was a thing called Fresh Fry. He he is being incredibly successful recycling grease from restaurants and being able to use that. So there's they're all over the board. Nice. What what a one of them makes a powered wheelbarrow, actually that was a fun one. Really? Yeah, it's got a it's like a go kart re wheelbarrow, but you think about it, if you're working on a rough construction site and you're hauling two hundred and fifty pounds of concrete over to port it somewhere, uphill it really is a popular thing. I never would have thought about that one.
27:36.494 Brandon Burton
That's right. I'd love to see how that works and what it looks like. is there a page on your website that would have more information about the year of entrepreneur or some of these million dollar babies that people can check out?
27:48.098 Kent Oyler
Yeah, if you come to GreaterLobile dot com, so GreaterLobell dot com and then go to the Media Center button, you'll be able to find all kinds of articles, press, stories that we've written about million dollar babies plus many other things.
28:05.55 Brandon Burton
That's great. We'll we'll be sure to put that link in the show notes for this episode. And Kent, from what we've discussed today, can you kind of summarize maybe one action item that listeners can do at their chamber to step up their game and their performance at their chamber?
28:22.114 Kent Oyler
Yeah, I I think that one thing that every chamber should do if they haven't already is go to ACCE dot org or wherever you get it and read the Horizon report that was written in twenty it's Horizon Initiative Chambers twenty twenty five. It was written a couple of years ago, and then they've added there's eight mega trends within Chamber World and they've added a ninth one since that are just Critical for us to understand. And I know here at GLI we pay a lot of attention to that. We've had our board read it, our staff read it, we've built it into our planning. But it's things like the changing demographics. so as people get younger and the millennial generation doesn't join organizations in the same way and they're looking for different things. And there's technology trends on how people interact. for instance, now we we have big presence on Instagram, Twitter, probably on Snapchat for all I know. and and people spending a lot of time to make sure that our message connects with them. And I you know, I had to be convinced quite honestly on social media, how important it was. And I'm just now I believe we have probably as many people on social media followers as we have on our our mailing list. So it's a big deal. but that's getting out the the messaging. And then you know it's there's population shifts that are happening. The job you know, the the the job wars are here. every chamber, every city has in a war for talent, and you are competing with each other. We are competing with other cities and other towns for talent. we have in our city twenty seven thousand open jobs, so you know, we have to be able to be masters of talent attraction and retention and that's the big initiative that we have here around talent attraction as as many people do. And I if anybody actually wants to see a really good talent site, we have this Our brand on that is called Live in Lou, L I V E I N L O U dot com. And we built out just a a a presence there as well as a lot of tools for employers to help sell our city because we know that Mobile's a nice place. It is a anybody that comes here after they're here, they always go, Wow, I didn't know I didn't expect that. This is great. But
30:48.29 Kent Oyler
They don't necessarily we're not on their radar screen, so we have to be able to be out there and market it. And then you know, the role of chambers is is kind of the the rational player in a very polarized world. I know we we had situations with our school system where it was there was a threat of it being taken over by the state and we had to help step in the middle and and work with both sides of that to to avoid take over the system, which we felt would be a disastrous for education for hundreds as a kid. So you know, all that stuff are are influences that are shaping chambers and chambers need to adapt or they risk being irrelevant. And we've embraced that.
31:30.311 Brandon Burton
That's great. Great advice to steady up on and be familiar with the Horizon Initiative and the now nine mega trends that are on the horizon. Kent, you kind of answered this next question as you were giving that answer, but I'd like to pose this question directly and get your response. As we look to the future, how do you view Chambers of Commerce and their purpose?
31:52.878 Kent Oyler
Well, it it's interesting for us because we you're you're here and you know, we're talking about being chamber of the year and and we were a a finalist last year as well. So one might think, Well, gee, you've got the model master and you know what you're doing. Well, maybe this year. But we've also recognized that what happens this year will not be what is relevant two years, five years from now. So we're in the midst of a comprehensive strategic plan. where we have told the the consultant we're working with everything is on the table and it will look at obviously it's very data driven so we'll get a lot of data around the needs of our community and economic trends and so on. But after that, our organization, we said here, if we are are we structured for the future? Are is our organization built to address these trends that are happening in the future? So I think all chambers have got to be evolving. continuously. If you are sitting back and saying, I this is nice and I'm I know what I'm doing and riding the wave, I think that you're gonna find yourself crashing on the beach. You really have got to continue evolving and even taking some of the very successful things that you do and examining them and saying, is this the best that can happen or is this, you know, in light of maybe some of these horizon trends, is this going to matter in two or three years? And what we've noticed, there's competition. There's always competition for chambers. It'd be nice if there wasn't. I'd love to have a monopoly. That isn't how it works. But other organizations step up and say, especially if you're successful, they say, Well, you're doing talent. Talent must be what's happening. I'm gonna do talent. And they start, you know, replicating or and chipping away your funding and your relevancy. So I think the fact that every chamber needs to be continuously evolving and growing and re examining itself continuous basis. And you know, that's maybe Kent the entrepreneur speaking, because in that world, especially in the early stages, you have to do that. If you're not doing that, you will be overtaken. So I do think that applies here in our chamber as well. And certainly by commissioning this study that we're doing, not study this comprehensive plan that we're working on, we may be quite different on the backside of that. I don't know. But we'll have examined ourselves.
34:19.948 Brandon Burton
I think that is sound advice to have an entrepreneurial lookout at chambers and what they can do to stay relevant and adapt with the changing times. I think that's perfect. Well, Kent, I want to thank you for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast, and I also want to thank everyone who's listening as well. Show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash episode twenty eight. And Kent Where can listeners connect with you if they have any questions about what we discussed today or about how you're doing things there at GLI?
34:54.86 Kent Oyler
Well I'm on LinkedIn and Twitter under Kent Euler and our media social media is at GLI Chamber and certainly come to greaterlewell dot com and all my contact information as well as the staff is on there as well.
35:12.846 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. We will get all of that in the show notes as well so people can reach out and connect with you. But again, thank you. I think you provided a lot of great value for chambers as they see what they can do to level up their game at their chambers. Thanks a lot.
35:28.14 Kent Oyler
Good. Thank you.
35:33.176 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 27 — Asheville Area Chamber 2019 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Kit Cramer
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Kit Cramer
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.246 Brandon Burton
This is a special edition of Chamber Chat Podcast as I begin a series of interviewing the finalist for Chamber of the Year for twenty nineteen. I hope you enjoyed 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.
00:30.008 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us today for our fourth interview in our special series of the 2019 ACCE Chamber of the Year finalists. This is episode 27 of Chamber Chat Podcast, and I'm Brandon Burton. It is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your Chamber members and your community. If you're new to the Chamber Chat Podcast, please visit Chamberchat Podcast.com/slash start. To learn more about what you can expect from the show, and you can receive some valuable tips for some non-duce revenue ideas that you can use at your chamber. Again, that's Chamberchatpodcast.com/slash start. Before we jump into the show today, let's take a quick moment to learn about our sponsor for this episode. Chambers are not considered for chamber of the year without having great programs and steady streams of non-dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swipe It. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swipeit is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swipe It Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the Chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swipe It Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit Chamberchatpodcast dot com slash CC for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swipeit. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash C C to start swiping with Swipeit. All right, our guest today is Kit Cramer. From the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce in North Carolina. Kit became president and CEO of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce in November 2010. She has emphasized the importance of growing jobs, serving as a voice for business, and helping chamber members thrive while pursuing the chamber's mission of building community through business. The Asheville Chamber was named Chamber of the Year in 2018 by the Carolinas Association of
02:54.232 Brandon Burton
Chamber Executives, and as a finalist, of course, this year for the Association Chamber of Commerce Executives at Chamber of the Year in 2019. Prior to coming to Asheville, Kramer was president of the International Downtown Association headquartered in Washington, D.C. Before the International Downtown Association, Kramer worked for the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce for 17 years. She sir served as the organization's Executive Director of Membership Services, where she worked with the chamber's seven area chapters. As vice president in the Economic Development Division, she worked as a recruiter for the new business as well as an advocate for existing businesses. As group vice president for education, she worked on education, public policy, and workforce development initiatives. She also served as the organization's vice president of communications. Prior to a tenure at the Charlotte Chamber, she served as public information officer for two school systems. While in Charlotte, Kramer was elected as an at-large member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education and served as vice chair for three years. And was one of 50 participants in the North Carolina Influencers Project by the Charlotte Observer, the Rally News and Observer and the McClatchy Washington Bureau. Kramer just completed her two-year term as chair of the United Way Asheville in Buncombe County in 2019. She serves on the Buncombe County's Early Childhood Committee and is a member of the Asheville City Schools Equality Collaborative. As a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in journalism and PR, Kramer is a native of Jacksonville, Florida. She has received her certified chamber executive designation from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. She's been married to her husband Mark for 35 years, and they have two grown children, Catherine and Mac, who live in Charlotte. Kit, please say hello to the audience.
05:11.751 Brandon Burton
And if you could share something interesting about yourself that we might not have learned about you from your bio.
05:17.987 Kit Cramer
I think you probably learned that I have a bio that's way too long.
05:21.358 Brandon Burton
You're not the first person to say that.
05:24.11 Kit Cramer
I need a shorter biographical sketch. I I'm not sh I I think you've gotten my my entire life there. I'm I'm the the only other thing that I would add that may be of interest to to people is that I'm I am super creative and all the all the time involved in learning new artistic skills, whether it's block printing or or painting floor cloths or using clay in interesting ways. It's all I'm I'm a I'm a artist wannabe.
06:01.39 Brandon Burton
That is interesting. I you know, I love finding things out about people by asking that question. I never would have guessed it. That is neat. can you share with us a little bit about the size of the Asheville area chamber so we can all relate to your area and your chamber a little bit better?
06:18.638 Kit Cramer
Sure. The Asheville Chamber. We officially, it's the Asheville area chamber because we have members outside of Buncombe County, but we have about 1,700 members. Our budget is about three, three point, it was $3.2 million. Next year, it's actually going to be over $4 million, which is great growth for us. The community is approaching, the MSA is approaching a Million people, which will take us into an entirely different tier of competition. Yeah. And it's but the city itself is pretty small, about 90,000 people, but fully 40% of our workforce comes from outside our county every day into Asheville to work. So it's we definitely are have a an MSA that is both a mix of urban and rural. So it's a it's an interesting place to be. We're in Western North Carolina and North Carolina is a really wide state for people who aren't familiar with the geography. We're in the mountains and having it's a beautiful area. And if you haven't been here, we invite you to come and spend lots of money.
07:31.702 Brandon Burton
That's right. So I spent some time a couple of years in South Carolina, but I never made it up to the Asheville area, but it sounds beautiful. Well you
07:40.642 Kit Cramer
You just missed out, Brandon. That's all there is to it. You missed out.
07:44.15 Brandon Burton
That's right. so as we begin this what is the fourth interview of this this series that we're doing of of Chamber of the Year finalists, can you share with us just kind of what is what are you doing at your chamber that's that's great and that's kind of grabbing the attention to to make you guys a finalist for Chamber of the Year?
08:09.464 Kit Cramer
Well, I I think there are two things that are probably pretty distinctive about about our place. as many chambers have gone through either mergers or separations of of organizations, we previously had the Convention and Visitors Bureau, our Economic Development Unit, and the Chamber all as part of one organization. we helped the tourism development authority get an additional two cents added to the occupancy tax a couple of years ago. And as a result, their their budget just blew up. They're this year they will be they will have a budget of $25 million. So it made sense to separate the organizations because we had previously been an organization of five million. And so 25 million, 5 million, there's a big difference there. Yeah. It but but that led to the problems of when a when When you have to have those kind those kinds of separations occur, we have a gorgeous building that was built to house this three unit organization. And it was unfortunately built at the height of the economy, right before the Great Recession occurred. And we were left with a a lot of shared expense, over $300,000 in shared expense and a huge mortgage on this. This building. I was paying $22,000 a month in mortgage expense. So one of the things we did was we asked our friends at the Convention and Visitors Bureau to please move out so that we could consolidate our space. And then we sold a portion of the building to, we'd already sold the third floor of our building to Lenore Ryan University. And they have a graduate degree program in the evenings, which was really complimentary to our use of the building because it didn't conflict with our visitor center. I mean, we see over 200,000 people coming through our doors a year through our visitor center. So having having opposite hours was really helpful. Well, when we realized that we were gonna be separating from the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the the 30% of shared expense and it was
10:29.512 Kit Cramer
It caused us to really have to rethink the organization and and to get our financial house in order. So the first thing we did was think through what that would look like and we realized that our our our neighbors, Lenore Ryan, were still looking for more space and there was no one to whom that space would be more valuable than people who were already in the building. So we ended up selling. Another portion of the building and consolidating the chamber to the first floor. We have a very large visitor center and gift shop, as well as our office suite of offices and warehouse space. So we're still in great shape. But that allowed us to do to take dollars that I mean we went from a $22,000 mortgage per month to $5,000 itself. Much more manageable.
11:22.774 Brandon Burton
Much more manageable.
11:26.37 Kit Cramer
But it but more importantly, it also allowed us to rethink our entire organization. So we went through an assessment of, we took a look at our vision, mission, core values, and our unique value proposition as well, and did a perception study to get a better understanding of how we were perceived in the community so that we could do a better job of communicating ourselves to the community and to our members. And All of that was a super healthy way of emerging from from that issue. So that's one reason. The way we handled it and the way we've emerged has been super positive. And that that's perhaps one of the reasons we're we're finalists for Chamber of the Year. And we also have done some unique programming. One of the things we've done, you know, we've you if you think about ACCE's Horizon Initiative and its discussion of the changing demographics in our country and how people, the population shift that has has occurred, more people are moving to urban areas. And as a result, rural areas are really taking it on the chin. And yet for our MSA that we've got some very rural neighbors who upon whom we depend for customers, for workforce primarily. And it's important to us that they do well. as well. So one of the projects we have is a partnership with the Haywood Chamber of Commerce. I mean my hat's off to Haywood for coming to us for for for consultation. We had when I started at the chamber here about nine years ago, I was reaching out to all the chambers around us, particularly those in the MSA, but even beyond that. And we began to collaborate very slowly because mountain folks are Different from other people. There are long held grudges amongst communities. It's unbelievable. but we began to collaborate on public policy issues, around infrastructure. We began to even work together on providing member services, whether it's a regional business expo or career expos, things that that us having a much larger staff, we've got a staff of 25 now.
13:52.65 Kit Cramer
And most of the most of our neighbors, you know, have two, three, four max folks. So it it by by banding together and collaborating, we were able to do a lot more. But the Haywood Chamber reached out to us when they were initially approached by their their county commission asking for them to take over economic development in their community. And they sought a lot of advice and we offered it freely because they're our friends. We wanted them to do well. Well, a couple of years later, the county commission came back to the Haywood Chamber and said, now we want it to be more effective. And not only do we have a good relationship with their staff, we have we have members in common who really don't care about those geographic lines. And the suggestion was made to have a discussion with us. To talk about what we how what we could potentially do together. And we presented them with a proposal to do their business recruitment. And after a whole lot of work, they accepted. And it has provided it's a great win-win solution to the urban-rural divide. They're able to capitalize on on the brand of Asheville, which has been invested in for multiple years with lots and lots of money that they'll never be able to replicate. And they're also able to build on our investments in economic development that have been invested in for years. And again, we have an infrastructure in place that they just aren't going to be able to replicate. They don't there's not enough money or time for them to be able to do that. So we presented a synopsis of that particular program and what it has meant to Haywood and that seems to have resonated because we ended up on the on the finalist list.
15:50.316 Brandon Burton
That's right. So that partnership, does that play into it all or complement the forty percent of the workforce that's coming in from outside the county? Is that related at all or do you see correlation? Yeah.
16:04.61 Kit Cramer
Well, absolutely, because you know, we we need them to do well. It for every worker you have a you have a spouse who also needs a job more often than not. And if if Haywood needs to grow because we're also we're land strapped and in terms of western North Carolina, both in fact both counties are, both Bunkham and Haywood are, because we've got beautiful mountains, which is part of the attraction of living here. But it means You've got restrictions on the number of sites you have, and you've also got competition for what's going to be be built on those sites. So it w it's a win-win from that perspective. If you have a a a client who has a desire to be in Haywood County, it's unlikely that they'll want to be in Charlotte. I mean in Asheville. And so there is a there's there are distinctions between both communities. But when We're visiting with site selectors. It is easy for us to add visits with those site selectors who specialize in rural development when we're also visiting with their colleagues in urban development. And it's easy for us to well and I say easy, and easy is a relative term. but it's easier for us to provide templates to the Haywood Chamber to be able to. activate their their volunteer base in getting people engaged in providing the research necessary for site selectors and those interested in relocation and a in a really marketable form and to add it to our portfolio of properties and sites. And for us to and the and their partnership with us and the dollars they provided through that partnership. allow us to do additional site visits that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. For for us to go to to add New Orleans and visits with site selectors there, in addition to the ones that we're already doing in Chicago and California. And so it's just it's a win-win relationship.
18:20.504 Brandon Burton
So I love that that you it both, you know, you and this other chamber were able to to see that as a win win relationship rather than a competition or, you know, you're gonna outdo us or any of that.
18:35.032 Kit Cramer
Think if you talk to my economic development folks, at first they were kind of like, What? We're gonna do but once we talked it through, I mean, they're big believers in regionalism also. They just had to get past how we were gonna service it. And and their initial response was that they thought they'd have to add additional staff. And I said, No, I think you can use that. They you've still got an increment of
18:40.43 Brandon Burton
What?
19:02.878 Kit Cramer
of ability to do things that and it it's using efficiencies, creating efficiencies to be able to do the things we're already doing, but add them in. And it was it was their volunteers who were populating the the fact sheets and the research pieces that were necessary for our developers to go out and represent them well. But when we have a site visit, they're the ones who have to activate their volunteer base also and their elected officials. So they are super engaged in the process, but we're bringing a level of expertise that they previously didn't have. So it's it's been it and and that money, I mean, a hundred thousand dollars on a one point one million dollar budget is a significant chunk of change. And it's allowed us to do more that helps both both counties and the region as a whole. So it's been it's been great. And not only that, we've had political growth through it. I mean we're a community that is very, we're a blue, our city center is a blue spot in a sea of red, including our county. And we have no Republicans, for example, who represent Asheville. But the surrounding counties have lots of Republicans. And the North Carolina General Assembly is currently controlled by Republicans. So it's really nice to be able to go and and say we're not only representing Asheville and Buncombe County, but we're representing Haywood as well. And we do that in collaboration with their chamber and their volunteers.
20:48.344 Brandon Burton
That's great. Great, great partnership. That's perfect. Let's let's look at the the second program that you submitted to ACCE. Is a woman up program. Is that correct? Yeah.
21:02.254 Kit Cramer
Yes. So I you know, it's probably probably more common for for folks around the country to have chambers chambers to have implemented programs for for women business leaders, but we had not done it here. We had some very strong programming for women from a philanthropic perspective, but there was there was not a there was not a business businesswoman organization that was really getting the job done. And we We kind of we got lucky. I'd rather be lucky than smart in some cases. And in this case, we had put together a panel for our young professionals of Asheville around the the winners of our our female entrepreneur of the year from previous years. And when we did that, we had a standing room only crowd. And I mean crammed in. We literally couldn't fit anybody else in the room. And we thought, hmm. We think we've hit upon might be on to something. So we created the Woman Up program. And I happen to have a there's nothing that can substitute a a volunteer with passion. one of my incoming, my my second vice chair, who is gonna be who will eventually become chair of the chamber, is very passionate about women in business and small businesses.
22:02.402 Brandon Burton
Beyond something, yeah.
22:29.85 Kit Cramer
And she brought that to bear, has brought that to bear on our board in in a number of ways. And we talked about the need from a diversity perspective, while Asheville is a very diverse place in terms of lifestyle and views, and it it is not incredibly diverse in terms of color, race and race and ethnicity. It is more in terms of views and lifestyle. And so we have a small population, small African-American population, small, small Hispanic population. And but where we where we do need and we need work in that area, certainly, but we also need work in in terms of of women-owned businesses. About 32% of our counties are run by women, yet 51% of the population is made up of women. So we thought. That there might be an opportunity there. And it it resonated with people in such a big way. We started doing quarterly programming for with the target being women in business, but we also had some very smart men join us, a small group, but very smart men. And we would develop themes for the year. So we it was the first year we did. building your network and had a had the author of a book called the Stiletto Network come in and talk about how women have worked together to build networks just as men have done for many, many years. And then we proceeded to to bring in some seasoned professionals from throughout the bit the female business community to mentor to and table they worked as table facilitators first with with Groups of women and talked about how they had developed their own networks and basically provided a we worked on d developing a toolkit for women to use and it really resonated. And then we created a whole we previously had provided the entrepreneur of the year, woman entrepreneur of the year was presented at our annual meeting. We reconfigured our awards program, and not only do we have the
24:46.242 Kit Cramer
Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, but we've done we've done Woman Executive of the Year, Outstanding Woman, Nonprofit Leader, and the Rising Star Award now are all presented at a at a celebratory event in November. We have as many women show up for that as we do for the Chamber's annual meeting, which is you know six six seven hundred. And it's it's amazing. And we've we've brought in speakers like we had a one of the women who was one of the NASA computers of hidden figures fame. Yeah named Christine Darden came and spoke and we partnered that year with a with a nonprofit in town that brought all kinds of of kids from women specifically girls but also some boys from high schools throughout the county. To hear her speak. And it was just amazing that to see how inspired everybody was and how empowered they felt in the connections they were making. And not only that, it's been super lucrative. The first year we generated $52, almost $53,000 to support the program and netted over $20,000 for the Chambers Coffers. In the first year. The second year, we it sponsored l sponsors loved this. We generated $126,000 and and sponsorships and gross income from registrations, et cetera, and netted 71, almost 72,000 dollars for the chambers coffers at the end of the second year. Not too shabby. And it has really it's been very, very popular.
26:31.096 Brandon Burton
To sh.
26:39.416 Brandon Burton
So you sounds like you've got great speakers that come in for this this program and are there do you do like seminars, do you do workshops, ways to develop these skills and kind of send them out there, you know, give them the the tools and resources and go out there and and apply them. What does that look like?
27:02.178 Kit Cramer
Well the the format is generally it's been a breakfast format where a a long breakfast format where we'll come in, have networking and breakfast, and then a speaker will speak and it or a pa or a set of panelists will speak. And there'll be one meeting that looks that way. The next meeting will be more breakouts where you're actually applying what you learned in the first one. And then the next one will be focused on stories and it generally has another panel with the with the November event being a main speaker as well as all the awards that are presented. So each we've kind of got a we've got a format for each of four meetings that occurs during the year. And we've got a LinkedIn page where people can communicate. I mean, we've made it a That was part of the growing pains of doing this event when we talked about networking and establishing your network. We got responses from the from the first set of participants saying, well, great, we want the chamber to create a network for us. And we were like, No, you're missing the point. You have to genuinely connect. You have to work it and create your own network. We gave plenty of examples of how to do that. And
28:14.134 Brandon Burton
Yeah, to put in the work.
28:23.202 Kit Cramer
gave them the tools. But that feedback loop has been super important. And the group, we have a committee that is comprised of other entities that have women in business focuses in one way or another. They aren't doing the same thing we're doing, but they've got a dog in that fight. So they've all come together with us and we decided we would stack hands and share information about each other's programming. We've invited them to critique what we're doing and to be involved in choosing speakers and being involved in what that process looks like. Plus, we also have we directly act on what the participants tell us. At first, we were collecting information on index cards where they were writing things in, and then we did follow-up emails. Well, now we're using a system called menti.com, M-E-N-T-I, menti.com. Where we instantly collect information with everybody via smartphone and we show the results on screen. So we'll ask about their thoughts. Sometimes we'll use a word cloud to present the results. Sometimes it's just a simple chart that shows what people thought, but it gives us very direct feedback on the structure. And that committee takes that, those thoughts as the gospel. and y applies it to what we're gonna do the next time. So I think we've had very effective use of volunteers and the programming piece.
29:58.168 Brandon Burton
So that leads to I was I was gonna ask from the first year you did it to the second, what changes did you make? And it sounds like you got good feedback from these surveys and everything. are there
30:09.878 Kit Cramer
And we sold a pile of sponsorships to
30:12.088 Brandon Burton
That's right. I mean there I think for one thing you you get you build some momentum. People know more about it after the first year, but what other significant changes would you say there was from the first year to the second year to increase that revenue and to just improve the overall program?
30:30.328 Kit Cramer
Well, one of the things I think made a big difference was we, you know, we were already dealing with gender diversity by by the mere presence of it being woman up. But we then began to focus on trying to improve our our racial diversity. And we're very intentional about seeking out folks who could help us do that and be effective in doing that because our population is pretty small. So that improved. And you've saw that that was presented by way of providing scholarships or reduced reduced fees, particularly if it was for for entrepreneurs or for younger participants. So we we would provide reduced fees for participation. We also sought out leaders of color to to be speakers so that we could appeal to a broader audience. But we even had a a woman with a with a handicap in terms of or a different a difference in ability I guess I would say a woman who we had a a theme of overcoming obstacles and this young woman became a quadriplegic and she is an amazing inspirational story that we were able to tell but with the overarching theme of overcoming obstacles because I don't care who you are, you're gonna face obstacles of one type or another in building your career. So we so I think that was a major difference. And I think that embracing of the entire community made the made the program even more popular. So I I credit the success in the second year with that. But we also were fine-tuning at the same time we were fine-tuning our our total resource campaign. We've had in the last two years we've increased the output on the campaign by over $200,000. And so we were we're we had a campaign this year of eight hundred and sixty thousand. So two hundred thousand dollars is a lot of difference. That's right. Talking about that. And so our efficiency in gaining those sponsorships and advertising sales has has made a huge difference.
32:53.474 Kit Cramer
It's it's allowed the staff to kind of refocus on fulfillment of our our promises through tier dues instead of working on sales all the time. We're we're more efficient this way.
33:08.204 Brandon Burton
This program, the Woman Up program, sounds amazing. Is there any links on your website that talk more about the program that maybe we can put in the show notes for this episode for listeners to look at closer?
33:20.13 Kit Cramer
Yes, if you go to Ashwellchamber.org slash woman up, you'll find information about the programming. And I believe also for those who are members of ACCE, that they're going to put they asked for permission to share our application for chamber of the year, which included a bunch of links to all kinds of material, everything from budgetary information to to promotional information, articles about the success of the program, it's all gonna be linked there as well. So that might be another way, n another venue for people to look through to see what we've done.
34:01.09 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that's great. So I know we need to start wrapping things up here, but I wanted to ask, based on what we've talked about today and and what you have going on there at the Greater Ash or at the Asheville area chamber, what is one action item or piece of advice that you can give to listeners to help step up their game at their chamber?
34:23.426 Kit Cramer
Gosh, I mean, for us, I I'll tell you one of the processes we went through in the last year also, last year and a half actually, is is creating tier dos. And it's not so much the tier dos model itself, it's the exploration, I think, that has been so powerful. Really understanding the motivations of our members. I mean, we've we've gone so far as to develop personas. For the different types of members we have. And so that we have a shorthand to talk about those different types of members and what their motivations might be. Because we wanted everybody, because we do economic development as well as the chamber, it's important to us that everybody be able to speak to how people can plug in and to break down silos between between the different areas of work. And that process of really taking a look at what your member understanding what your members' motivations are and how you can and then looking at your programming and figuring out what most appeals to different the different branches of your membership was I I think it's it's changed the way we think about the work we do. And it also allowed us to customize programming and in a way that that has been very, very impactful. So that's what I would recommend that they do that everyone do is take a look at their programming with that understanding member motivation.
35:56.576 Brandon Burton
I like that. That evaluation is seeing what all the services are that your chamber has to offer and how they can align with the needs of your members. Very, very good advice. so I asked this next question to everybody that I have on the show, but as we look to the future, how do you view chambers of commerce and their purpose?
36:19.406 Kit Cramer
I think chambers are more important than ever. I know in our case, with it with the amount of political polarization in this country, and I know we feel it at every level of government, and we feel it at you know the fragmentation of our society. I think chambers can play the essential role of Pragmatism and finding a way forward, bringing people together to find a way forward, because we all have to live in and I know particularly in our case, where we've got this very liberal city center and a more conservative county and a way more conservative section of the state, that we have to we're constantly threading the needle. It's our job to find the way forward and to bring sides together and find common purpose to move the whole community forward. And we're advocates for business, but our mission is building community through business. So it's not business at all costs. We want a beautiful place to live, a comfortable place to live live, and we want everybody to be able to achieve the lifestyle that they want and deserve. And we all have to work together. So we we have to be collaborative. So I think chambers can play that role in a community. And finding a way to do that is what we we're Gonna continually be working.
37:45.334 Brandon Burton
That's great. so Kit, I just really appreciate you spending some time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast and sharing your insights in these programs that you have going there at the Asheville area chamber. and thank you to everybody for listening as well. The show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchatpodcast.com slash episode 27. And Kit, if listeners had questions about what you presented or these programs that we talked about today, how can they get in contact with you to explore these a little bit more?
38:23.26 Kit Cramer
my email address is K Kramer, K-C-R-A-M-E-R at ashevillechamber.org. And I'd welcome I love email. Please don't call me. Yes, I'm I'm not a millennial, but I'm like a millennial. Please don't call me. Email.
38:35.625 Brandon Burton
Yeah.
38:41.57 Brandon Burton
That's right. Email works on your schedule, so
38:44.342 Kit Cramer
It does. It does.
38:46.252 Brandon Burton
It I'll I'll put that in the show notes and with the big message do not call. No, I'm just kidding. Well But seriously thank
38:56.14 Kit Cramer
Go ahead. Email me the schedule a time for a call.
38:58.85 Brandon Burton
That's right. That's right. Email me for an appointment. Yeah. Well, thanks again. I appreciate it. I think you delivered a lot of value for the listeners today and I hope everybody gets a lot out of this episode.
39:01.622 Kit Cramer
That's That's right.
39:11.431 Kit Cramer
Thanks, Brandon.
39:16.12 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 26 — Kalispell Chamber 2019 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Joe Unterreiner
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Joe Unterreiner
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.192 Brandon Burton
This is a special edition of Chamber Chat Podcast as I begin a series of interviewing the finalist for Chamber of the Year for 2019. I hope you enjoyed 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.
00:30.04 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us today for our third interview in our special series for the 2019 ACCE Chamber of the Year finalists. This is episode 26 of Chamber Chat Podcast, and I'm Brandon Burton. It is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. If you are new to Chamber Chat Podcast, please visit our website at Chamberchatpodcast.com/slash start. To learn more about what you can expect from the show, and you can also receive some valuable tips for some non-dues revenue ideas to use at your chamber. Again, that's ChamberTapPodcast.com/slash start. And before we jump into the show today, let's take a quick moment to learn about our sponsor. Chambers are not considered for chamber of the year without having great programs and steady streams of non-dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swipe It. In partnership with ChamberChat Podcast, Swipe It is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swipe It Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the Chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swipe It Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit Chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swipe It. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit Chamberchatpodcast.com slash C C to start swiping with Swipe It. Alright, our guest today is Joe Unterreiner from the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce in Montana. Joe is the president and CEO of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity, he also serves as the Executive Director for the Kalispell Chamber Foundation and for the Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District. In addition to his work at the Kalispell Chamber, Joe serves on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100.
02:49.982 Brandon Burton
and Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives Certified Chamber Executive Commission. Previously, he worked from 1985 to 1996 in the field of commercial real estate development and financing in Southern California. In the government sector, Unter was selected as a US Presidential Management Intern and then completed assignments in the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Federal Home Loan. Bank Board from 1980 to 1982. Following this assignment, he served in the budget and management office at the American Embassy in Athens, Greece from 1982 to 1984. Joe holds MPA and B.S. degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California. Joe received his certified chamber executive designation from the ACCE in 2006. And earned his Institute for Organizational Management certificate in 2000. His work to improve the education and workforce system resulted in recognition from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies with its William Hartwell Jr. Award, and by the Governor of Montana with the Desiree Taggart Memorial Award. Under his leadership, the Calisbell Chamber earned a five-star accreditation designation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And ACCE has recognized Calispel Chamber for achievement in communication excellence and membership retention and growth. Joe, please say hello to the audience and share something interesting about yourself that we might not have learned about you in your bio, although it had interesting stuff scattered throughout it.
04:37.344 Joe Unterreiner
Yeah. Well, great to be with you, Brandon. excited to be on your your call today. a lot of great work going on in chambers all across the country. And so just pleased to be able to be with you and be part of that great group of chambers and chamber execs working out there. you've really covered that pretty thoroughly. I ended up in Montana, part part of the thing you may not know from the bio there, I ended up in Montana because my wife grew up on a 18,000 acre wheat and cattle ranch in central Montana and all of our vacations were up here. When our kids got school age, we decided why just visit? Why not find a way to live up there? And so here I am 20 years later, the chamber exec in Kalisbell, Montana. So it's been a great move and we've been really happy with how all this has turned out here in Kalisbell.
05:34.338 Brandon Burton
That makes a lot more sense. I was wondering how you get a guy from Southern California up to Montana, but but I know Montana has its beauty and and it maybe a little bit more snow than Southern California, but definitely has its beauty. so can you share with us just a little bit about the size of the Calisbell chamber so we can all relate to to your area and your chamber a little bit better?
05:59.732 Joe Unterreiner
You bet, Brandon. So we're in a a really very special part of the United States up here in the northwest corner of Montana. so we're about 30 minutes from the Western Gateway to Glacier National Park. that's a national park that gets over three million visitors a year. we're an area that also has two ski resorts, including a major destination national ski resort. And then we've got Flathead Lake and which is one of the largest lakes in in the western part of the US, and wild and scenic river systems, 80% of the county is in federal ownership with national parks and national forest service. So I think you begin to get an idea of the kind of landscape we have here that has made us such an attractive place for people to relocate and retire to. we're the third fastest growing micropollan area in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau. So we're for all of those things I just mentioned, people are attracted here and we're a quickly growing area. But the county is 5,000 square miles that we operate in. It's about the size of the state of Connecticut to just give you a sense of the scale here in northwest Montana. And those 5,000 square miles only contain about a hundred thousand permanent residents. So we're spread out. Kalispell is the the county seat and the trade center for northwest Montana, which is a three county area. And so our market area is about 150,000 plus people. The county is a hundred thousand, but Kalispell is only twenty-five thousand. of that. So that's how the dispersed the population is of the county. The Cowspell Chamber that here is has a staff of 10. It's a budget of 2.3 million. We're a chamber plus CVB and we have about 750 members.
08:10.806 Brandon Burton
Wow. That's you've got your work cut out for you up there.
08:15.638 Joe Unterreiner
Yeah. And so because because we're spread out, there's five other chambers in the county. We're more of the regional chamber, but we've got a total of six chambers of commerce in this county of a hundred thousand people.
08:30.582 Brandon Burton
All right. Well that sounds beautiful. I need to wake make my way up to Callispel sometime and check it out. It
08:37.895 Joe Unterreiner
yeah, absolutely. Well it's it's a place a lot of chamber execs have passed through and many of them stop in to say hello when they pass through this area. So that that's been a fun part of the job as well. Yeah.
08:49.004 Brandon Burton
Good. So as we get into maybe some of the dialogue and content of the interview today, I I just wanted to kind of hand it over to you and have you tell us what do you have going on there at the Kalisville Chamber that's grabbing the attention of ACCE to be invited and to become a a finalist for Chamber of the Year for 2019.
09:13.612 Joe Unterreiner
Well, I will try to do my best with that, you know, and I'm a little fuzzy on all of the criteria that sort of lands you in this Chamber of the Year finalist category. But but I'll talk about some of the things we're doing here. and I'll I'll highlight a couple of as part of this process they ask you to submit two projects. So I'll talk about those projects and and and hope that that'll Give you some idea of some of the major areas of focus that we have.
09:47.512 Brandon Burton
That would be great. Yeah. We'd love to get some you know, some good feedback of what you're doing there that might give some ideas to other chambers that they can you know, rip off and duplicate at their at their
09:59.15 Joe Unterreiner
Yeah, absolutely. So that this chamber of the year application process asked you to submit two projects. so and one was workforce related and the other had to do with infrastructure development. so I'll start with the infrastructure project because it it's affiliated with build grants, and build grants are a national competition. it's what followed the Obama administration's Tiger grants. And what what it is is earmarks were eliminated back in the late 2000s. so it's a bit of a competitive process for specific highway projects around the country. so because it's national competition for these funds. It might be something that other chambers are interested in. and you know, this might be a case study to begin to think about how other chambers across the country could you know compete for projects in their market to help what's you know their infrastructure development. Yeah
11:10.166 Brandon Burton
What came about with the this infrastructure project? What was the needs that you found? How'd you come across the needs and yeah Yeah, just walk us through the the process.
11:21.324 Joe Unterreiner
Okay, you bet. So because we're a quickly growing area, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, our ability to grow our infrastructure, that's both rail, highways, train, and and air service are our top priorities in one of our strategic areas of initiative here at the Calus Bell Chamber. so we have we're we're 200 or 120 miles from an interstate. We're at the intersection of two U US highways. US Highway 2 and US 93, but the closest interstate is 120 miles south of us. So it creates some interesting challenges for us to keep pace with our our needs for highway and through traffic, especially because we're picking up three million visitors, probably about half of which occur are visiting June, July, August, and September in the really great summer months of the year, especially with visiting Glacier National Park. and so a highway, a bypass around downtown Calisbell was a high priority for us dating back to the early 2000s. that project with a two-lane kind of highway facility was an was initiated back in 2009 with stimulus funds. So that was the first part of that. But what's happened is That that highway the traffic counts that were projected for 2030, we began hitting just two years into the completed project. so that's just how much heavy traffic volumes we were hitting. So we worked with our state highway department for a build grant, this federal competitive grant process, to compete for those funds. And you know, I I think this highlights a little a little bit of the role of the chamber. This was us working with our city, our county, and our state government for a competitive federal grant. and so it took a you know a team of people together. Our role in that process, we we weren't the applicant. The applicant, it was the city of Calisbell with sort of the agreement of the county because the that bypass route covers both city and county jurisdictions.
13:44.766 Joe Unterreiner
but we were a convener of that and took the role of the primary or the lead for the advocacy component of that project. And it all happened pretty quick. this was just a year ago. So by the time that this process was announced in in May, the application was due by mid-July. So you really needed what's often referred to as shovel ready projects. And this was one of them. The right-of-way had already been acquired and with the intent of somehow making it a four-lane facility. it was a two-lane facility with a center divider and we were wanting to widen that to expand the traffic volumes. so as part of that process then you know and I think it points out just the role of a Chamber of Commerce as a convener but also One of the great strengths, I think, as of Chambers, both now and going forward, is just the grassroots network that we have. So our 750 members have almost 4,500 reps in each of those businesses. And so one of the first things we did was to send out a request for support to for our owners. And our businesses to sign on both as a sign-on letter, like you know, for support of this project, both as businesses and as business owners. And we had almost 600 businesses and individual business owners sign on to this letter of support. So that's great support. We have a network here. I mentioned we've got several chambers of commerce and economic development groups, downtown associations.
15:14.476 Brandon Burton
Nice.
15:29.538 Joe Unterreiner
convention visitor bureaus and so on. So in our our greater market of Northwest Montana, three county area, we count 15 organizations in that count. and we're really happy to have all 15 organizations also sign on to a letter of support as a group of what's referred to as associated chambers of the flathead.
15:53.164 Brandon Burton
Yeah, I'd I'd love that being able to get that the rally of all these different organizations and all the your members, you know, the representatives and the different businesses that are members of the chamber to be able to sign on and give their support and and like you said, grassroots to be able to talk it up and and be able to help push something through. Really, there's a lot of power in that. So it sounds like you guys are leveraging that very well.
16:16.108 Joe Unterreiner
Yes, right. I just think that's really kind of comes to the core strength of what chambers of commerce bring to you know a community and to to to the business community. and then finally then we took a group of 14 people back to DC to lobby for this. so that application was due in mid-July. We went the second week of September. 2018 with this group, and we had a lot of support from the US Chamber through their regional office in Seattle. In fact, our regional w rep out of Seattle joined us for this trip. and they set up enabled our group to attend briefings at at the US Chamber, but they also enabled us to sit in on the US Chamber's Infrastructure Committee. Meeting, which was a great connection for us to make as well. And it offered us an opportunity to visit briefly with the deputy assistant sec deputy secretary of transportation, who was ultimately making the approval on these grants. So we visited all of our congressional delegation. And Brandon, one of the great things about Montana is there's only three members in the congressional delegation. We were able to see all of them in a morning. That's right. We know all of them quite well. And the Montalin delegation hosts a breakfast on a Wednesday morning. so we started with a that breakfast that they host for people who were in town in one of the congressional hearing rooms and then went on to have individual meetings with our delegation that morning. So that plus the US Chamber visiting with the U.S. Chamber's infrastructure group really created you know kind of a compelling reason for our folks from this area to go back to DC for lobby this lobby for this project.
18:18.434 Brandon Burton
That is nice to be able to build those intimate relationships with their representatives. Get get their ear. That's awesome.
18:27.198 Joe Unterreiner
So then ultimately that it was announced and we were awarded $12.75 million for that project, which was a huge win for our community in terms of accelerating that project. So it was always the goal of the Montana Department of Transportation to to widen that road. They hadn't anticipated anywhere that it would be developed that quickly or or needed to be widened that quickly. but there you go. So that and that was announced in December. we're hoping to that that contract will be let this December for construction to begin in the spring of 2020. So you know great just great win for our entire community with a grant that doesn't require a state or local match. So that's also one of the beauty of those funds that your listeners may be interested in for their own projects in their own communities.
19:28.298 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. I I was thinking too, a lot of times when there's big highway projects like this, you always have the opposition too. You know, the people in town or throughout the county that don't wanna see the growth. The the good old boys that just want things to stay the same. But I think, you know, with having that rallying support like you you did, having all these members and their representatives sign on and the other organizations throughout the county really ought to be able to help, I would imagine, to kind of counteract any of the the opposition that might be there, if there is any. Have you have you guys come across any of that or have you overcome it?
20:01.678 Joe Unterreiner
Fortunately, there's not a lot of opposition. There was some early opposition, you know, this would go back, you know, 15 years from the downtown, which you know sort of was a major impediment for this project going forward, a sense that, you know, downtown would lose its traffic counts, that you know, it would be a detriment to the businesses downtown. Although be just because of the growth of the area and the traffic demands, US Highway 93, which it it becomes Main Street through downtown Kalispell, was getting so congested that they just felt that in order for it to be a pedestrian-oriented shopping environment, that they needed some traffic relief. Once the downtown business owners and residents got on board with that idea and that that dates back probably twelve to fifteen years ago. That's really what enabled this project to advance and and become funded.
21:02.688 Brandon Burton
Okay. That that's good information to know because I know that opposition comes up and it's all about how you deal with it and and being able to to work with people. Should we talk a little bit about your other program that you guys submitted, the manufacturing?
21:18.614 Joe Unterreiner
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. so we're, you know, one of the groups out there that is have also we have, you know, as one of our strategic areas of work is what we refer to as manufacturing and and innovation. And in in that area is our work with our manufacturers. so you know, I think a lot of people that know this area think of us as a tourism area because of all the things we mentioned earlier. But some of the legacy industry in in this area was the wood products industry because of the timber in this area. and we what's happened over the years, all those same you know, timber and you know, mountains and so on that were so attractive for the timber industry really became a huge draw for for the tourism industry. So we have a real legacy component of manufacturing here that includes food manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, you know, metal machining, and just a wide variety of manufacturing categories. And you know, it's attractive for chambers and economic developers because those are typically, you know, good paying, full, full benefit, jobs that have significant capital investment that contribute to a tax base of a community and state. And so that's why that became a strategic area of of focus for us and things we're looking for initiatives around. And our our look for initiatives in that area led us to National Manufacturing Day, which is the first Friday in in October. And so We we latched onto that event as sort of a signature event on which to rally sort of public awareness of the contributions to manufacturing and an opportunity for us to connect both with tours and forums for our manufacturers. So our our first year of that was 2014. I think we had maybe seven or eight tours that involved maybe three or four hundred people.
23:37.012 Joe Unterreiner
so between NAN and 2018, in 2018 now we had we've had about 30 tours and forums that involve over 4,000 people. So it's just really grown in our area takes a lot of there's a lot of pride, just locally made products and and all of that and all of that. So with the growth of that area, then you know we've we've taken more of a role just not so much just in the what public relations component and an issue awareness component that we started with in some of the early years. But naturally in today's workforce a huge area of emphasis and the top priority for our manufacturers is just assistance with workforce development. and that's what the submission of the project that we submitted for the finalist is the chamber of the year submission was how we have evolved that into a what a major initiative around workforce development for manufacturers. You know, and I I think Brandon, what a what a lot of people find, and certainly in our area, is that just educators and counselors are just not aware of what you know the type and variety of good paying careers that are available in manufacturing companies that don't require a four year curriculum.
25:08.282 Brandon Burton
I was gonna ask if you're how you're working with the schools and the educational, you know, facilities and stuff as regarding manufacturing and and those opportunities that are available. how are you guys involved on that level?
25:21.9 Joe Unterreiner
Yeah, so we're fortunate to have a really terrific community college and and two excellent high schools in in the area. one one of the high schools has an area of emphasis in STEM curriculum, science, technology, engineering, and math, and the other one has a bioscience emphasis, b both of which are areas that match up with our our economy here. Yeah. So we've worked very closely with both our two high schools and our community college. and so how you know the there was the I think just you know a a perception by educators and counselors and so on, not not really aware of how to refer students into these areas and also a perception of you know manufacturing is sort of dingy and dull and and so on, when in reality advanced manufacturing today has major, major components of IT and high high tech and kind of clean environments and you know and just you know more and more aspects of of all of that. So we worked with our high schools to bring high school students out to our community college in a day-long format that that provides sort of some in class sort of seminar workshop type of formats on you know how you know the equipment that's available and the curriculum that's available and then that's paired with afternoon tours of manufacturing facilities. And so we have a we toured a unit of applied materials. They're a manufacturer for equipment for the high tech industry that makes chips that are in everybody's phones. We took them to you know wood wood products manufacturing mills. we've taken them to a bioscience a pharmaceutical facility that we have here so there's just tremendous diversity in the kinds of businesses that are available in our community and I'm sure in all the other communities across the country. So that was an exciting part of that. So that was the student component, but we did the same thing with teachers
27:39.33 Joe Unterreiner
to schedule they call them here PIR days. They're essentially days where teachers are are are paid to acquire sort of continuing ed credits or you know knowledge you know about their their teaching. And we we w took them through a similar kind of exercise full day where they were able to get eight hours of credit for their continuing ed.
27:56.14 Brandon Burton
Makes perfect sense.
28:09.186 Joe Unterreiner
both with tours and with understanding sort of what advanced manufacturing in the twenty first century looks like. So th that's grown. the teacher group is about fifty last year, the student group is about a hundred and fifty, and we're looking to expand that even further this year.
28:26.326 Brandon Burton
That's great. It makes perfect sense to educate the teachers as they're the ones that these students look up to. have you seen with the manufacturing as far as hiring and bringing the talent and and workforce in, is it a lot of it coming locally or are they needing to recruit outside the Calespell area or d do you know what that looks like?
28:49.344 Joe Unterreiner
Yeah, so you know, fortunately we're you know an area that people would like to move to. So there's some of both of that happening. so we're hoping to capture capture more of just the high school students that are here and graduating and those that are going to the community college and picking up our manufacturing trades curriculum. But we're also you know, the kind of a place if we can you know kind of you know create some awareness out there that people are willing. relocate here just because especially somebody that loves outdoor recreation you know kind of hiking and national parks and the you know kayaking canoeing fishing hunting and all of that in the you know and that this is you know an ideal kind of environment for that kind of person you know skiing in the winter you know cross country downhill and all of that and wonderful summer recreation outdoor recreational opportunities all summer long so so
29:46.496 Brandon Burton
selling it hard. I think I think you can start taking resumes and people would just fill up your inputs.
29:52.806 Joe Unterreiner
So we just had the launch for this year's manufacturing day. For us, it's actually about a month or four 40 days now. But so we just launched that. And one of the things that we heard from our manufacturers is is just that they're doing more marketing out of the area because you know the you know quad quality of life and the employment opportunities are you know really expanding here.
30:27.746 Brandon Burton
That's terrific. So Joe, I know we we need to start wrapping up here, but I wanted to ask you with everything you've discussed today, what is one action item or or piece of advice that you can give to the chambers that are listening of how they can kind of step up their game at their chamber?
30:46.464 Joe Unterreiner
Okay. you know, I've got a a couple thoughts about that. you know, and I I referenced some of that earlier. I think one of the real strengths of a chamber, I think, is you know, it like I said, is just the grassroots of what we bring. So for example, in that first example of that project with the highways, yeah, we weren't the applicant, you know, that was gonna be the city of Calispell. Right. And we have nothing to do with constructing highways or any of that. But what you know, chambers of commerce, you know, like ours and your other listeners have is perhaps the best network of influencers in any community is is going to be the the members of the chambers of commerce. And so one of the things we do is we sign up a new member. in our database, we attempt to just get as many reps. listed under that business as possible because that adds to our network and our communications network. So, you know, I think that's one of the real strengths we have as chambers is this, you know, the a network of owners and managers of businesses in your market. And how and how we cultivate that, how we connect and engage and try to retain those, I think is going to be some of the most important, is some of the most important work we do and and how we enhance that is going to be some of the most important work we do going forward. But also on that project, just as a convener, the nobody's got the the network we have to reach out to all of these businesses for a sign on letter or generate support in a lobbying trip to DC. So I I think that's a real strength. I think the other thing is just our ability as chambers to focus on the top issues of the day and the role that we can play in making things happen in that area. even if we're not the lead organization, we just have tremendous assets to bring in. So I think how we focus on that and bring our collective strength to bear on that is gonna be
32:56.63 Joe Unterreiner
you know, how we succeed going forward. You know, I I also was I was in on a a recent ACCE webinar that where Dave Atkinson, the CEO of the Kentucky Chamber, spoke and he really I I think has maybe done the best thinking out there about connecting with foundations and five one C three grants for for chamber work in things that are with a C three purpose. and in fact both of our projects were clearly within a C three purpose of advancing community projects. And and I think that I think Dave is right on track with that, that our ability to contribute to that and connect with C three organizations has the potential to offer a a great new source of nondues revenue for chambers across the country.
33:52.334 Brandon Burton
So several great tips right there. The one that stood out to me, probably just because it's simple, is being able to acquire as many contacts, reps for each business. So as you have these grassroots programs that you're trying or initiatives that are are kicking off to be able to have that contact information, go out and reach out to the community. So instead of just the primary contact, get as many reps for each each business as you can. And that'll help in leveraging, you know, future initiatives. All your other great up points are great too, though. So, Joe, as we look to the future, and you're kind of answering this throughout the whole interview, but maybe just a synopsis. I ask everybody this question. As we look to the future, how do you view chambers of commerce and their purpose?
34:44.79 Joe Unterreiner
Well, first of all, I view it as quickly changing. I mean, I've I've been the chamber exec here for over twenty years in Calispel and just the nature of the industry and the pace of change has really been remarkable. You know, the way that we're connecting, how position descriptions have changed, how we've needed to change what's in those, particularly from a marketing communications point of view and the way we leverage, you know, media. all of that has been just a tremendous change. And I think we're going to have to be become even better at that in the future. you know, through marketing communication, social media, just the way we're connecting there. So that that's a major factor going forward. I I think we're it's also important I think to continue to diversify our the way we view our revenue streams. and how we how we develop them. you know, we you know, like you know, many your chamber listeners, I'm sure we've got people who won't think anything about buying a a couple thousand dollar auction item or sponsorship but you know to move them a hundred hundred dollars in a dues tier dues categories like you know you know that that could take you know, months and still never happen. But you know, they wouldn't blink at you know, getting a five thousand dollar sponsorship or contributing to some auction prize. So, you know, I just think we're gonna continue to be open-minded and to different revenue streams and then keep pace with the change because those are gonna come and go. So it does create especially dues is what you know, covers the overhead expenses of a chamber and how you develop sustainable you know revenue streams to cover the overhead costs, I think will be one of the big challenges going forward for chambers.
36:53.048 Brandon Burton
Well, Joe, I wanted to thank you for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. And as usual, I want to thank everybody who's out there listening and and participating in the show. The show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash episode twenty-six. And Joe, if listeners wanted to connect with you about any questions they might have about what you're how you're doing things at the Callispel Chamber, how can they reach you?
37:20.9 Joe Unterreiner
yeah, happy to help any way I can there. They can email me at Joe, J O E at Kalispellchamber.com, K A L I S P E L L C H A B E R dot com, or call me direct at four o six seven five eight two eight four.
37:41.772 Brandon Burton
Right. And we will get all that in the show notes as well. So if people wanted to give you a call or shoot you an email and connect further, they're welcome to do that. But again, Joe, thank you for being with us today and best of luck with your chamber of the year.
37:58.088 Joe Unterreiner
opportunities. Yeah. And my best all your all your listeners out there.
38:04.471 Brandon Burton
Alright, thank you.
38:08.728 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 25 — Grapevine Chamber 2019 Chamber of the Year Finalist with RaDonna Hessel
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: RaDonna Hessel
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.192 Brandon Burton
This is a special edition of Chamber Chat Podcast as I begin a series of interviewing the finalist for Chamber of the Year for 2019. I hope you enjoyed 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.
00:30.36 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us today for our second interview in our series of the 2019 ACCE Chamber of the Year finalists. This is episode 25 of Chamber Chat Podcast, and I'm Brandon Burton. It is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. If you're new to Chamber Chat Podcasts, please visit Chamberchat Podcast.com/slash start to learn more about. What you can expect from the show, and you can also receive some valuable tips for some non-dues revenue ideas to use at your chamber. Again, that's chambertechpodcast.com/slash start. And before we jump into the show today, let's quick take a quick moment to learn about our sponsor for this episode. Chambers are not considered for chamber of the year without having great programs and steady streams of non-duce revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swipe It. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swipeit is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swipe It Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the Chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swipe It Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit Chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at Swipeit. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again, visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash cc to start swiping with swipe it. Alright, our guest today Is RaDonna Hessel from the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce in Texas? Radonna serves as the CEO of the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce, a position held since June of 2008. She's served in five different communities around the state of Texas since 1990. Radonna completed the Institute for Organizational Management at SMU and the Oklahoma University.
02:47.18 Brandon Burton
Graduating in 1997 and received her CCE designation in 2013. The Grapevine Chamber received the designation as a five-star accredited chamber by the U.S. Chamber in 2015. Professionally, Radonna is currently serving on the executive board for the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Association and was the 2017 chairman of the oldest state. Chamber organization in the United States. Radonna was selected to the board of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives in 2015, where she continues to serve. She was the 2008 president of the North Texas Chamber of Commerce Executive Association. She currently serves on the board of the Texas Association of Business as the Vice Chair of Governance. She also serves on the interview committee and the search committee for the Texas Association of Business CEO search in 2017. Radonna serves on the Grapevine Colyville ISD Education Foundation and on the board of the Northeast Leadership Forum. In 2018, she completed the Leadership North Texas program. Rodonna also finds time to serve her community, including. as president of the Grapevine Rotary Club in 2011 through 2012, and she was the 2005-2006 centennial president for Grand Prairie Rotary Club and was a leader in the construction of the Grand Prairie Veterans Memorial. Radonna has been recognized for her professional career as well as community service by receiving the following: 2018 Marvin Hurley Award from the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives. 2018 Rotary Pro from the Grapevine Rotary Club. In 2013 and 2010, Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives. 2012-13 Grapevine Rotarian of the Year. 2003, Athena Award or Woman of the Year in Grand Prairie, Texas. In 2001, Citizen of the Year in Grand Prairie, Texas. Radonna, please say hello to the audience.
05:08.634 Brandon Burton
And share something interesting about yourself that we might not have learned about you in this bio.
05:14.622 RaDonna Hessel
hello, and I'm appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today. And I did learn that I need to shorten my bio as I listened to that. but I have been in the business for this is my 29th year, getting ready to go on my 30th year. started in the chamber business as a part-time tourism director, part-time receptionist, and have worked my way way up into now of serving as a CEO. So I've done every part of the chamber world. I tell people I grew up in the chamber business and I love it.
05:54.05 Brandon Burton
That's fantastic. Can you share with us a little bit about the size of the grapevine chamber? So those who who are listening can relate to you and your chamber a little bit better.
06:04.846 RaDonna Hessel
Sure. I've now been here 11 years. And when I started, we were at 750 members. we are now at 1100, just a little bit over 1,100 businesses that are part of our chamber. And we have about 4,500 members, which is our individual count. so when we do a mailing, we started with four employees then, we are now at seven. and we are For people that don't know, Grapevine is in the heart of Dallas Fort Worth. And we actually have all of the terminals of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. So if you've ever landed at DFW Airport, you have actually landed in Grapevine.
06:49.9 Brandon Burton
That's right. And that takes in a huge area at D F W Airport.
06:55.618 RaDonna Hessel
Definitely. Takes a takes a large part of our our community.
06:59.574 Brandon Burton
That's right. So I have to say I am a little bit partial as we're doing this this interview series of Chamber of the Year finalists. I was excited to see that you guys were on there since since we've known each other for several years as I do the work with community matters and and work with some of the publishing with you guys. But can you just share with us a little bit about what is making Grapevine, the Grapevine Chamber, stand out to be considered as a Chamber of the Year finalist?
07:28.77 RaDonna Hessel
I think I I give a lot of credit to our board of directors and kind of how we've operated in the last maybe eight years and becoming very focused on their goals. We several years ago, the chamber board decided we wanted to be the best. and what did that mean and how do we get there? And so we have we have changed the format of how we operate. We've focused on different programs, projects to make our chamber better. We continually try to learn from other chambers. We do what we call best practice visits and we go visit other chambers to learn what they do well. And then we try to implement things that they're doing. For Chamber of the Year, you you look at, you know, they asked us for two examples of projects or things that are related to what our our chamber is doing. And I think the two projects that we used were one creating an AHP co-op, Associated Health Plan Co-op for not just grapevine, but for our entire region. And the other is a capital campaign to expand our chamber facilities to be able to offer the our businesses and our community a meeting space. And all of that was done with. very definite focus by our board of directors and staff on goals that we had for making our organization better for our businesses. And I think our businesses appreciate that.
09:05.719 Brandon Burton
So I know your board is very involved and and they're great. and I and I know these programs come about because of them and support that you get from them. Can you dive in a little bit deeper maybe on the the capital campaign and the the new building you guys did and kind of how that came to be and and the role that your board played in that?
09:27.15 RaDonna Hessel
Sure. We we have a we have a great facility. I I inherited it, a wonderful facility from you know those that came before me. but our meeting space was just our boardroom. And as our chamber has grown, our committees have grown. And so it's it we did a survey a couple of years ago, and the one of the questions, just general questions, was, you know, when how many times do you visit the chamber? And most people said, you know, maybe once a year. And the board was a little bothered by that and really started to research why that is and found that basically all of our committees have outgrown our building. So we have a senior services alliance, which is a a a committee of businesses who do products and services for senior adults. they can't meet here anymore because there's too many of them, which is a which is a wonderful. It is a great problem. We have a young professionals group. We call them ant advancing modern professionals for tomorrow, 20, you know, 21 to 39 year olds, and they can no longer meet here. and in fact we struggle with finding they want they want to have a noon meeting. And when they first started they could meet in our building and you know we could cater in lunch, but now they're having to go find locations and you know more and more restaurants are not, you know, adding meeting rooms to where people can you know meet and talk and have a speaker. And so we've and we have you know, several hotels around us and and they're very wonderful to us, but you know, better paying customers tend to get those rooms before we do. and then plus you just you don't have to pay for the room and the coffee and the, you know, and the meal. And so what our our board realized is that we just had had outgrown our facility. And you know, to be able to to make the opportunities better for our members, we really needed to focus on that. We own our property. well, actually now we own our property. Several years ago, we we had owned our building, we had leased our land. So about what the one of the first things we did when when we kind of started this conversation is we actually purchased our land. So we had an acre. We have some property. I always call it my backyard because it's out my back door. and so we're actually in the process, construction is happening now, so it's really exciting.
11:51.114 RaDonna Hessel
on our new building. So we we will maintain the 3,000 square foot building that we have and it will become our boardroom room will be turned into two more offices and a executive boardroom. And then we're building a separate building on this back in my backyard, which will be a 4,000 square foot meeting space. It will just be a meeting space. So it will have a large meeting room, about 2300 square feet of meeting space. a a catering kitchen, a serving kitchen, two, you know, two restrooms and a and s a storage room. And one of the things going back to the board and having them understand where we were going, we've been planning this and working on this for several years in to the point of putting people on the board or in position on the board to work towards this. So as an example, my chairman of the board this year Is Steve Brown, who's the owner of Esparza's, which is a wonderful Mexican restaurant. That's his plug. in downtown Grapevine. But he's a perfect person to have because his company does catering. And so we've been able to use his, you know, knowledge and information on, you know, what does that kitchen need to look like? we my immediate past chair, who's the chairman of this project. she's in real estate. My incoming chair is also in commercial real estate. so my immediate past chair prior is one of our is the general manager of Great Vine Mills Mall. You know, so we've had people in position. We have a couple of hoteliers that are on the board. So we have people in positions that have we've we've moved them into those positions. to help us specifically with this project at this time of of our chamber life. And I think that was through, you know, great planning, great focus, and just really understanding that to do it well and to do it right, we needed to have the right people in the right place at the right time.
13:58.382 Brandon Burton
So how do you go about working with your board to to have them work effectively like that? Sounds like you have people on the right responsibilities with the board, but how do you go about building those relationships, making sure they're strong and making sure people are engaged that are on the board?
14:16.428 RaDonna Hessel
We have a fascinating process. I'd love to take total responsibility for this happening, but it it really happened organically. Several years ago, we did a a wonderful board retreat with Bob Harris. We came out with, you know, that great direction of of you know board governance and where our board needed to go, but but we ended up with that that plan that no one really knew how to make it work. And so we ended up doing a second board retreat about two months later. And our our board talked about how do we move this document forward? How do we make it something that's not sitting on a shelf? How do we make it something that's you know relevant and continues to grow and doesn't you know stagnate? And what they came up with is is using a corporate concept. So in in in corporate world, you have in in a lot of organizations they have kind of three areas of focus. They have leadership, they have customers and they have profit. You know, if the customers are happy, you have good profit. You have good profit, your leaders are happy, you know, and kind of how that works. So we looked at how does that relate to chamber? Well we have a leadership, but instead customers, we have businesses who are members and we have partners, which are the city, the school district, economic development, etc. And then instead of profit, because you know, as a non-profit, you know, people kind of look funny at profit, but we look at it as having good stewardship and prosperity for not only our organizations but our businesses. So those became our three focuses. And what our board did is they basically divided themselves into what we call the three buckets of leadership, business partnerships, and stewardship and prosperity. And then those three groups of board members. looked at what that strategic plan was and found goals. So they had each of those groups have their own goals to accomplish. And they for our leadership team, one of the you know goals was to purchase you know, several years ago was to purchase the land. It took some time. There's a long story there. you know, for our stewardship and prosperity, it was making sure that we got our finances in order, making sure that we had
16:37.76 RaDonna Hessel
you know additional funding in the bank for you know that future whatever. and so each each group kind of came up with their own goals. The other thing that was interesting is that they threw out what I would call the old school agenda. We no longer have a normal agenda for our board. Our goals are our agenda. So each month at each board meeting each of those goal teams report on what they've done to accomplish their goals. And so when the building became a project at for one of the goal teams, that's what they work on, not just in the board meeting for that hour of our board meeting, but they are working on it outside of that time. And it no goal team wants to be the team that hasn't done anything, that has no report. So they they hold each other accountable for what what they're doing and You can really tell when one group has a great report one month and the other group is going, we didn't really do anything. You know, they don't they don't like that. None of them. And and I have, you know, I have CEOs and business owners and you know, city manager and school superintendent. They all are focused, they're driven, and they're competitive. And through that, they have they have held themselves accountable. for what those goals are. And and each year when when you know a lot of people do another board retreat to kind of start all over, we are basically having a retreat to say what goals have we accomplished, what goals do we need to add, and how are we going to make those happen? And board members take ownership roles of each of the goals and each sections of each of the goals and they make it happen. And it's it it's invigorating. I've had board members who have told me that, you know, this is one of the first boards they've ever been on that's not a yes board. You know, we don't really have have that kind of conversation. this is more about what you've done and and they they enjoy the opportunity to make things happen.
18:44.48 Brandon Burton
I love that. I love that it's not a yes board. They they all have accountability. They're all coming and wanting to be prepared to be able to answer to whatever they're responsible for.
18:54.796 RaDonna Hessel
Well, and you know, I'll I'll add to that. one of the things on you know, on on boards that probably you and I've served on, you know, you you might have an attendance policy, but nobody really sticks to it. I will tell you, this board does. If you miss three meetings in a row, you're off. they all are well, I would say other than, you know, if it's a health issue or something like that, but but this board is very driven and they're all leaders and they don't take excuses from others. and so if if you can't dedicate the time, they they will, you know, thank you for your service and they move on. So it's it's fascinating to watch, you know, that process. And it's it's for for my role, you know, I've been in several other chambers, you know, we've done it several other ways, but for me it's kind of amazing because I'm not the bad guy. you know, sometimes when you have issues, you know, the CEO or president becomes kind of the one that has to, you know, really push and prod and whatever. I don't have to do that. This board does it to themselves and for themselves. And and because of that, they've they've accomplished, you know, just so many awesome things.
20:09.368 Brandon Burton
Fantastic. Let's let's dive in a little bit about the association healthcare plan since that's kind of the other part of with the application on the the chamber of the year. how did that come to be and just just tell us more about that.
20:26.252 RaDonna Hessel
Well, it it's that's a that's a frustrating one at the moment. I think we we've done the right thing.
20:33.186 Brandon Burton
Whenever healthcare's involved, it's always frustrating.
20:36.154 RaDonna Hessel
It And and the federal government, that you know, those two little pieces are are bound and determined to to make your life a little crazy. we one of the areas that our board you know really does focus on, especially with our business partnership team, is looking at what can we do to help our businesses. And and as everyone knows, healthcare is a a challenge for for large corporations as well as our small businesses, but especially for our small businesses. And we we have an issue with in our community of of finding employees. I mean, if if you want a job, come to Grapevine because it is here. But you know, for a lot of our businesses, healthcare, you know, having those benefits is is a struggle. And so we had started hearing about, you know, the president had signed the executive order to allow AHPs to be done on a geographical basis. And Lubbock Chamber had taken that on immediately. They had had a health plan and They they worked with United Healthcare to create a a regional you know AHP in the panhandle or he I I'd get fussed at for that in West Texas. sorry, Eddie. and then but one of the areas on on that one is that you know it's it's straight through with the Lubbock Chamber, which is great for that region. I was a little concerned if that you know, if we had a regional AHP in this area, that one chamber might control it. So one of my members who is in the insurance industry contacted me. I asked the board if we if they were interested in working on it and they wholeheartedly said yes, see what it would take. So we worked with United Healthcare and we offered to not do it as a grapevine activity but rather tr a true regional co-op with the idea that we would invite all chambers in our region to participate now what i didn't understand at the time is longview had started something similar and lubbick had theirs there were basically 28 counties between those two so when i was talking region i was thinking four counties yeah when when all it all was said and done it became 28 counties
22:59.522 RaDonna Hessel
and in the 28 counties of North Texas, I have learned there are 128 chambers of commerce that I know of. There could be others, but 128. So the other thing, United Healthcare was wanting to get this done basically in about six to eight weeks because they wanted to get it started by the open enrollment. so that gave us less than seven days to create the co-op. a co-op has to be in existence for 30 days before you can, you know, start using it, which basically gave us so we called our goal team together for the board. they voted to proceed forward and to commit the funds. that was taken to our board basically in a 24-hour vote because we were committing about $10,000 was our estimate of making this all happen. because you have to have an attorney, you have to create the co-op. then we had to negotiate with United Healthcare, which meant more lawyers involved, to create the actual plan. then we had to contact all of the 128 chambers to ask them to consider becoming a part of the co-op, which was you know, just a fast turnaround and getting them involved. But we were able to do it. we started our health plan co-op with, I think there's 31 chambers of commerce who have signed on. And we we were able to start selling it. The the the negative, thanks to the federal government, is that there was a lawsuit by 12 states opposed to the president's executive order, and a federal judge ruled in their favor on two points. Of that lawsuit. And so now we are in a a little bit of a court battle. the US chamber thankfully has filed an appeal to that ruling. And so unfortunately, we are basically on hold. Any business who had gotten a quote or had gotten insurance prior to that are continuing, are a part of our AHP, but they are no longer able to provide any quotes to businesses until the lawsuit.
25:23.872 RaDonna Hessel
is settled. So they they have asked for an expedited ruling to try to move it forward on the appeal. I have talked to more congressmen and senators than I ever thought I would. I know more about insurance than I ever thought I would, but we are holding strong. We know this is the right thing for our businesses. Those businesses that are were able to you know get the insurance are over 2,000 people covered in just the you know, the few short weeks that we were able to operate. And we know that there are several more out there that want it and need it. And it is a benefit. So so we are continuing to work on the issue. Thankfully our board of directors appreciates the effort. And I and I do want to say on on the board's behalf and and just on as membership as a whole, one of my board members had early on, you know, almost immediately received a quote. And and it wasn't good for him. I mean, it's one of those things where probably 50% of the businesses will benefit, 50% won't. He happened to be in that 50% that didn't. But his comment to me was, I still feel it was the right thing to do for us to do this. He said it didn't benefit me, but it will benefit others. And he said, I so appreciate the chamber making the effort for small business. And I think that's all we can do. I think if we tell our members, you know, and and listen to them. and try to help them, then they appreciate. That's the ROI. For that, for that company, it it didn't work for him. It it wasn't better than what he had. But for others it is. And he appreciated the effort that that not only staff made, but the board made and the commitment that the chamber made to to try to make it work. So I I think that, you know, sometimes we get a little frustrated with people, you know, with the what's in it for me. But sometimes we have to realize You know, what's in it for them is is what we try to do. Num not always what we succeed at, but what we try to do.
27:23.53 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So I'm familiar with with Eddie McBride and what how they kinda implemented their healthcare plan out in in Lubbock. We had him on the show early on. But I'm curious, what made you want to bite off such a a big task like this with being in a a very dense metro area and looking at a a regional plan like this?
27:49.582 RaDonna Hessel
stupidity? I d I don't know. No. my concern
27:55.019 Brandon Burton
I know there's wisdom in there somewhere.
27:57.822 RaDonna Hessel
Somewhere. And I tell myself that daily. Somewhere there's there's there was a smart thing to do somewhere. no. You know, when I talked to United Healthcare, my thing was what I said to the gentleman I was speaking with, I said, you know, I it's just important to me that all chambers are able to participate. And he said, Well, you know, we're working with five other chambers in the region there in front of you. And I said, I appreciate that. and I don't, you know, I I'm Believe it or not, I'm not one of those people that have to lead it. I just want to make sure when it happens, it happens with the ability for everyone to be able to participate. And that was important to me. And I said, you know, I'm happy to work with whoever you set it up with, you know, but but please try to make that, you know, a piece of it, that that all chambers have the ability to to be a part and and to, you know, play in the sandbox together. And it was kind of funny because he called me back about I don't know, a few days later and said, Were you serious about that? that all chambers should participate. And I Yeah, you know, I I've been in the business too long. I I kind of feel like the mama chamber exec. You know, I want I want everybody to be to be able to benefit. And he said, well I'll tell you what, if you are serious about that, we've decided we're going to work with you and we're going to tell the other chambers that they need to work with you. So I don't know what the I I don't know who all the other chambers were. I don't know what the what their plans were. but for me it was really important that every chamber be able to participate e equally. I wanted, you know, my business to be able to join my chamber and, you know, a a chamber in Cedar Hill or Duncanville to be able to join their chamber and to be able to participate if their chamber chose to. And so so it was kind of me and my big mouth, I guess. Just just stating my my concern and the fact that I wanted all chambers to be able to participate and and I guess they they liked that. And it it wasn't it was kind of something I I didn't necessarily plan to do, but it was important to me that everybody be able to, you know, have the opportunity to to benefit their businesses. So
30:08.374 Brandon Burton
That's good. I know in Lubbock it it's a obviously they're out there by themselves and they've got a huge pool of several counties around them that don't have any other resource to go to. And it's it's created a great for lack of a better term, a stickiness factor, you know, as a business joins a chamber to be able to retain them as a member to to have that health care plan. And I guess there's still some of that stickiness factor. Even though it is opened up for all these a hundred and twenty-eight chambers that that could participate, it's just more locally instead of pulling in from counties all over the place to grapevine. It's gonna be almost city by city, if I understand that right. Which I mean, the the intent there of being able to get people taken care of, you know, with more affordable health care. That's the the end goal. So if we can get everybody on that or or have them have the opportunity.
30:53.462 RaDonna Hessel
Exactly. That's exactly
31:07.854 Brandon Burton
And I think the mission is accomplished. So best of luck to Yeah.
31:11.128 RaDonna Hessel
Hundred percent. You're right there. Hundred percent. You know, the opportunity is for for everyone to to benefit. whether that be the business or or the chamber, you know, it's it's not like we're gonna make millions of dollars. In fact right now we're still in the hole on this.
31:29.102 Brandon Burton
That's right.
31:31.962 RaDonna Hessel
But but you know, it it's the idea that, you know, for the business they they get, you know, hopefully a a better health plan at less cost. And for the chamber that that business is a member of that chamber and and maintains that membership to be able to maintain their insurance. So it's it's a great opportunity. I think it it ultimately will work well. I I think it's all going to work out and we're gonna stick with it. But I I you know, I think that just overall art for Great Vine, I have a great board who sees the vision of what we can be and they're willing to roll up their sleeves, invest the funds, invest the staff time, and invest their own time into making you know, our community better, our chamber better, our region better, and our state better.
32:23.854 Brandon Burton
That's great. So we're done. I know we need to start wrapping this up here, but I I wanted to ask you, based on what we've talked about today, and I guess and considering the what's gone into becoming a a finalist for Chamber of the Year, what advice would you have for chambers that are listening to help level up their chamber to the the next level?
32:48.47 RaDonna Hessel
I think it's I you know over all these years, I think it's a matter of listening to what the businesses want. listening to what they don't want. we tend to do things because they've always been done that way. and sometimes we take have to take that leadership role and and kind of steering the ship rent in a different course. or strengthen if if we're going to continue what we've always done, let's take that and make it better. I I think that you know, everything has its time and its place. And I think it's important for chambers to not just look at what we're doing, you know, today and what we did yesterday, but look at what we want to be doing 10 years from now. You know, if you have something that you're doing and you know, people are bound and determined to keep doing it, then okay, let's make it better. or you might be amazed to find that they're they're willing to let it go and to move on to something different. I think, you know, I think chambers, I'm not one of those that believes chambers will go away. I think the handshake still means a lot and I think we provide that opportunity. I just think sometimes we have to make sure that we are meeting the needs of of who we have now and planning to meet the needs of who we have in the future.
34:00.27 Brandon Burton
That's great. So I have a question that I ask everybody that I I have as a guest on the show. as we look to the future, how do you view the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose?
34:13.676 RaDonna Hessel
I think their purpose will continue to be to make communities better. I think the future is in our young people, getting our young people involved. I talked about our aunt, making sure that, you know, they're aware of what the opportunities are. I you know, everybody will say, there's so much technology, but I already see a swing happening. You know, people's inboxes are full, their text messages are full, and and everybody's inundated and the And people are going back to looking to how to make that one on one connection. And I think we need to stay focused on meeting the needs through social media, through technology, but you know, also remembering that, you know, the handshake is still extremely valuable. And if we can provide those opportunities, we will continue to be extremely relevant in the future.
35:05.26 Brandon Burton
Yeah, we can't let these young professionals lose what a face to face handshake, you know, personal contact is all about.
35:12.302 RaDonna Hessel
You know, I'm I will say I'm finding with our young professionals, we we they have their own goal teams within the young professional group. They want to do a monthly luncheon with speakers, they want to have social networking, and their other third goal team is on philanthropic efforts, which is getting their hands dirty. Yeah. So even though we talk about the young professionals and technology, when our young professionals are choosing what to do. They're doing what chambers have done for many, many years.
35:46.072 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. And hopefully they're just leveraging the technology to to be better than than what things were in the past.
35:53.387 RaDonna Hessel
Exactly. Exactly.
35:55.618 Brandon Burton
Very good. Well, Radonna, I want to thank you so much for taking some time to be with us today on Chamber Chat Podcast. And of course I want to thank everybody for being here and listening and and tuning in. The show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchatpodcast.com/slash episode twenty-five. And Radonna, if listeners wanted to connect with you and maybe ask some more questions about how you're doing things at the Grapevine Chamber, how would they be able to Reach out to you.
36:27.394 RaDonna Hessel
They can call the Grapevine Chamber 8174811522. They can email me. It's Radonna, R A D O N N A at Grapevine Chamber dot org. Or they can call myself, nine seven two eight three nine two one two six. I can talk chamber all day long. Happy to visit with anyone.
36:49.838 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. Well, I appreciate you talking chamber with us today. Best of luck to you with the Chamber of the Year voting. And we'll look forward to seeing those results.
37:02.488 RaDonna Hessel
Thank you, Brandon.
37:07.288 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 24 — Bowling Green Area Chamber 2019 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Ron Bunch
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Ron Bunch
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.226 Brandon Burton
This is a special edition of Chamber Chat Podcast as I begin a series of interviewing the finalist for Chamber of the Year for 2019. I hope you enjoyed 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.
00:29.88 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us today as we begin a special series over the next several episodes, where we will be interviewing the ACCE Chamber of the Year finalists. This is episode twenty-four of the Chamber Chat Podcast, and I'm Brandon Burton. It is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas so you can better serve your chamber members and your community. If you're new to Chamber Chat Podcasts, please visit Chamberchat Podcast dot com/slash start to learn more about What you can expect from the show, and you can receive some valuable tips for some non-dues revenue ideas that you can use at your chamber. Again, that's ChamberChatPodcast.com/slash start. And before we jump into the show today, let's take a quick moment to learn about our sponsor for this episode. Chambers are not considered for chamber of the year without having great programs and steady streams of non-dues revenue. I want to introduce you to a great affinity program from Swipe It. In partnership with Chamber Chat Podcast, Swipeit is one of the best credit card processors in the business. With the Swipe It Affinity program, you can save up to 40% on your credit card processing fees at the Chamber and help your member partners to do the same. Chambers who take advantage of the Swipe It Affinity program can add thousands of dollars to their non-dues revenue annually. Please visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash cc for more information and to request your complimentary cost savings analysis from the experts at swipeit. The first twenty chambers to respond will qualify for free equipment to get set up. Again visit chamberchatpodcast.com slash cc to start swiping with swipe it. Alright our guest today Is Ron Bunch from the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce in Kentucky. Ron is a president and CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, a five-star accredited chamber, placing in the top 1% of all chambers nationwide. The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce has served the Bowling Green and Warren County area for more than 80 years. As a driving force for the business community in the Bowling Green and Warren County area.
02:50.05 Brandon Burton
The chamber also serves as the lead economic development organization for the region and is responsible for the South Central Kentucky Regional Economic Development Partnership. Since Bunch joined the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, their community has announced over two point five seven billion dollars in capital investment and more than fifty seven hundred new jobs. Bowling Green ranked first nationally by Site Selection Magazine. For the top metros in the new slash expanded facilities for populations under 200,000 in 2018. They have been ranked in the top six nationally for six consecutive years, ranking second for the past three consecutive years. Simultaneously, the chamber has been invited to apply for the Chamber of the Year in the US by Americ by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives for five consecutive years. Making it to the final stage for three of those years. Bunch received the Kentucky Association for Economic Development 2014, James J. Coleman Community Economic Professional of the Year. And with over 25 years of professional economic development experience, Bunch is a certified economic developer and has led successful local and regional economic development efforts in Florida, Virginia, South Carolina. And South Carolina before coming to Kentucky. Ron, please say hello to our audience and share something interesting about yourself that we may not have learned in your bio there.
04:27.982 Ron Bunch
Sure. Brandon, I really appreciate being on the show and getting a chance to chat on some of the things that we're doing at our chamber. We always enjoy learning from other chambers and and using those learnings to benefit our membership. maybe something that others don't know that you didn't cover on there was I was first to go to college out of my family and I was I attended West Point and served in the army after serving at West Point at Fort Bragg.
04:53.698 Brandon Burton
That is fantastic. Thank you. So thank you. Good good background and good stuff to know about you. So I appreciate that. so can you give us a little bit of a better idea about the Bowling Green area chamber, maybe the size and just kind of what your dynamics look like there, so we can all relate to you and your chamber a little bit better.
05:01.634 Ron Bunch
Yes, sir.
05:15.074 Ron Bunch
Yeah, sure. I mean, as you know, every chamber is unique and we certainly fit that mold. We're we actually run seven different companies. The chamber is one of those companies, and our chamber has about nineteen staff members. It's the only entity that has staff. The other entities are essentially development entities or foundations or training consortium, those sorts of things. So our men our leadership team here. runs all seven of those org organizations simultaneously that then feeds back into our budget. We have about thirteen hundred members. We call them partners 'cause we're looking for more of a partnership relationship where we're collaborating together to help grow their business and to improve our region.
05:58.158 Brandon Burton
Very good. So I'm curious, the seven companies, can you touch on those a little bit just to give a scope of of what all you guys are into?
06:06.222 Ron Bunch
Course. So we have a private development company, the Bowling Green Area Economic Development Authority. we developed a an entire industrial park and we're actually searching to set up a new industrial park. That entity also builds buildings. We currently have a hundred thousand square foot speculative building that we've built using cash that we've generated. it that entity owns another building that we lease to one of our companies here. So that's one. second would be the Intermodal Transportation Authority. It's a public development company. It's currently developing the Trans Park, which is about a 900-acre business industrial park. We've been very fortunate to land some of the largest new manufacturing projects in Kentucky over the last several years in that park. And we're nearing capacity there and looking for another business park through that entity. We have the RDA, which is Regional Development Authority. Through it, we're able to do bond issues to support economic development. And we actually hold title to about a million square foot building to help facilitate incentives for one particular company. We have our foundation, and through our foundation, we've raised and invested about a million and a half dollars to support our SCK launch initiative that is a nationally recognized initiative in our two school districts here. so that's a very active entity for us. we have a PAC, we have a training consortium where we actually have a private sector board with membership from each of the six key economic sectors of our area. And it do delivers training to our existing companies and helps with both incumbent training and with new higher training so that we can help address the talent challenge that our whole nation is facing. I think that's all of them.
07:51.702 Brandon Burton
They cover it all?
07:52.942 Ron Bunch
Yeah, that covers all. And we have quite a number of board meetings as you might imagine with that many
07:58.004 Brandon Burton
Else it goes with the chamber and everything. Right. Wow. No, that you guys have your hands full, that's for sure. That it Yeah, I can see I can see how they all kind of work together though, you know, in some degree or another. so as we kind of kick off this, this is the first interview of this series that we're doing of of Chamber of the Year finalists. And tell us a little bit about what I mean
08:04.631 Ron Bunch
Never dull.
08:25.922 Brandon Burton
You just shared with us some the unique qualities of of your chamber there in Bowling Green, but what what's making you stand out and to be you know invited to to apply and to be a finalist for the last few years and and this year to to be a finalist again for for Chamber of the Year. What what's making you stand out and and what's working well for you guys there?
08:49.462 Ron Bunch
It the I think the consistent thing has been Bowling Green has been forever a chamber community. And so the engagement that we get from volunteers and our board and the respect that we're able to have throughout our school districts and and everyone else really helps to lay a foundation for us to have a strong partnership on a variety of different initiatives, not just membership, recruitment and retention or programs. But on the talent initiatives and the other things that we're able to do. So in each year we've done really some pretty interesting initiatives, and that I think has helped us get into the hunt. I mean, obviously we've performed well from a metrics standpoint. So our program of work to both recruit and retain, focusing on both new partners and first-tier partners has has helped us. generate the kind of numbers. The fact that we have seven organizations with revenue coming from various entities. We're not as dependent strictly on membership income. So we've got a pretty diversified portfolio of revenue each year and have had a lot of financial success as a result. But we've done everything from we were the first county in the United States to pass right to work. We worked very close with Warren County when we did that and then we helped to spread that. throughout counties in Kentucky and then ultimately the state passed right to work statewide. So we're involved in that. That's an example of a prior initiative. We've done a lot of talent initiatives, you know, leading up to now and including what is now SCK launch, which is the umbrella brand that we have for all that we do in K twel. We've also done quite a bit of work in public workforce system to help align it with demand driven activities that match the six key economic sectors in our region. but this past year in our application we talked about what we've done with launch, what we've done with our women's leadership conference. We totally revamped that to make it more attractive and we're very fortunate in selling that out. And how we've partnered with our university to welcome new students and get them connected to our business base and also to get them in our talent pipeline. And last and certainly not least, you know, with the performance we've had consistently over the last several years,
11:08.33 Ron Bunch
it culminated in being named a best place to live in Kentucky by Time dot com. So we were very proud of that and we kicked off a social media campaign so that our partners and other organizations in the community could leverage that to both recruit and recruit retain talent in our our region.
11:26.048 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that's a nice title to be able to carry.
11:28.832 Ron Bunch
Yeah, we're very blessed.
11:32.664 Brandon Burton
Yeah, for sure. So can we maybe just dive in a little bit deeper to some of these programs and stuff you have going on? You've mentioned a couple of times already the SCK Launch Initiative. Can you explain a little bit more about that? Tell us how that works and and what the chamber's involvement is there?
11:50.53 Ron Bunch
Sure. The so my COO, Meredith Rodzanski, and our education consultant, Sandra Baker, have been our key staff members really building the partnership between business and our K twelve schools into what is now called South Central Kentucky Launch. So that's our region and then launch is learning about unique and new careers here and For anybody that's interested, then go to our the website we have at www.scklaunch.com. But it started out with us meeting with our business base when I first got here and having a conversation and and really learning about their talent needs. And it didn't take us long to decide we really needed to go beyond just making sure that our talent pipeline had soft skills. We wanted to move toward having leadership sk skills. And so we were dabbling at that time with what was called the Leader in Me by the Covey organization in elementary schools. And our VP of partnership at the time found that at a conference in Raleigh, I believe, and and brought that back. But again, we were only dabbling. And so as we looked at it, our leadership team was able to convince our board that if it was going to be implemented with fidelity across two different districts in all the schools, that we were going to have to raise money and and really provide that partnership between the business community and education. And so at at that point we to kicked off a capital campaign. We raised just over $1.4 million in-house. We dedicated all that money to a collaboration with the schools. And at that time we became the first community in the world to work with the Covey organization to implement that K through 12 at the time. They were still developing curriculum for middle school and really didn't have curriculum for high school. So our schools and our business community got to do some R and D type activities with the Covey organization as we rolled that out. And so as it stands now, we have thirteen lighthouse schools in elementary, which is the most in the state. and lighthouse is really the certification by Covey organization that you've reached a sustainability point.
14:07.874 Ron Bunch
And so we've now had in every grade level ethics-based leadership skills. And it's not a class, it is an operating system for each of our schools. So we have about 16,000 students in the county schools, another 4,000 students in the city schools. And so every student every year is an operating system that is ethics-based leadership. And as a student matures through their process, as you move into middle school and high school, we begin to stack other specific skills on top of that that align with our six sectors. So early on we did some research and found out the current demand. as it stands today we have about six thousand open jobs in our market area which is our ten counties. Those jobs are broken into six sectors. And so we run that demand report every month. It it it details out current demand, five-year projected demand and ten-year demand. So We've worked with the schools to really realign into a go-to career model versus the model that's been in the United States for quite some time. And as you progress through, we have more and more experiences where our students learn about the jobs that are here, the career pathways that are here, so they can make an informed decision on their education choices up to and including graduation. And through that, we've also worked with the Gallup organization to implement work activities. So if they're exposed to the workplace before graduation, typically students perform better if they go to higher ed or in the workplace. And so we're committed to having a hundred percent of our students have a work experience before they graduate. And then with the work that we've done with the Ford Foundation, we've recreated a new model with them and with the Covey and leadership infused career academy model. So we're in the process now of scoping a new capital campaign to help install equipment to align with all of our sectors and all of our high schools so that in the future every high school, every student in every high school will be in a career pathway with relevant equipment that ties back to currently available jobs in the region.
16:19.456 Brandon Burton
I love that. That's like planting the seed for everything else that you have going on there at the chamber between the seven different organizations and and growing the talent and workforce in your area. I know that that's one thing that you guys are proud of. And that seems to feed right into that. you know, kind of developing your own talent there in the area. But then I imagine by doing these these monthly reports of the talent needs, then you're able to see Where the areas are needed for recruitment. Is that correct? Is that how you go about that?
16:51.988 Ron Bunch
Exactly. We and we help to align the public workforce system with that same thing. So whether you're a youth or adult, we have a pretty good handle now on the town pipeline coming in and as a as it stands and probably much like most of the country, we've got about a third of the people here we need to fill the available jobs with the retirement of the baby boomers and we need to recruit two thirds and so we have a much better I guess perspective that we can help inform our business base and our educators and talent development folks because as you're talking with adults, we're also interacting with our staffing companies that are members of ours and and others just to make sure everybody's working off the same data set and understanding which credentials are in demand to satisfy the different positions. And so it's been a a very active, very broad collaboration, but it's been hugely beneficial to the relationship we've built between our business base and our schools. that's why we've been able to invest. We've invested around two million now total in schools and we've been able to place high school students into careers that, you know, prior to these efforts weren't really an opportunity in the business base is very pleased because of the maturity and ethics that these students are and the hard skills that these students are graduating with. So it's been a wonderful initiative with a lot of personal success stories of individuals that have gotten good careers and are buying new vehicles. Some students within a couple of years after that have purchased a house. I mean it's just remarkable things things that have gone on.
18:29.014 Brandon Burton
Yeah, I'm sure you could write a book with all the success stories that come out of this.
18:33.184 Ron Bunch
We're actually in a book that Covey produced, so yeah.
18:35.65 Brandon Burton
There you go. Yeah. He didn't have to write it.
18:37.454 Ron Bunch
Yeah. We need to write one though so we can put the revenue back into the program. That was another interesting feature we did and and some of the work because it was first time ever, we protected some of the intellectual property on how we do our S C K Launch Experience event and how we do some of the implementation of leadership infused career academies. And as we generate income from that, we invest a hundred percent of that income back in our schools and so No, that's been a neat part of this model as it gains interest and attraction. we have a vehicle now to reinvest back in the schools 'cause y you have to keep investing to keep up with the town pipeline needs that the region has.
19:18.622 Brandon Burton
it's it's it critical to pay attention to what those different opportunities are to be able to reinvest. I think a lot of times those chances, those opportunities come and they pass because you don't jump on it and you don't take advantage of it. So good good for you guys. So you had mentioned you guys have about a if I understood right, about a third of the workforce coming from locally and then you're needing to recruit for about the other two thirds. Is that what I understood?
19:46.56 Ron Bunch
our that's what our math looks like. And we're as part of the capital campaign we're scoping right now, about a third of the investment capital we'd be seeking would be to go to build out the talent recruitment model that we've piloted with some local companies here so that we can begin really a campaign into different labor surplus markets in the country to bring folks here. So we'll partner with the university to recruit alumni. We've help to provide social media to our contacts so that they can help recruit people. We're gonna put together a very comprehensive talent recruitment approach for that. You know, basically four thousand jobs that we need to fill that are available currently here.
20:30.752 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Doesn't say any recruitment effort's gonna start with gathering that good data, which it sounds like you guys are on top of. how does that play into the the Welcome Back Western program that you guys do?
20:45.526 Ron Bunch
Great question. So the you know, we're very blessed to have a university here. there are about twenty thousand total students. So every year when they bring a new class to our community, we have our partners set up shop at the South Lawn. I think this year we had a hundred plus partners at the event. It it typically sells out. The students love it, the businesses love it. And it in addition to building a customer base for our partners, that connectivity has allowed us to reach those students and have an ongoing dialogue with them about you know finding career opportunities in our region so that the students that are coming to the university for school will actually stay in our area after graduation. And so that initiative has grown each year with you know both business and students being very pleased with the event. So it was a a really great event this past year and we're looking forward to the new year when students come back in.
21:42.594 Brandon Burton
I love how so many of these programs you guys have just kind of roll into and feed the next program. I mean it's just it just builds upon itself, which is fantastic.
21:51.97 Ron Bunch
Yeah, it really helps with the continuity and then you can offer sort of a comprehensive solution to our partners. And in addition to the talent recruitment aspect of Welcome Back Western, we've really grown our young professional activity, both to retain them in our area and to help recruit them. And so this gives us a great opportunity to build a relationship with emerging young professionals that we can get pulled into that activity.
22:18.67 Brandon Burton
Very good. So you had mentioned towards the beginning of of our interview the women's leadership conference that you guys put on. And can you explain a little bit more about that? Just dive into that a little bit more?
22:33.368 Ron Bunch
Yeah, absolutely. We we've been longtime supporters of the Athena recognition, both Athena and young Athena. And so we our chambers recognized for quite some time female leadership and really celebrated that. And we developed a women's leadership conference, but it it sorta c capped in its ins excitement and our My VP of partnership, Maureen Carpenter, reimagined this with her programs team here and came up with a We Three Women's Leadership Conference this past year. And it's We to the Power of Three, looking to empower, enlighten, and engage. And the way they set the format up, it's sold out within a very short period of time. And the feedback that we've gotten from it has been phenomenal. I think we had like ninety-four percent of people asking for next year's date. So they could make sure that they got on the list to to be able to attend. So we're working on identifying a bigger venue and and being prepared to grow that. And we had some great speakers that talked about life experiences and leadership and just really celebrated female leadership in in business and in the community. And it was a really exciting event from what I heard. I wasn't allowed to attend, so yeah. I just I C O O O might give me a partnership, but they said it was awesome.
23:53.502 Brandon Burton
And only.
23:58.572 Brandon Burton
Makes you wonder what goes on there, right?
24:00.878 Ron Bunch
I don't wanna know. It was all good. That's all I needed to know.
24:04.942 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that's right. How long have you guys been doing the women's leadership conference?
24:08.078 Ron Bunch
I think we've been doing the various versions of it for probably four or five years.
24:13.984 Brandon Burton
Okay. And you're seeing it build momentum?
24:18.106 Ron Bunch
it was this one was they they reimagined it really for this past year and the format, the approach, it really had people excited about attending it and then after attending the feedback, I mean it's eighty, ninety plus percent, very high level marks on it. So it it all around it was a great event. So we're we're looking forward to next year's version.
24:43.638 Brandon Burton
That's good. Or at least hearing about it.
24:46.823 Ron Bunch
Right, exactly. My I saw some video so I know what happened.
24:50.722 Brandon Burton
Th that's right. so I know in in exchanging some some notes and stuff ahead of time for this interview, you'd mentioned dynamic team building there your chamber. What what do you mean by that and what does that look like at the Bolingerdinary Chamber?
25:08.718 Ron Bunch
Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, we we like every business are grappling with challenges of insufficient talent with the aging and the baby boomers. And so we've ramped up our efforts in how we assess new staff members, how we onboard new staff members, how we train and engage new staff members. And within the recent past we began implementing The strength finder assessment, which really takes the approach of, you know, every individual has 34 different strengths. And the alignment of the first, you know, say five or ten strengths really outlines how that individual operates in most situations. And so we're using the strength finder both as an assessment tool to bring on new chamber staff members and to look at existing chamber staff members and Help to make sure we're putting them in scenarios where they can work to their strength. You know, a lot of times with employees, in a more traditional sense, you're looking at weaknesses or challenges and really trying to improve those. That's really not how this model works. This model looks at, you know, how what strengths do you have? How do we get you operating in your strengths more often? Because if you operate in your strengths more often, you'll be happier, more productive, better team member. Not to say that we don't ensure that everyone's being a model employee, but trying to get people in the areas of their strengths. Beyond that, we've also we'll we're just now implementing we did a 360 review, every employee, whether they reported to the senior leadership team or not, got to evaluate the leadership team so we could work on you know improving the culture. And then most recently we kicked off an engagement survey. through that same strengthfinder model. And we're now working on that engagement activity.
27:08.344 Brandon Burton
So is this strength finder model? Is this a a website or a program you purchase or how do you how'd you come across it?
27:16.098 Ron Bunch
Yeah, there is a website for it. Clifton is the gentleman that really, I guess, set it up in the model. but it do it looks at every individual. You take a series of questions and a quick assessment, and then it it outlines your top five strengths if you get just that report, but you can also get your full thirty-four so you have a sense of you know, like for me, strategic Achiever, responsibility, significance, and competition are my top five. Okay. And so each one of those has a different explanation, but the magic sort of happens in how those interact. and so as we come to understand each one of our individual employees, it really helps us to make sure they're in the right role and we're developing in the most effective way. we also do disk, so we do a number of assessments just so we have a better idea of How our employees operate and you know w what really their sweet spot is for performing on the team. because in our organization, there's not two positions that are the same. So we have nineteen staff members, but each one we expect to be an interdependent subject matter expert. Yeah. And so this tool has really helped us. And then the engagement survey, w as we start to learn started to learn about that, we found that The data suggests that maybe fifteen or twenty percent of employees are engaged nationally. So you know, if we're gonna continue to perform at at the levels that we have performed for the last six plus years, we really need to have more of our employees engaged. And so when we went to the training, I've had the initial training as a coach, then my COO, who also does HR for us, went to the training for engagement champion. The other folks in the room were much larger companies. None of them were with a nonprofit. So it was c private companies with thousand plus employees. So I think we're fairly unique in what we're doing both with the strength finder assessment and with the engagement survey. And so we're we're now embarking on probably a three year journey to change our culture and to have it be all strengths based.
29:28.534 Brandon Burton
That's great. I it's kind of troubling to hear such a low percentage of engagement just that kind of makes you cringe. Just all that time and effort just being wasted.
29:39.694 Ron Bunch
yeah, it was it was kinda scary. I expected the number to be at least a little higher, but I mean fifteen to twenty percent globally it's not much better, so it was it was very troubling.
29:49.518 Brandon Burton
So we'll try to put the link for the Strength Finder and Engagement Survey in the show notes. That way chambers listening can can check it out and and boost the engagement at their chamber, their their employees and make sure people are doing the right tasks.
30:04.684 Ron Bunch
Yeah, 'cause you're looking for the same thing from your your members or your partners. And so as we learn about engagement and how to leverage engagement within our own team, we can then spread that into our relationships with our chamber partners. And our belief is that, you know, e through improved services, improved care, we'll have better retention, better recruitment. And then as we teach them, they'll do the same with their customers and grow their businesses, which will have a you know, sort of a virtuous cycle, which is what we're looking for. So it there's a bigger picture we're working on with this.
30:37.644 Brandon Burton
That's right. So Ron, I know we need to kind of wrap things up here, but I wanted to ask you, just based on what we've talked about today and what you have going on there at your chamber, what kind of advice can you give to those that are listening, other chambers that are listening, to help them bump their chamber up to the next level?
30:58.11 Ron Bunch
Yeah, I think you know, given the business challenges out the number one challenge that we see is talent. And you know, when you look at the six thousand open jobs for our economy, that represents one point three five billion in economic impact. And so with those kinds of business numbers and market opportunities, if that chamber's not working in the talent arena There's probably a great opportunity to build a relationship with the business base in an area where they have a critical and immediate need. secondly, one of the things that's you know worked for us is really finding opportunities to shape the direction of the community, really taking a leadership role versus just putting on a program or event, but really stepping in and and and taking a leadership role. So whether it was raising the money. to invest in schools, which we raise it to invest in schools, we didn't raise it for ourselves. Or you know, really I I had my COO operate as the interim president and CEO of the Workforce Development Board when we helped to reshape it for eighteen months at no cost to take those leadership opportunities, even if you end up getting criticized at some point, so that you can make it better. Because over time the community will the business community will stay around you and will have that really long term commitment to you 'cause they see you leading in doing what's right for the community.
32:26.122 Brandon Burton
I love that. Taking a leadership role to help shape the community. That's that can't be emphasized enough. That's that's great.
32:34.018 Ron Bunch
You gotta walk the talk. So if you're in the schools talking to the students about ethics-based leadership, you have to live that when you're back in the business community and then the overall community.
32:44.174 Brandon Burton
That's right. So I've got a question that I ask every guest that I have on the show. as we look to the future, how do you view chambers of commerce and their purpose?
32:56.61 Ron Bunch
I I I really viewed chamber as a critically important leadership entity in communities. I mean the business community is durable and so even as political leadership ebbs and flows and changes, the chamber really has an opportunity to keep each individual community heading in the right direction and just really keeping aware of what the business community and overall community needs and then filling that need as it emerges. I think we'll make sure that chambers are relevant regardless of how easy it is to network and do other things as that becomes easier and easier to do. So and then you just develop the programs and services that relate to those initiatives and the revenue will come. If you're doing the right things, the revenue will work itself out.
33:41.11 Brandon Burton
Yeah. I I believe that. Well, Ron, I want to thank you for spending some time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast and wan like to thank everybody for listening today. The show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash episode twenty-four. And Ron, if listeners wanted to connect with you about any questions they have about how you're doing things at the Bowling Green Area Chamber, how can they get in contact with you?
34:09.624 Ron Bunch
Sure, they can reach me or my coo. is simply Ron at BGCamber dot com or if you want to reach my COO, Meredith at BGCamber.com.
34:22.764 Brandon Burton
That is perfect. I will get that in the show notes as well. And again, thank you for being with us today.
34:30.723 Ron Bunch
I really appreciate the opportunity. I really appreciate being part of our chamber family in the country.
34:36.726 Brandon Burton
You bet, and best of luck on Chamber of the Year.
34:40.065 Ron Bunch
Thank you, sir. It's great to be included with such all the awesome chambers in our in our national scene.
34:50.094 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 23 — When to Delegate with Kevin Hall
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Kevin Hall
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.258 Kevin Hall
We have three different costs. You've got time, treasure, and talent. So so for some people, time is we have plenty of. If you don't though, it's gonna if you you wanna make sure like us executive directors, we don't have a lot of that time because we're doing something. So we sometimes you have to use your your treasure, your other chamber members and use their time to help delegate.
00:23.02 Brandon Burton
You heard it here, Chamber Nation. There are three types of currency to accomplishing your tasks time, treasure, and talent. Today I visit with Kevin Hall to help you leverage your time, treasure, and talents through effective delegating. 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.
00:56.664 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us for episode twenty-three of the Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm 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're new to Chamber Chat Podcast, please visit our Get Started page at Chamberchat Podcast.com slash start to learn more about the show, and you can receive some valuable tips for some nondues revenue ideas that you can use at your chamber. Again, that's chamber chat podcast dot com slash start. And before we jump into this show today, let's take just a moment to hear about today's sponsor.
01:35.798 Brandon Burton
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 Swipe It for all of your credit card processing needs. Swipe It 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 nondues revenue to your chamber. To learn more, please visit Chamberchatpodcast.com slash C C for credit card. Again, ChamberchapPodcast.com slash C C and get swiping with swipe it. Okay, we are back, and our guest today is Kevin Hall. Kevin is the executive director of the Greater Anna Chamber of Commerce in Anna, Texas. He's been involved with the Anna Chamber for seven years, three of which as a full-time director. Kevin grew up in an entrepreneurial family and has been involved in vi in dairy farms, car washes, a snow cone stand, an insurance agency, and most recently an RV park. This leads to his passion. For other entrepreneurs and small businesses, of which through the Anna Chamber, he's able to capitalize on this passion on this passion. Kevin, I'm excited to have you on the show today. Please say hello to the audience and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little bit.
03:17.112 Kevin Hall
Well hello everyone and thank you, Brennan, for inviting me to be on this podcast. I am from Anna originally, and so I was raised there, and my grandmother actually graduated in nineteen forty three from Anna when they had thirty graduates, and the most recent graduation they had over two hundred graduates. So went from a small rural town to what's growing into a a suburb of the Metroplex.
03:45.004 Brandon Burton
Right. That's that's a little bit of growth there. Thirty to two hundred.
03:49.23 Kevin Hall
Yeah, so it's tak taking some time but you know, we've we've we've pretty much doubled in size in ten years. So it's it is a a lot of growth in this area.
04:00.354 Brandon Burton
Yeah, so you mentioned doubling in size in about ten years, which is pretty impressive and that's something to keep up with. But can you give the listeners an idea of the size of the Anna area and and the chamber there, just so we can relate a little bit better?
04:16.376 Kevin Hall
Sure. So Anna, right now our population is estimated at fifteen thousand and ten people. And we just got that updated about a month ago. And the city itself is sixty-three square miles, so it's relatively large landmass. our chamber itself we have about two hundred and fifty members and our budget's about a hundred and seventy thousand. So we we've grown About three years ago when I took over this position we were at about a hundred and fifty members. So we've had some substantial growth and also retention of members, which is great.
04:54.112 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So is a lot of that new business coming to the area then?
04:58.516 Kevin Hall
It is and so a lot of it's new business and it's not necessarily business in Anna, but there's a few small towns around as well as McKinney. And so we do get a lot of members that want to do business with our Anna residents. And so it's been it's been exciting, but we've we've had about fifteen new businesses in Anna within the last two years. a lot of new infrastructure in order to get those businesses here.
05:25.912 Brandon Burton
Yeah, well that's great. So as we dive into the the topic for today's discussion, I know you had a couple ideas about how to how to get around this this topic, but the topic of conversation today is when to delegate and and the importance of delegating and when to do it. So I understand you had a a more recent experience. where you delegated something and it didn't go quite the way you wanted it to go. can can you share with us a little bit about that experience and what you learned from it?
06:02.21 Kevin Hall
I sh I sure can. So one thing I guess it'd be good for your audience to know and there may be quite a few like this is I'm used to I'm a seat the chamber, I'm the only employee, and so I take a lot of responsibility of course on myself and when I delegate I try to find those top volunteers, whether it's a board member or an ambassador, to to delegate to. but remembering that They are volunteers and so some things shouldn't necessarily be delegated to them. most recently we had a banquet back in February and for the banquet I had delegated quite a bit of the event during the event so that I could be out kind of shaking hands and doing my role and introducing our board president. So I delegated the check-in and the silent auction and raffle all to one key volunteer. And prior to everything was great. We had the plan in place. But what I didn't realize is this volunteer was more of a perfectionist and so change was not something she could really do on the fly. Well, during the event, unfortunately, some things did change and some volunteers didn't show up and So she had to kind of think think on her feet. And instead of me checking in to see how things were going, I just assumed everything was great. We get to the end and we're raffling off the end of the prizes, and it's not going so well. We actually ended up raffling off three prizes as one because they were not quite organized. And so we had to go in after and unfortunately kind of pay and buy some extra prizes. order to get to those that had one what should have been three individual.
08:04.064 Brandon Burton
And and there was one lucky winner that ended up walking away with the great prize.
08:09.654 Kevin Hall
One winner was great. and the other two, so like at of course, you know, you're ruffling off your members items and of course my my members came up and said, Hey, we didn't give three different things, we only give one, so it is a little bit of a a fiasco, of course. We fixed it readily, but we had to offset that cost, you know, two hundred and fifty dollars that we hadn't planned on spending after the banquet in order to rebuy the prizes that were donated.
08:38.497 Brandon Burton
So looking back, what what did you learn and how would you change it if you were to do it over again?
08:45.462 Kevin Hall
If I were to do it over again, one thing is I would make sure to talk with the volunteers, make sure they understand that hey, it's okay for changes and to make sure that during the event that I'm going over and checking in and instead of having one volunteer over three different things, I would have one volunteer, kind of a lead volunteer, but also have one under them so that one of the volunteers is on the raffle, yada yada yada. that way they're not spread so thin.
09:20.226 Brandon Burton
Yeah. that makes a lot of sense. have there been some experiences that come to mind that you where you delegated and things went well? I'm sure that's probably more more so the case where you delegate and things go well. but I know we also learn things when when things don't go so well. So what are what are some things that you do delegate that that go well for you?
09:43.104 Kevin Hall
So after that event, the next event we had was a golf tournament and I learned from that prior experience. So I still had that lead volunteer involved, but I had a board member that I knew that had involved had been involved in this golf tournament for many years and I made her the main volunteer with the other as a kind of a as a backup or liaison and that worked out much better. So one thing when I delegate, I actually go ahead and help create a task list. You know, day of the event in the morning, here's what we do. During the event, here's what we do. And then the evening or when it's at the end, here's what we do. And then I talk with that lead volunteer and we go ahead and start getting volunteers just to be there. And I when we don't get to volunteer, sometimes it's easier just to tell the volunteer, hey, when you show up, when you get here, we'll tell you what to do. Versus you're trying to volunteer, hey, you're gonna, you know, do this announcement. then they get there and you need to do something different. so it's kind of one of those give and take. It's good to have the task lists for rigidity, but your volunteers, it's good to have them where they can kind of f ebb and flow and be a little versatile.
10:54.538 Brandon Burton
Say the task looks it sounds like a great idea as long as I know that it's subject to change on the fly, right?
11:01.478 Kevin Hall
Yes, as I was saying, it's but you know, and and i any big changes talk to me for sure. But you have to give a little bit of trust. You have to allow them to think on their feet as well. And you know, sometimes it's it's through trial and error. and of course after the banquet actually I did talk with that volunteer and kinda let her know that at the golf tournament I wanted her to be the liaison versus the head and she understood and she was very graceful about you know People know, people try to do their best and they everyone's harder on themselves than they would be on anyone else. And so that's the main thing is you have to be graceful with your volunteers and rem remind yourself they are a volunteer. They are doing this because they're passionate about your organization. They're not getting paid. And at the end of the day, it's the staff is the one that's going to kind of take the the downfall as far as the public's concerned. So, you know, have strong people in place that be flexible and and understand that things are gonna change.
12:09.166 Brandon Burton
That is a a good reminder too that in these examples, these are volunteers. You know, they're people that are passionate and they want to be there, they want to help out. So it it it's hard to get frustrated or anything like that because they're there with the passion for your organization and keep that in mind and be patient and and coach them along. Just just help them along with that. so I know you know at your chamber, you must wear several hats. being the the the standalone employee there at the greater Anna Chamber. what are some some other ways that you delegate there at the the Anna Chamber for things that you just can't physically get to yourself with all these different hats that you wear?
12:55.022 Kevin Hall
Sure, that that's a great question. So a lot of what we do so I'm not a website person. I can do social media, but I'm not a website person. So we delegate and this is one that we actually pay a member to host our website and to do our blog. And so I will create some of the items, like I'll create the blog details and send to her and then she posts on the website for us. She makes graphic for the social media. So that's a big thing for us is We want to look like we're a professional company, but I'm not a graphic artist. So I delegate and you know, sometimes you have to you have to pay and that's okay. for the website, because that's nowadays your website is your front door. That is the face of your business. And if your website looks like it was made in the nineteen eighties, you're probably not gonna have this new tech company that wants to come in and join your chamber and spend lots of money. They're probably gonna say, you know what, maybe they're not big enough for us and they'll go two towns over because as we know, you can join any chamber or as many chambers. And so that's that's the one thing is and we pay a reasonable fee for our website and it it's been very helpful.
14:12.534 Brandon Burton
I can see that it is the front door and yeah, I come from more of a maybe an advertising background. And anymore when people see an ad, the first they're not picking up the phone to call the business that's advertising. They're going to their website. They're checking out what their services look like, what their website looks like. And if the website is not up to par and up to today's standards, then the the users tend to go another direction. They they go into another business. that looks like they're more up to speed. So that makes sense on the the chamber front as that is the front door kind of for your community to be able to say, here, you know, we're the chamber, we're professional, we're here for you, and and we care about what our image looks like. And it it it does put off a really good image to make sure that's that's all up to par. And I think that's interesting too that so you hire that out, you you pay to have your website done versus having volunteers. I'm sure there's there's probably some people in your in your chamber that that would volunteer to do that. But what made you decide to go the pay the pay route versus a a volunteer or donation kind of way of doing it?
15:28.718 Kevin Hall
Well, let me just put it this way. When I was in insurance and I was hiring people and when you hire someone, this is kind of the opposite, you can also fire someone. So when you're paying someone, if they're not pulling up to par, you can say, Hey, we're not depar, let's fix it. And if they don't, then you can hire someone else. When you use a volunteer, it's hard to tell a volunteer, Hey, thanks for giving your free time to us. by the way, we no longer want your free time anymore.
15:57.27 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that's not good enough for us.
15:59.046 Kevin Hall
Yeah, and it's very it's a different conversation compared to, hey, we have this contract. You said you'd do A B, C and D, you're not doing C and D. Let's fix it or unfortunately we'll we'll move on. and of course we do use a member to do our website. And so we if we ever go to shop out, you know, changes, we we may shop it out, but we make sure that anyone who kind of does work for us joins the chamber. That's kind of part of in order to Help us, you've gotta support us, 'cause if you don't support us with then you don't understand what the chamber is, then you probably don't understand our model.
16:34.958 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Yeah, that's that's a great point. So I are there any other things that you I'm I'm sure there's a a long list of things that you outsource. what about things like your social media or or print media, things like that?
16:50.542 Kevin Hall
So print media more so. I know some chambers hire completely out and have a different ad company that will come in and do all the sales themselves. I'm more old school and we're at the size where right now I can kinda handle the the sales myself. So through email and phone calls and through my ambassadors, I like to have them calling and going to our businesses, our members. When we do a print directory. So we do a printed directory every year. We do typically in the summer is when we start getting the advertisements. And then around September 1st, when school's back in session, is when we mail it out. because I'm in a social media or sorry, graphic artist, I do have a member who this one it is a trade and he does top quality work. And so he as part of being in the directory as having an ad for Pro Bono, he would actually help our businesses create the graphic for them for no cost. and that's been wonderful. And he's actually one of our ambassadors as well. So I do delegate the graphic part out. And then of course we have a printer that we delegate to that company does the printing and they actually make the final mock up for us and do the print and mail for us for that directory.
18:15.382 Brandon Burton
I I like that how you kind of piece it together. So some things you're able to do on your own, other pieces you outsource. And that's something, you know, with with my background with being in sales and doing chamber publishing with community matters, that's one thing that we try to customize is say, you know, there's certain things that a a chamber may have more strong suits at, just given what their abilities, their staffing and stuff looks like. If they're able to to do certain things of that, let them do that. And then where they can't, we'll kind of bridge that gap and try to you know bring it all together and make a really nice looking publication. But just put a a little plug in there for for community matters if anyone is looking to to outsource their publishing for you know chamber directories or maps. you can go to chamber chatpodcast.com slash CMI for Community Matters Inc. And there's a form on there you can fill out so you can get a quote on on what that would look like for us to for Community Matters to do your publishing for you. but I know with with our situation with Community Matters is we're doing a we're not I guess we have different models with how how that comes to pass, but the most common is we do the ad sales and then we're actually paying the chamber. So it's money going to the non-dues revenue and then it's it's saving the chamber from doing the The heavy lifting of the ad sales and the graphic design and putting that whole thing together and doing the printing and the shipping and so we can kind of be that ghost publisher. Everything comes out and it looks like the chamber did a great job. So that's one way of delegating. There's a
20:00.302 Kevin Hall
Yeah, when you delegate that, you're delegating a whole lot of aspects.
20:06.412 Brandon Burton
Yes, absolutely. And and and we do we have some chambers that will do the ad sales and then delegate to us to do the design and printing. And and an interesting thing with that is when we do the ad sale or when the chamber does the ad sales, oftentimes they'll they'll get everything they can and then hand it over to us and say, see if you can get anything else. And oftentimes We're able to get a a lot more, you know, volume on the the publication, which is money going back to the chamber as well. So they can get what they can and then we can pick up the rest and and really just make the chamber do well on that publication. So so I know in kind of our our back and forth before leading up to the the interview, you'd mentioned that One of your passions is so social media. Is that something that you take on yourself?
21:08.958 Kevin Hall
It is something I take on. So I would say it's about 70-30. So the 30% that I delegate to is our web designer. They can create, like when you do a social media, like a Facebook event, they can create the graphic for that event, then the wording and actually implementing the event itself. I'm one of those like being efficient. And I think if it works well, don't change it. So some things like our networking breakfast or lunch and after hours. recreated one a separate logo for each. And I just use that same logo. So every time I have a that same event, like on Facebook, I just go in, edit, duplicate, and there we go. And so that's that's one thing. And then I since I grew up, you know, I'm the generation that kind of grew up with Facebook more or less. And so I enjoy that, but I then just share it directly to Twitter and versus using Twitter myself. archiv right now we have Facebook and Twitter, those are our ch and LinkedIn. Those are our three social media. we don't currently have, you know, Instagram or anything like that.
22:17.848 Brandon Burton
Snapchat or Snapchat.
22:20.002 Kevin Hall
You know, you know, and and with our community, so our community, the average age is around thirty five to thirty-seven. So it's not necessarily the Snapchat market. And our members some are of course somewhere on those, but our market is more of the thirty five and up, which are the ones that are using Facebook, using Twitter. But I like making even though the we're trying to look professional, I like that you can make a post feel unique. when you kind of write it yourself versus having it outsourced. So you can do things a little bit more live if you want to. And that's what I enjoy about social media is I can make a post while I'm at an event, see what's going on. you know, in a small town I'm involved in rotary or historical society, things like that. And so I like the ease of being able to post it real quick. And then later when I get back to the office, I send it to the web designer and then they use the same a article and the same photos and put it then on our website.
23:23.798 Brandon Burton
Okay, so they can repurpose what you've already used in another platform.
23:27.662 Kevin Hall
Exactly. And sometimes with the website, we actually versus social media where, you know, on Facebook you do one to two posts a day. The website I try to do one a week or so so that with our SRO or SEO, it's showing that we're updating. But I can schedule it out because if it's on the website, it's not necessarily doesn't have to be as quick as on social media where you want to do it right then or right after the event.
23:55.084 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Now that that makes a lot of sense. Well and I think a lot of the personal type of social media posts really get more attention than some of these more professional looking I I know as I scroll through, if if something's too overly done, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to it. But if I see somebody or an organization that I care about that took time to do a more personal message or maybe a candid photo of of an event or something going on. then I pay more attention to that and tend to engage with it more. So I you probably see similar kind of things through your analytics and stuff with your social media, I would guess.
24:34.158 Kevin Hall
definitely. And we don't do too many live feeds. If we do a live feed typically we're at an event or like a city council forum or school board forum, we'll kind of do those live. But of course, live videos you do that does help your with your Facebook analytics. but what we we've done this year is I we started doing recorded videos and then editing editing them. And then posted them every so often on social media and in our electronic newsletters, which we use constant contact. And we've actually got a really good more hits by the video. So what I'm learning now at three years into being the director is people are kind of instead of before you could just use words, then you started adding photos. Now people are more likely to watch a 30 second, one minute video. than to read what would have taken thirty seconds to read. so it's it's quite funny how you can post a video and and the words separately and if you have an article they're gonna ask more questions than the video where they they watch it, even if you're saying the exact same thing that you wrote in the article.
25:49.614 Brandon Burton
I I love the idea of repurposing it too, because you're going to catch a different audience with each type of media that you're putting out there. So that's I think that's important to note. So I wanted to maybe circle back around a little bit to the volunteers that you have, the ambassadors and volunteers, board members that you have. How do you go about showing your appreciation to them for the help that they provide to your different events and activities you have going on?
26:17.334 Kevin Hall
That one that is a little bit more challenging. So typically what I do after every event is I'll write a thank you note to my board members and ambassadors that participated. You know, thank you for your help. We appreciate you. once a quarter we try to have the board members and myself get together for a fun event. So December of last year we had a suite at the local hockey arena. And so we all got it was around Christmas time, so we all got together and I brought a bunch of funny Christmas, you know, they have the the lights and the horn the antlers and all this and that. And I brought that and we took some funny, goofy photos and we put a quick article. Hey, the board's here. We appreciate the members. We're here with our member, you know, blank hockey team. Two, three sentences and those photos, and they enjoyed that more because it was getting their face out there in a positive light. And also it was kind of Making fun and being lighthearted.
27:16.302 Brandon Burton
And I I'm sure they appreciate being noticed and and taking the time to do things like that with them. That's great. I I think that's an important thing to make sure that that we're doing is reaching out, saying thank you, finding ways to instead of just asking and asking for more, you know, volunteers and and their time. Yeah, let's give back to them a little bit. Let's show that we appreciate what they're doing. So Kevin, as we're kind of wrapping things up here, I wanted to Steve, what ideas you had for listeners that they might be able to do to start delegating more effectively at their chamber?
27:55.02 Kevin Hall
Well, I thought about this as leading up to this. So here's one thing that that I started which helped me learn actually what to delegate. So at the end of every day, now this is not my idea. So someone else I'm I'm not gonna take credit, but I do A B C D at the end of every day. So A in my notebook, A is something I need to absolutely do first thing in the morning. B can wait a few hours. C could win a few days and D should delegate. the first time I did A B C D I had no D's. And then I slowly but surely started adding some things that I could delegate to. and so that's that's one way to see what are you doing that you don't necessarily have to be the face or the front of? What are your weaknesses? So if my weakness is I don't like collecting money. My strength is I like asking for money. So I actually delegate to a volunteer who works three days a week as a volunteer and they make the calls, hey, thank you for you know investing in blank. did you know your invoices do you want to take the card over the phone? They are much better at that than I am. And so I delegate the invoices and it's helped our open invoices go tremendously down by collecting.
29:17.74 Brandon Burton
That that's a great example. I love the A B C Ds. What needs to be done now, what can wait a few hours, days, and what you can delegate. And I think the the better you practice those A B C Ds, the more you're gonna notice, you know, this is not something I have to do and I can find somebody who can do this better than I can. Outsource those things, have somebody else help you out. That that's a great
29:41.9 Kevin Hall
That's what I try to think is just because I can do something doesn't mean I should do something. And I think that's sometimes where us as executives and CEOs, we kind of think, it's all on us, we have to do it. But no, if your team fails, everything fails. And so you have to have that support and and be willing to know your strengths, but also being willing to know your weaknesses and to say out loud, this is my weakness, and find someone who can help you.
30:11.508 Brandon Burton
And just because you can do something, it still comes at a cost. So whatever that cost is, you're taking time from other ways that you can be serving your members or your community or any number of things that you could be doing and probably could do better than some of these things that you can delegate. So great point. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
30:31.606 Kevin Hall
You're exactly right. I mean that's and that's the thing. We have three different costs. You've got time, treasure, and talent. So so for some people, time is we have plenty of. If you don't though, it's gonna if you you wanna make sure like us executive directors, we don't have a lot of that time 'cause we're doing something. So we sometimes you have to use your your treasure, your other chamber members and use their time to help delegate.
30:57.038 Brandon Burton
Love that. Time the the three T's time, treasure, and talent. So, Kevin, as we look to the future, so I I I ask everybody this question I have on the show. As we look to the future, how do you view chambers of commerce and their purpose?
31:13.058 Kevin Hall
You know, that that's a challenging question because as as we all know, when you meet one chamber, you've met one chamber. but I see us being more on the forefront of attracting business than on the retention side, which from the chambers, including our chamber, historically we've been more of a the city gets the business, the chamber does the ribbon cutting and tries to get people to go to keep in business. But I see us as reaching out And trying to attract as we're getting and growing, attracting these companies and working more directly with our city and our school district to be on the forefront and be the face of the community. I know some chambers were kind of, we want to be behind the scenes, we want to do the planning. But we're gonna have to actually still be able to do the planning, still be behind the scenes, but be able to be out front and be engaged in the community. You know, even though we're in the century of Google, I have more people that Google the chamber to call us to ask, Hey, what's this? What's going on? So we're we're gonna have to still be a little bit more intelligent, but be able to compete with that Google site. And every community is different, but our community is still the one where they want to go to the chamber itself directly. But I know some chambers are moving to the model of not having a storefront, not having a actual office space. So but in in our community we're the ones that we we want an office space. We want meeting spaces because we do have a lot of members that work from home and they they like coming, hey we have a quick phone conference or we want to meet this prospective client. Can we meet at the chamber? Because it's a safe place for them to meet. And we enjoy that and and we love being able to help our members whether they are a storefront, multi million dollar business or A mom and pop that just opened up out of their house.
33:12.726 Brandon Burton
That's great. Well, that's part of in a way being a convener too. The chamber is providing that place for people to come and meet. But I think your comments there go back to the importance of making sure that as a chamber, your website is is up to a good standard because people are checking it out before they move, before they move their business to your city. So make sure you're representing well and they have a good first impression there.
33:40.11 Kevin Hall
Mm-hmm.
33:41.384 Brandon Burton
Kevin, I wanted to to thank you for spending time with us today here on on Chamber Chat Podcast. And I also want to thank everybody for listening. I'm glad everyone's here participating in the show. show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash episode twenty three. Kevin, where can listeners connect with you if they have any questions about what we discussed today or how you're doing things at the at the Anna Chamber?
34:08.04 Kevin Hall
Sure. So there's a a few ways that you can find me. my email is Kevin at greater annachamber.com. the office phone number at 972-924-8533. And then for Facebook for our chamber, it's Facebook.com slash greater anna chamber. And then lastly, my IN handle is Hall Sr. H A L L S E N I O R. So any of those ways you can connect with me. And I would love to be there because we have to help each other. And that's the one thing with chambers that I love compared to some for for profit companies, is we're okay with, hey, it worked here, why don't you try it? And we can mimic each other and do what's best for our community. versus feeling like, hey, I have this great idea, but if I say it, someone else is gonna use it. Steal it. It won't work here. Exactly. But no, please, Bag Borrow, steal. Use use everything. What works for me may not work for you, but it might. You've got to give it a try and see.
35:17.708 Brandon Burton
Yep, I love the the whole R and D, the rip off and duplicate. And if it's working for one chamber, try it out of yours and see if it works for you as well. We'll we'll update the show notes as well with all your contact information. So if people didn't quite catch it as you as you gave it, they can find it there on the show notes page. But Kevin again, thank you for being with us today. It's been a pleasure visiting with you.
35:46.328 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 22 — Serving the Greater Business Community with Jim Johnson
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Jim Johnson
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.488 Jim Johnson
We didn't have a really good way of knowing how to get in contact with all those potential non whatever language we like to use for those who aren't investors. But for that other much larger segment, we didn't have solid contact information for them. So how are you going to be a good conveyor when we didn't know how to get a hold of X business to invite them to have a voice at the table? Today.
00:21.742 Brandon Burton
Today I have Jim Johnson on the show from the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce as we discuss the importance of all of the businesses in your community, not just your members. So let's get into this episode, but first, let's cue 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.
00:53.518 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us today. We're here for episode twenty-two of the Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm 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 are new to the Chamber Chat Podcast, please visit our Get Started page. It's at Chamberchat Podcast.com slash start to learn more about the show. what you can expect and you can receive some valuable tips for some nondues revenue ideas to use at your chamber. Again, that's chamberchatpodcast.com slash start. Before we jump into the show today, let's take just a moment to learn about the sponsor for this episode.
01:36.118 Brandon Burton
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02:29.504 Brandon Burton
Right, and we are back. Our guest today is Jim Johnson. Jim Johnson has been working in the chamber industry for eight years and is currently president and CEO of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce in Georgetown, Texas. His role, in his role, he oversees the daily operations, strategic planning, and partnerships with multiple community organizations for a 1,050-member organization. Johnson came from Lufkin, Texas, where he served as the president and CEO for the Lufkin-Angelina County Chamber of Commerce, a five-star accredited organization with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and at the Lufkin-Angelina Economic Development Partnership. Prior to Lefkin, he was a vice president with the Pearlin Chamber of Commerce in Pearlin, Texas. He serves on the board of directors for the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives, Texas Association of Business. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management West Location, Western Association of Chamber Executives, the Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas, and the Williamson County Institute for Excellence and Nonprofits. He holds his Bachelors in Arts from in History and a minor in political science from Texas State University. Jim has received his IOM recognition from the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. And Jim is married to his wife Jasmine and they have one son. Jim, please say hello to the Chamber Chat Podcast audience and share something interesting about yourself that we might not have learned about in your bio.
04:08.846 Jim Johnson
Well, thank you so much. Yeah. I'm glad to be here and glad to have a good conversation. it's always weird to hear your own bio when it's read out and you go, wow, that's way too much information. but excited to be here. And I did an exercise recently with some people that said, you know, what is something that wouldn't be written in your bio that you would want people to know? And and I normally gravitate to food and talk about how I can't stand mayonnaise. But today I'll just say You know, when you're when you're trying to balance work and life, you know, you really that last line that you talk about my wife and my son, I think that's just key. that's my world outside of this world. And they're great supporters. So as much as I want to go off the bio, I just have to say, you know, family's top priority right now with me, other than running this fantastic organization.
05:00.034 Brandon Burton
That's great. How old is your son? He's seven. He's
05:02.786 Jim Johnson
He's seven. So he's first grader and can't believe he'll be in second grade next year.
05:08.15 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So he's he's getting into the age where activities and stuff start coming along, the soccer practices and all the all the other fun stuff, the school school presentations and and all that. So
05:20.366 Jim Johnson
Exactly. You you remember when it was busy with them when you were trying to put down every day and get in bed at a reasonable time and now it's Yeah, this yeah. It's the polar opposite of that now.
05:26.082 Brandon Burton
Wish for those days. So that's right. That's right. Well, can you share with us a little bit about the size of the Georgetown chamber? Maybe membership. I guess we we know membership from the bio, but budget size, just kind of where you sit in Texas, things like that, so we can all relate to your chamber a little bit better.
05:46.732 Jim Johnson
Wonderful. Yeah. We like the bio said, we represent around one thousand fifty businesses here in the Georgetown area. our budget is a little around over seven hundred thousand. So I think this year it's about seven hundred and fifteen thousand dollars. we don't have any contracts, so we're not involved with contract revenue from CVB or economic development. I would say our demographics kind of range. I think the majority of our members I think sixty five percent are five or less, and then the rest is anywhere from our largest businesses in town to, you know, our medium size on there. But the for historically our membership has been a a lot of real small entrepreneur based businesses in our area.
06:35.912 Brandon Burton
All right. That's I think that takes us to kind of the topic for our discussion today too, with these being the smaller kind of businesses in the community. The the topic that we settled on to to discuss today is serving the greater business community. So you mentioned you have a lot of these small businesses. I and I was hoping you could share maybe some of your thoughts with us about why you feel it's important to serve the greater business community. Rather than focusing on your membership base.
07:07.798 Jim Johnson
Yeah, I I think that's a a fair topic. And I think it's difficult when you break down what we are as an organization first. I mean, I always simplify what we do as chambers to say we're a nonprofit association promoting commerce and commerce can mean something different for each and every member that you have a part. And third, we're a membership organization. I mean, at the end of the day, the vast of what we do benefits the paying and investing members. And that's how I've my mentality has been. But over time you realize, and I've come to this more thorough thought process with some situations we've run into recently here in Georgetown, is when you start to balance that and say, we're going to put our members at a top priority, but what do we do that really benefits the entire business community? And when do we include the business community, not just our members, and the decision making process, our programs, and even specific events that might not be designed for just our members on that end? and I think it's a good conversation to have today.
08:26.688 Brandon Burton
Yeah, absolutely. So you had mentioned that there's been some recent things there in Georgetown where you've had to look at that and think, what do we reach out to the greater business community and where do we just keep with the membership? And I think there's there's a line there. I was gonna say a fine line, but I don't know that it needs to be so fine. I mean it but there is there is definitely a threshold where you want to reach out and get input from the greater business community, but also to give some exposure to. to the greater business community of what the chamber does. Instead of just trying to see a mission statement or hear what your values are, but to actually see you in action and see what kind of value the chamber does bring to the community. So could you tell us some more about some of these recent activities and events that you alluded to?
09:14.092 Jim Johnson
Yeah. So, you know, one of the things that you just sparked is you said mission. And I'm gonna backtrack a little bit and then I'll talk about a real recent issue. But back in the fall, we modified our mission very we tweaked our mission. And one of the things that we really talked about was the language. And you know, everybody has their fantastic mi mission statement, but ours and I'll the very beginning says to facilitate economic success. And then the next line was where we really went back and forth and it was For our members or for our community. And we settled on our community. And we're facilitating economic success for our community. And that has led us and allowed us to be focused on more at times than just our members. And what happened here in Georgetown was back in the late winter. I don't know if it's late winter or early spring, because it's February in Texas. Either way you look at it, you could define it either way. But we had a A natural gas company had a a leak that caused some gas to seep into the ground. And doesn't seem like a a large issue. You're like, well, there's gas leaks that happened. Well, because of the soil context, this gas migrated to a very larger area and displaced around 70 businesses in our community. So it's a you take this one segment of our town, fast growing community, and 70 businesses. were displaced. And when I say displaced, they were evacuated from their place right away. The gas, the natural gas had seeped into the soil, and our natural gas company made a decision that said it's it's not safe for them to continue to operate with the the gas readings that we're getting right now. So we looked at this situation and said, okay, there's a gas leak they've been told to evacuate it. And this was February twenty first, twenty-third of February of this year. And you kind of look at that and you say, okay, that's not that they're gonna be temporarily displaced. That was really the language that we kept using. spring break comes, and spring break here in Georgetown was the second week in March. And when we got to the seventeenth of March and realized that ninety, eighty-five percent of these businesses still hadn't been allowed to return.
11:34.57 Jim Johnson
We realized we had a little bit bigger situation on our hand. That was three full weeks that he had not been able to operate. And so we we had to take a step back and say, okay, we have out of the 70 business 70 businesses displaced, let's just throw a number that 10 or 15 are actual chamber members. So we're looking at the vast majority of these displaced businesses aren't investors in our organization. Do we just focus on the 10 or 15 that are our members that have been? dues paying investors? Or do we take a step back and say, what is for the greater business community? If we are in our mission to facilitate economic success for our community, is this the opportunity to step up to the plate and say, if who is going to benefit these benefits, these businesses, who is going to be a conveyor, who is going to bring everybody to the table? Well, that's where we come in. It's our responsibility in this situation to serve the greater business community and do something for all seventy businesses.
12:43.382 Brandon Burton
I I can't even imagine that many businesses trying to figure out what to do next and and not really having a place to turn. I mean, other than the chamber. So how did that look like as you did convene and did they feel like they had a voice in in offering up their situation or helping to come up with solutions?
13:03.918 Jim Johnson
Absolutely. I think that was the first thing we we realized. Did did they have a voice? Were they were they being communicated in a way that was effective? And our natural gas company was doing a great job communicating with everybody one-on-one and doing their messaging. But what that really came down to how are they going to be financially compensated? But as we deal with businesses and we have these conversations daily, we know that it's more than just. You know, are they going to get a a check today for their lost revenue? What is it going to look like when they reopen? Do their customers know where they're temporarily officing out of? because we had everything from major churches and huge health providers to two man tax operators that's in the middle of tax season. So the first thing we did was we brought everybody to the table. We there was not one list of all the businesses with contact information. again, the chamber we're so used to just maintaining records of our of our existing members, we didn't have records of the other 50 plus businesses. So we we really put something together and it was an exercise for us to realize as much as we serve a good portion of our population, we didn't have a really good way of knowing how to get in contact with all those potential non whatever language we like to use for those who aren't investors. But for that other much larger segment, we didn't have solid contact information for them. So how are you gonna be a good conveyor when we didn't know how to get a hold of X business to invite them to have a voice at the table?
14:40.472 Brandon Burton
So how do you how do you overcome that looking forward? I mean, if you could have kind of gone in a time machine, hop in that DeLorean and go backwards, how would you gather all that information ahead of time before something like this happens?
14:53.814 Jim Johnson
And I think that's where times where as chambers we might not be as proactive as we need to be. if I could go back in time, I would try to be a better competitor with our larger search engines that spend as much resources as they can to have all those information already available. Google, Yahoo, TripAdvisor, Yelp, they all have these businesses on there. yellow pages. But again, when we're focused on our members, which we should be, that's what we core should do. we're missing out on the opportunity to better serve the entire business community. So if I had to go to Time Machine, I would have a rec a way of knowing every business at every time, a name, not just the company, a company address, a contact telephone, and an email and an actual person. And that is something that we are really looking at. How can we have an accurate record of every business in our community? Not just for unfortunate situations like this, but for our messaging, for our prospecting, we could do a much better job of knowing each and every business there and not let other people be those record keepers for us.
16:16.938 Brandon Burton
Yeah, and I can see for advocacy too, when you're trying to reach out about something that it's gonna affect all the businesses in the area to bring their voice to the table and say, This is how it's gonna affect you, you know, what can we do to help come up with a solution? So how would you see going forward to be able to collect that information? I mean, I think you can go to some of these websites that you mentioned to get business names, but to get the a good contact name or an email or best way to to reach out. Do you guys have a plan or an idea how to to go about doing that?
16:51.296 Jim Johnson
Well, we just you don't I would say just wait for another unfortunate situation and people are willing to give up their information when you're offering services back to them. you know, I think that what we learn from this experience is that when you are providing some benefit and some resource back to them, in this case it was advocacy and collaboration and education. And that's what we were doing through this situation. People are they're they're offering up that information and it's like anything when you Are happy with a product or service, whether you buy from them all the time or never buy them ever. You might just be browse shopping them on the internet, but you want to be in the loop on what they're doing and you want to know their information. So, you know, that comes back to probably many of the conversations you've had with our colleagues in the chamber world. It's when you can offer something that's of value, and when you can actually have a messaging that is positive and or not even positive, but proactive for their business, it allows you to allows them to want to come to you and share that information. But I think as chambers, if we go, well, we only want to give our information out to members, that that's a member benefit. I think we're we're missing a window of communicating with whatever portion isn't your members. And I think even, you know, good chambers, they're running 30, 35% penetration rate in their community. But that's still That's like a baseball averages. I love baseball. You know, you're you're bad, you know, baseball's the only game that you can be happy with getting a hit three times out of ten. So if three out of ten member businesses are members, seven out of ten aren't. And if we're not communicating with them or at least dripping and and making sure the messaging is right, we're we're not gonna be able to get and be relevant when those unfortunate situations come out come into your community.
18:45.314 Brandon Burton
Think that's so key, having the meaningful messaging because you know, to be able to approach a business, I think the natural reaction is, what are you trying to sell me? You know. So they're they're on defense right away. And so how do you get past that defensive mechanism? You know, have that trust, know that you're there to help them and to advocate for their the success of their business. whether or not they're a member. I mean, there's obviously d other benefits and perks that come with being a member, but establishing that messaging that you're here for them too, even if they're not a member yet or at the moment. have there been other examples in your community there in Georgetown where you found out reaching out to businesses outside of the chamber was beneficial?
19:38.982 Jim Johnson
We have in and you know, and the less on this advocacy conversation. And it's, you know, when you have programs that are very niche based that you can really look at a a segment of the business community and say, Are we reaching the right people? And and I it was honestly when I came to Georgetown, it was one of the most unique events that we run. We run a a bridal show here in Georgetown. And I'm sitting here talking about messaging and serving a greater business community. And then I get into that very specific program that you might question, how does it serve your greater mission to be involved in a bridal show? and for us it's two reasons. The first off is uniquely enough, we actually have an event center tied to our building. It was originally designed to be for the business community for conferences and and breakout meetings. But over time we realized there was an opportunity for non-dues revenue to rent it out for weddings and birthday parties. And we own a dance, we actually own a dance floor. I don't know how many chambers actually own a dance floor, but we own one. So we have this opportunity to market. And so we about 10 years ago, the chamber came together and said, we are gonna do an event for this meg this segment. And when I came on board, it was one of the hardest. Things at first for me to graph, how does that fit? But then when you think about what we do, when I talk about one segment of our businesses displaced by the Gas Leak, you talk about your segmented partnerships but chambers do with women-owned businesses or healthcare or manufacturers. But in our area, in our region, Central Texas is very popular for wedding destinations. And we actually have a fairly large segment of our membership. I would say out of our thousand fifty, we have. Over sixty to almost seventy members that are uniquely tied to wedding and event industry.
21:41.4 Brandon Burton
It's a lot higher than I expected.
21:43.436 Jim Johnson
I mean, and so you look at this and you say, how are we serving the greater business community? It's by having the opportunity for them to showcase what they do. And that is not through advocacy or through trends in the wedding industry. That segment, member or non-member, wants direct exposure to brides. They want it, they want that customer base. And it's grown, it's it's evolved. But again, it's it's sometimes we always we want the advocacy stories because that's the value add. But sometimes you can be very specific to a very unique and specific segment of your members and serve not just them, but the greater wedding, and it's still it's it's just random for me to say that, but that wedding industry that there is a large segment of our members that are involved in that.
22:38.19 Brandon Burton
So in that example with the bridal show, what benefit is there on the the side of the your members that participate in that to say, you know, I'm a chamber member, so I see this there's this added value at this bridal show versus, you know, the person at the booth next to them who's not a member? What what differentiates that?
23:01.016 Jim Johnson
Think it's I think it's for them it it comes down to that one time that they get the exposure that they can say that they're involved in our organization, but what it did for us by involving the greater business community, it allows us to tell our messages to those non non members. And that goes back to this gas leak situation, as if now we have provided messaging that is relevant to their certain situation. We've gotten their ear. We have reached out to them and found something that they want to hear us talk about. Gas League wants to talk about when where they can get back in their business, what signage they can get, permitting, inspections when they reopen. The whole polar opposite of that same thing, but that direct messaging that's specific to that one topic is the bridal people. And I think both sides of it, it's making sure that when you're communicating with the better business community, the greater business community, that you're not just trying to say the same message for everybody on that end.
24:07.148 Brandon Burton
Yeah. So let's maybe close this loop here. The the people the businesses that were displaced with the gas leak, are they back in business yet? Or what's the what's the situation?
24:19.63 Jim Johnson
The last business got released last a ther a week ago basically. And so the last business was a little over around eighty days of displaced from their business. So that's a long period of time. So what all did we take place over that 80 days? the chamber had reserve funds and we adopted a program For temporary signage for all the businesses displaced. Again, are we going to do it just for our chamber members, or are we going to do it for chamber members and non-chamber members? We did it for both. We provided complimentary banners and signage for them that says where they're relocated to, when they will reopen, so they can message with their people, their customers. We are planning, it was supposed to take place earlier this month, but the rain out, we had some rain weather issues. But June 1st, we'll actually have a whole relaunch event where all businesses get the showcase, whether they're members or non-members, talk to the general public about what's taking place with them, what products and services. We're even doing a scavenger hunt bingo competition. And what that means is for the next eight weeks, if you visit X Business and spend five dollars or in some places. Take a fo a selfie and like their Facebook page for every five businesses that you participate with, you get entered into a drawing for a hundred dollars. If you blackout your card, you get a thousand dollars. And the next question would be well, how can that how can you afford to fund signage? How can you afford to do a relaunch event with live music and bounce bounce houses and this giveaways and free food and this drawing? Is because we're serving the greater business community. Because we went to the natural gas company and said we are doing this for everybody. We went back to the city and and they knew we had taken the lead on all these businesses. We were able to go back to the natural gas company and ask for funds to fund ongoing recovery efforts for each business through a contribution, a large contribution from this natural gas company. And I don't think, Brandon, if we would have just said we were doing it for our chamber members, that we wouldn't be in a position to better serve.
26:43.468 Jim Johnson
A much larger area.
26:45.578 Brandon Burton
I think you're absolutely right with that comment. They would would have been maybe less likely to give the kind of funding that they did if it was only going to serve you know 10 or 15% of that, you know, affected businesses. I'm glad to hear that that scavenger hunt is visiting the different businesses and not trying to find the leak in the gas line.
27:06.35 Jim Johnson
No, yeah. That I I think that's the first comment down that road that I've heard. But yeah, it's it's the it's difficult to word it. We say bingo, but it's b it's like the most bingo scavenger hunt. Enjoy Georgetown and and come and hopefully make some money at the end of the day. Yeah. and we and you know it's it's been it's been a an an interesting experience for us to live out our mission. Because as much as we had that one program that already kind of touched a larger segment of a of one one a larger portion of one segment of our members, for us to realize that if we serve that better business community, that greater, I keep saying better, but greater business community, there's potential value back to those businesses. And we have seen members join us. We haven't made a single ask about this. We haven't said, hey, we're doing this for you, by the way. you should become a member. But we've had multiple businesses displaced now see the value of what we do as an organization and decide to join us and become investors because they see that we are we were there for them when they needed us when we when they we were there for them even when they weren't even thinking about becoming a part of our organization.
28:25.568 Brandon Burton
Yeah. And now you're gonna have those people for life, I'm sure. Those businesses will be around forever.
28:30.754 Jim Johnson
What better story to tell? You know, do you remember the time that we did a ribbon cutting at your business? Or do you remember the time that we helped you navigate an unfortunate situation when you were displaced for sixty plus days? I think the second story relays a little bit more mission focused value add back to those businesses.
28:50.152 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. So Jim, as we start to wrap up here a little bit, I wanted to ask maybe one action item that listeners can do to better serve their greater business community in their area.
29:05.662 Jim Johnson
I I think it comes back to when we were talking about maintaining a true list of your businesses. And I and that is it's a difficult action to take place. And I think there are chambers that have taken that to a level of including members and non-members in their directory. But as we continue to look at serving our business community, we like to use, we represent X amount of employees. Whether those are all the employees in the area or just your members. But I would challenge every chamber to really find a way where you know good contact information for your businesses. And the simplest way to start off with that is to reach out to the comptroller's office and just get a listing of all registered businesses by zip codes in your community. Start there. That at least gets you a list. An address and a name of a company. It doesn't give you all the other details, but that's something that you can start to work towards. Because if you, if your goal is 100% members, you got to know all the businesses to start off with. It's easy to know the ones that have already been there, but and the ones coming in, I guess is easier than the ones already there. But start working towards that list because when advocacy and value add is more and you want to get their ear. Something you're doing is going to catch their ear eventually, but if you're not communicating with them at all, nothing's ever going to catch their ear.
30:37.56 Brandon Burton
I think that's perfect. And I if I could add, I I think that's where every chamber needs to start is to have that list of the of the businesses, whether they're members or not. But then whenever there is an event or anything the chamber's putting on, to think, is this something that would be appropriate to reach out and invite the entire business community, or is this something just for members? And have some good discretion on that. And where you can reach out to reach out and show where the value of the chamber is in your community.
31:11.586 Jim Johnson
And I would just piggyback off that, Brandon, and it's easy steps. Whether as you print your annual directory, why not instead of just mailing it to your chamber members, use that list and make that be initial touch every year, is that they get a copy of your directory, whether they're listed in it or not, why not start off there? and some of those easy steps are are the beginning of relationships with more and more businesses.
31:36.782 Brandon Burton
That's right. Great tip. Thank you. So as I ask everybody this question that I have on the show and and I I love hearing the answers, but as we look to the future, how do you view chambers of commerce and their purpose?
31:51.362 Jim Johnson
Wow. I think that's the the question that all we all would love to know. I continue to see us realizing we s we are an an advocate for these businesses. And I I I think Tony Felker talked a little bit about churches on his podcast with you. And I think it's going, realizing that as much as a church is about People coming there on Sunday and going to church that one time, the real value add to the chambers and organizations is will be going to our members and realizing that the more we are there where they are, and at that point, is going to be the long-term value opposed to them needing to come to where we are.
32:44.876 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. I I I appreciate you sharing your insights with us today. Wanna thank you for spending time with us here on Chamber Chat Podcast. And wanna thank everybody out there who's listening. And to access the show notes for this episode about things that have been discussed today, you can find that at ChamberThat Podcast dot com slash episode twenty-two. And Jim, where can listeners connect with you if they have any questions about what was discussed today or how you're doing things at the Georgetown chamber?
33:16.398 Jim Johnson
Sure. They can go to our website, Georgetownchamber.org. My contact information is all on there, but for the listeners listening, it's just Jim at Georgetownchamber.org. I'm pretty good about I'm a little OCD about managing that email. So if you send me one, I'll do my best to get back with you pretty promptly.
33:34.87 Brandon Burton
All right. That's perfect. And I will put that contact information in the show notes so people can reach out to you. And again, I appreciate so much you spending time with us today and look forward to the value this delivers to others.
33:51.48 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 21 — Forming Member Needed Programs with Chris Romer
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Chris Romer
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.076 Chris Romer
Is that all of our programs are driven by data and research and community need. We're not sitting in the conference room in the office saying, what do we think the community wants? What do we think the community needs? We're really reaching out to the businesses themselves and asking them that question so that we're able to then formulate. programs or share with other groups to let them formulate programs if it's not in our strategic priority list.
00:34.22 Brandon Burton
I'm excited to bring Chris Romer on Chamber Chat Podcast today as he discusses some of the fantastic programs, member needed programs, that have been implemented at the Vail Valley Partnership. Let's cue the intro and get into this fantastic interview. 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.
01:08.078 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us today for episode twenty-one of the Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm 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're new to the Chamber Chat Podcast, please visit Chamberchat Podcast dot com slash start to learn more about what you can expect from the show and you can receive some valuable tips for some nondues revenue ideas to use at your chamber. Again, that's chambertap podcast.com slash start. And before we jump into the show today, let's take just a moment to learn about our sponsor for this episode. 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 Swipe It for all of your credit card processing needs. Swipe It 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 nondues revenue to your chamber. To learn more, please visit chamberchappodcast.com slash CC for credit card. Again chamberchappodcast.com slash C C and get swiping with swipe it.
02:40.52 Brandon Burton
All right, we are back, and our guest today is Chris Romer. Chris serves as the president and CEO of the Vail Valley Partnership, or VVP. The Vail Valley Partnership is a regional chamber of commerce, destination sales and marketing organization, and economic development organization representing Vail Valley, Colorado. VVP plays a leadership role in the continuing process of of building trust between various sectors, geographic and economic, and provides community leadership and vision to enhance commerce and economic vitality of the Vail Valley and was named Chamber of the Year by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives in 2016. In his role, Chris leads the partnership team to help positively impact the community via various programs and tourism endeavors. Roomer's a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Institute for Organizational Management Program and has been named a top 25 mind in the hospitality sales, marketing, and revenue management by Hospitality Sales and Man Sales and Marketing Association International and Chamber Executive of the Year by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce Executives. VVP has received the following recognition during Chris's tenure. They were voted Chamber Innovation Grand Prize winner by Chambermaster in 2017. Core Competency Award by Western Association of Chamber Executives in 2016. Chamber of the Year winner in 2016 and finalist in 2015 by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. Special Achievement Award from Colorado Chamber of Commerce Executives in 2015. Platinum Choice Award winner from the Smart. From Smart Meetings in 2015, Top Destination Marketing Organization by Colorado Meetings and Events Magazine in 2017, 2013, 2011. Pinnacle Award winner as Outstanding Destination Support Organization by Successful Meetings Magazine in 2010 and 2009. Romer dedicates his time.
05:02.936 Brandon Burton
To various industry boards and committees, including Western Association of Chamber Executives, Colorado Mountain College, Colorado Tourism Office, Tourism Industry Association of Colorado, Colorado Association Destination Marketing Organizations, Colorado Chamber of Commerce Executives, Northwest Colorado Council of Government's Economic Development Board, Rural Workforce Consortium, and Vale Economic Advisory Council. Roomer also served as governor appointee to the Brand Colorado Council and the Colorado Tourism Outdoor Recreation Key Industries Steering Network. Romer resides in Eagleville, Colorado, with his wife Stacy and daughter Kayla, and their golden retriever, Cayman. Chris, please say hello to the audience and share something interesting about yourself that we might not have learned about you in your bio.
06:01.378 Chris Romer
Yeah, well thanks, Brandon. I appreciate the opportunity. and as you list the various different things that that we've done and groups that I'm involved in, it it it makes me think that we've got a lot going on. and that's because we have a we have a community that is is a little bit challenging in a lot of ways from a business standpoint. And I'm sure we'll talk about that a little bit more in the call. I guess from a from a bio standpoint. I would add that being here in the mountains of Colorado, I am a skier. I do try to ski a couple days a week, including Friday mornings during the ski season. Also a trail runner, have done a number of half marathons and a full marathon as well. So enjoy recreating in the mountains in addition to the various things that you listed in the bio and the introduction. I appreciate that.
06:55.782 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. I'm just shocked that you have time to put in that those many hours on the trails and the slopes with everything you're involved in. That's that's time management at its best right there. So great job. Can you give us all a little bit of better idea about the Vail Valley Partnership? Maybe the size of of the partnership so we can all relate to you and in your area a little bit better.
07:19.15 Chris Romer
Sure, of course. We are, as you had mentioned in the introduction, we are the Regional Chamber of Commerce representing Eagle County, Colorado. We are also involved in economic development and tourism promotion efforts. We keep both of those two endeavors pretty, pretty tight as they are contracts for services rendered underneath our chamber umbrella. Our community is about 50,000 people. About 2,600 businesses within that service region. We have about 885 members. we have a budget of about $1.5 million per year. and again, we we're a small business community. We we don't have a lot of national brands. We have 90% of our businesses have under 20 employees, and 80% of our businesses have under 10 employees. So we're driven by small business, as are many communities around the country, but maybe even more so here than in a traditional metropolitan or suburban chamber area. Really a small business-oriented community, lots of entrepreneurism in a community that has a lot of transient churn in our population because of the seasonality of the ski mountains. and the high cost of living. So a a great community known for our outdoor recreation and increasingly known, I think, for a great place to live and work and play.
08:58.218 Brandon Burton
It sounds like a great place to be. And I love that you're able to work so closely with so many of those small businesses. And I'm sure we're gonna get into that more as we have our discussion today. But just to maybe bring everybody else up to speed, I was recommended to reach out to Chris when we had Frank Kenney on the show a few weeks ago. For anybody that might have missed that, that was episode sixteen. So you can go to chamberchatpodcast.com slash episode sixteen to hear that interview. But as I interviewed Frank, Frank Kenney, he brought up the Vail Valley Partnership in our interview. As he was talking about the importance of finding out what your chamber members' needs are and then creating programs to suit those needs. So our topic for today's discussion is forming member-needed programs. So, Chris, as you explained a little bit about what the Vail Valley Partnership is made up of and the businesses in your community, I could see how some of these programs that you guys have developed maybe came to be as you're talking about a lot of the tourism coming through. I know that would be a challenge when you're constantly needing to remarket to a different group of people every few months, depending on the time of year and what's going on. So I'm sure that played into to one of these programs, but I wanted to just run down a list of some of these programs that that you guys have set up there and Then if you wouldn't mind just picking out maybe a couple of those programs and walk us through how they came to be, what needs were being met by them. Does that sound good? All right, so the the programs for the Vail Valley Partnership are Lodge Quality Assurance, Certified Vendor Program, Vail Valley Merchant Alliance, Platinum Service Program, Merchant Pass Program, Next Vail Valley, My Partner Career Network.
10:34.456 Chris Romer
Sure thing, happy to do it.
10:56.134 Brandon Burton
and a nonprofit network. So which which of these would you like to kind of pull out and focus on first?
11:04.652 Chris Romer
Yeah, and we have a few other programs as well that we've launched more recently. But the I think the first one to talk about might be the My Partner Career Network. That's our trailing spouse and trailing partner program. and I'll dive right in if that's okay. Yeah, so from a foundational standpoint, Brandon, we we do a lot of outreach to our business community and a lot of
11:22.966 Brandon Burton
Yes, please, go for it.
11:34.306 Chris Romer
business retention visits, a lot of focus group meetings, two different annual surveys, one around membership and one around workforce. And we do some flash polling as well to ask around specific issues and and things. So we have we have our our tentacles, if you will, throughout the business community, through through a lot of different ways and a lot of different listening sessions and formal research outreach. And the reason we do all of that, and the reason I preface the discussion with that, is that all of our programs are driven by data and research and community need. We're not sitting in the conference room in the office saying, what do we think the community wants? What do we think the community needs? We're we're really reaching out to the businesses themselves. And asking them that question so that we're able to then formulate programs or share with other groups to let them formulate programs if it's not in our strategic priority list in order to meet community needs. We've found that to be a very successful model since 2007 and and many of these programs have come out of that more grassroots network. And the the beauty of that, I think, is that when The businesses write the plan, the businesses will be engaged and they'll underwrite the plan, right? They'll pay pay to participate in these programs because they're the ones who identify the needs. so that said, one that we're really yeah.
13:13.142 Brandon Burton
Maybe before you jump into one, I want to ask, because I think this is important, especially with you prefacing ever prefacing everything about this, the data collecting between the visits, surveys, flash polling, listening sessions. I I guess how would you organize the data that you're able to collect from all these various sources so you can look at it in a way that makes sense to develop these programs?
13:36.44 Chris Romer
I I think the key to that is by asking the same thematic questions. They don't need to be the exact same question, but they should have the same themes around business support, around what are the obstacles facing business, what prevents you from growing. If you ask questions that are in the same theme, you're able to then identify the common theme throughout industry sector or size of business or geographic location, keeping in mind we're a countywide chamber. We have nine towns that we represent. So there are some some differences within those individual communities. and by by asking the same thematic questions to different audiences in different ways, you're not going to ask a a written survey question the same that you would on a business retention visit, for example, or the same way that you would in a focus group with with 12 people around the table. but asking questions in the same theme around what's preventing you from growing, what are your biggest obstacles, et cetera, you're I think you're able to then cross-reference all of those to say, here's the things that are popping and here's the things and the themes that are coming out of the business community. For example, maybe there's a common theme, and this is a transition to the My Partner Career Network. But what we found in that case was there was a common theme. Starting to pop up that businesses were having trouble retaining management and executive level positions because their spouses or partners were not able to find ways to meaningful, meaningfully integrate into the community. So we started seeing that in survey results. We started seeing that in business retention visits. And then we're able to kind of push on that a little bit. And ask more directly, are you seeing this trend that we're starting to see and hear from businesses on? So we developed the My Partner Career Network as a trailing spouse program where we do an informational interview. We've engaged our human resource committee community, rather, and they've agreed to do informational interviews when it's someone that is within their industry sector.
16:00.524 Chris Romer
And they've agreed to then connect them to other people that they know. So there's three touch points through this program. They're meeting with us. We're sending it out to our network of about 80 human resource professionals who are then agreeing to do an informational interview if it's within their industry sector. And then they're handing it off to people that they know that might be interested. So we're giving these new people into the community a very real tangible. way to connect and integrate in into the community when they when they first arrive. And it's been it's been massively successful. It's it's actually quite a a simple program. It's not an easy program. There's some time commitment and some relationship management that needs to happen with the human resource community, but it's been wildly successful. The the businesses love it because they're getting a warm, a warm lead. The individuals love it because they're feeling welcomed into the community. And we have over a 90% job placement rate for people who go through that program, which is which is really impressive and earns us quite a bit of goodwill in the community and with newcomers to the community. We even had one, we we get testimonials from this program all the time. One of my favorite was that there was an executive who Made the decision to relocate here simply because we had this program and they knew that their spouse would have a way to connect and integrate and meet people. what a great testimonial and what a great thing for that business that that was able to recruit this executive because this program existed. Without this program, they would they might not have relocated here. In fact, they said they wouldn't have. This was the deciding factor in accepting the job. And what a what a cool testimonial and what a great thing. That business will probably join forever and ever because of the ability that this one fairly simple, straightforward program offered to them in terms of value from the chamber.
18:12.982 Brandon Burton
So do your members need to opt into this network, the My Partner Career Network, or how does that work? Is it is it as a a business who's hiring a new executive, let's say, and they're coming with their spouse, is that something that's already available to them by being a member, or do they enroll and say, as we bring these people in, we want to be part of this network of employing and helping to find people and and the overall mesh?
18:39.138 Chris Romer
No, so we do not require membership in order to participate in the program. It's something we offer to all businesses throughout our our county. but the people who are so that's for the businesses sending the trailing partner or the trailing spouse through the program. It's open to anybody. The businesses that are part of the network who are reviewing the the resumes and agreeing to do the informational interviews, those are our members. so we're leveraging our members. They're getting first crack at at hiring these people, at reviewing their resumes and connecting them. So there's a membership component to be part of the HR component of the network and the being able to put your employees through the program is open to to everybody.
19:26.572 Brandon Burton
Okay. That that clears it up. That's perfect. And I was gonna ask for some examples, but with the ninety percent job placement success, and then you you shared an example, that's great. That's a fantastic program. obviously a need was there, and I think that need is in many communities, and this is something that that could be looked at, you know, at at other chambers of commerce. is there another another program or two that you'd want to to dive into?
19:54.158 Chris Romer
Sure. I think the second one that I would spotlight is a relatively new program. It's called the One Valley Healthcare Program. And it's one, again, that that we looked at from the standpoint of what are our businesses telling us and what are we what are we hearing are pain points in the community. So I mentioned earlier we do annual workforce studies. and we we started seeing around 2014 that healthcare was starting to become a a bigger pain point for people. And in 2016 it continued. So we we saw this trend through data and said this is an issue for our community. Started looking at what different chambers and different communities were doing around the country, and and went pretty far down the path of trying to develop an association healthcare plan. That many chambers of commerce have done throughout the country. We benchmarked seven of those, sat down with our hospital CEO, got them on board to be partners, took it to the state insurance commissioner of Colorado, who told us, I have no intention of ever approving one of these plans in the state of Colorado. So we were forced to pivot pretty quickly.
21:15.15 Chris Romer
because the insurance commissioner has the full authority to approve any plan that goes on the market in Colorado and made it very clear that that would never happen, the AHP or the Miwa program that many chamber execs are probably familiar with. So we were forced to say either option one, well, not gonna happen in Colorado, and throw our hands up and tell our community, Hey, sorry guys, we tried. or option two, which is a little more on brand with with the way we do things here, was to say, let's find something that we can do that does not require regulatory approval or or state approval. And we partnered with the Small Association Leadership Alliance, Sala, which is an association out of Washington, DC. To provide the a healthcare program that was a preventative care program layered with a cost-sharing program for medical events. And that we launched that program just last November, November 28th of 2018, to huge fanfare and kudos in the community. And it it really reinforced our brand at the chamber as a problem solver. This healthcare program. saving people 50 to 60 percent, up to 50 or 60 percent off of traditional health insurance and keeping in mind that in our community in the mountain region of Colorado, we have either the highest or second highest health insurance cost in the nation. So it many families and people were paying more for their health insurance than they were for their home mortgage. Many people had very high deductible. plans that they couldn't they just couldn't afford not only the monthly premium, but if anything were to happen, the co-pays and the deductibles. So it was a we have 19% uninsured in our community. So it's a it's a big, big issue. And again, by re noting the data and hearing what businesses were telling us, by benchmarking and looking what people were doing across the country, and then by pivoting and being nimble.
23:38.198 Chris Romer
To develop this new program. And we've had, we have over 50 different businesses or families who are signed up for the program. We earn a monthly residual for every individual or family that's part of the plan. And now we have these businesses that are able to offer healthcare that have not been able to do that in the past. And they're able to offer it not only to their full-time year-round people, but their seasonal workforce, their part-time workforce. So it's become a real r retention tool for these businesses and an employee attraction tool for these businesses while addressing a community need. I'd say of all the things that we've done in the 12 years that I've been at the partnership, it's the one that has really reinforced our value proposition to the community and really positioned us and reinforced us as a community problem solver. to address these big community issues. And and it all started by looking at data and and researching different things that were out there and being able to have the courage to be nimble and and try something new.
24:49.664 Brandon Burton
I love that, especially in your business community there where it is mostly small businesses. I can see that being a huge need for healthcare with the changes going on. And to be able to offer a solution like this, you really are being a problem solver. But it also is going to help, I would assume, your membership retention over time as they have this great benefit that they get through their chamber association. that's gonna keep them around for a long time as they especially as they see the value. that comes out of that. So I appreciate that. This is fun. Should we try for one more, one more of these programs and have you go through it?
25:25.42 Chris Romer
Yeah, let's do one more. and what the one I would spotlight is a program that might be relatively unique to us or to more tourism-oriented destinations, but I think the the foundation of it follows the same theme. and that's our lodging quality assurance program. And the lodging quality assurance program is it this one has been around for a long time. This is this program has been around for for twenty plus years. And but it started by listening to our community. So in the mid-90s, what was found is that our ratings in some of the Ski Magazine publications and consumer feedback, the ratings of our lodging properties were falling short, right? We were losing the satisfaction, the guest satisfaction scores were going down in relation to their their lodging accommodations. We have about 50% of our lodging accommodation is traditional hotel product. The other 50% is vacation rental condominiums. And so we started this program in partnership with the ski company and the two of our towns and we developed a about a 100 point checklist for for lodging units. condominiums and hotel rooms looking at and and we have inspectors who go in and and rate units based on the quality of their everything, the quality of their flooring, of their electronics, of their cabinets, of their furniture and mattresses and artwork. Everything within the four four walls of the accommodation unit, we're rating that and we developed the rating scale on a proprietary basis. We don't share what, you know, is the entryway versus the kitchen versus the bedrooms versus the living rooms. We don't share how those things are rated, but we do share the the total score. And we have an online calculator we built for homeowners and property managers to go in and say, what if I update my window treatments? How will that impact my lodging quality score? it's a really neat program. We inspect the units every 18 months.
27:52.546 Chris Romer
They're rated on a one to one hundred scale. We share that back with the property owners, with our visitors, with our Central Reservations office, with everybody. And it's it's now to the point, 20 plus years later, that every lodging property is using that scale for their promotion and for their internal use with their homeowners. So it's really been adopted by the entire community and is a really nice revenue driver. For us as well, a six-figure revenue driver every single year. And it's again designed with the idea of meeting the needs of the community, in this case, our guests and our second homeowners, to add value to the to the chamber. So our members have a member pricing for this. We will inspect non-member or vacation rental by owner. markets, not only the professionally managed units, and they pay a higher rate. So there is a a a value to membership with this program. And it's a it's a really nice program that has really nice momentum and at this point has quite a bit of i institutional knowledge and stakeholder buy-in across the board. It's it's a lot of fun.
29:15.054 Brandon Burton
So I love this program. couple of things that stood out to me is you mentioned that really has momentum now. And you had mentioned at the beginning part of this segment that this program's been around for over 20 years now, which made me think that was really before online reviews became popular. You know, all these different vacation websites and things to check out lodging before you get there. You had mentioned your ratings for these lodging in magazines, you were noticing a dip. So kudos to you guys for kind of looking ahead, you know, before waiting for the internet to really take off. And I think yeah, this could have been very different had the internet really taken off before then versus now and it gave you that opportunity to build the momentum, get this program up and going to where now all of these different lodging associ lodging facilities go through this program. what would you say to a chamber that may want to implement a lodging quality assurance program today where they are competing with some of these big online presences. Do you have any suggestions how they could get into that today?
30:26.09 Chris Romer
Yeah, sure thing, of course. And I I think it's it's less competing with than it is offering a more subjective approach or a more ob objective approach, rather. So the if you look at Yelp or TripAdvisor or any of these things, I don't think there's any way for a a local chamber to compete with with Yelp for reviews or TripAdvisor for reviews. But I do think the where this program could be easily implemented and applicable to the local community is is gathering the lodges to give them a consistent rating scale. Where when guests are looking on the DMO website or the chamber website or different property websites, that those properties are using the same language. So property A is not saying we have deluxe superior and pretty average units. And the property right next door is saying we have super duper units and somewhat decent units and units that haven't been renovated for 20 years, and we try not to rent units. You know, so it's to give them the ability and bring your lodging community together to say, Hey, this is an objective rating scale. It complements the Yelps and Trip Advisors where it's user-generated content by giving a consistent thing that the entire community is using, I I do think it's something that could be done and and could be implemented by by other chambers in a in a in a pretty quick pretty quick way. And we'd be happy to share any of that information in terms of the the things we rate and how the program works and and everything. But I I I think it would be complementary to the user generated content. And not necessarily competitive with.
32:26.028 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. And I plan on putting the links to these different programs in the show notes for this episode also. So anybody listening, please go on and check out all these different programs that the Bell Valley Partnership is incorporated and dive in a little deeper, see what they're doing. And Chris, if it's okay with you, and have them reach out to to you guys there and and get more details if needed about how they can get this these programs implemented at their organizations. So
32:54.478 Chris Romer
Of course.
32:55.86 Brandon Burton
If we were to take one action item that listeners can start doing to build meaningful programs at their chamber, what would you suggest?
33:06.658 Chris Romer
I think there's there's that's a two that requires a two-part answer. The first part of that answer, one action item that chambers can do today, is base decision making off of off of real data, off of real community needs. And I guess maybe that that's just the answer, is make sure you're doing the outreach to the business community and you're basing your
33:10.827 Brandon Burton
All right.
33:33.388 Chris Romer
Decisions on programs, on events, on activities at your chamber based on community needs. I think a lot of chambers hear from one person or they hear from their board, we need to do this or we need to do that. And then they launch a program that that doesn't get the momentum or the buy-in from the community, not because it might not have been a decent idea, but because it maybe it doesn't scale. across businesses of different industries or different types, or it was the pet pet project of a board member or a staff member. If you base your decisions on on data and are data informed in your decision making, I think it makes a huge difference in in how these things are perceived by the community and the buy-in that they will do to drive these programs forward.
34:26.666 Brandon Burton
I think that is great, excellent advice to have data informed decisions to help get the buy-in from your members to to participate. Chris, as we look to the future, I'd I'd like to ask all all the guests that I have on the show this question. As we look to the future, how do you view chambers of commerce and their purpose?
34:47.072 Chris Romer
It's a great question. And I I love talking about this because I love this industry. I I love this work. And I think many chambers and chamber executives would would share that similar passion for community and and helping businesses and helping people thrive in their individual communities. I look at the work and the foundational work done by two different groups. One being ACCE, the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives with the Horizon Report and the Horizon project that looked at the different challenges for chambers moving into the future. And I would also look at WACE, the Western Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. And as you mentioned, for transparency, I am on their board. But I believe this regardless of that board seat. And what WAC has done is a a full research project around chambers and finding that what chambers really need to do is be catalysts, champions, and conveners. So conveners in their community of leaders, a champion for a stronger business community, and a catalyst to get things done. And I think those those are the chambers that will succeed into the future. those who decide to be a 3C chamber, as WACE calls it, versus a 3P chamber, parties, parades, and pageants. If if chambers are, if their signature event is a golf tournament or a pancake breakfast, they probably won't thrive into the future as much as pro as chambers who are Focused on solving business problems. That can be through programs, that can be through advocacy, that can be through meeting the needs of your community. And that might be different in every community, but the the theme of of of chambers and their purpose moving forward, I think very clearly points towards chambers who are solving problems, will be the chambers that grow and thrive in the future.
37:07.572 Brandon Burton
I appreciate that. And I think you're in good company with that answer about solving problems. That's that seems to be the common theme. So Chris, I want to thank you so much for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. I think you provided some great value, some great ideas with these programs and ways for other chambers to be able to implement meaningful programs that fill a need at their chamber. If listeners wanted to connect with you and ask more Questions about the programs that you have going on at the Vail Valley Partnership, how can they get in contact with you?
37:42.018 Chris Romer
They can contact me however is easiest. I'm easily found on LinkedIn, on Facebook, on Twitter, on our contact us page at Vail ValleyPartnership.com. My email, C Romer, R O E R at visitvailley.com. My telephone number, 970-477-4016. and and all of my social media contacts are on there as well. So I'm happy to connect with people in however is best for them.
38:15.32 Brandon Burton
That's perfect. We will update all your contact information on the show notes page as well. And again, the show notes for this episode can be found at chamberchatpodcast.com slash episode twenty-one. But Chris, thanks again for being with us and look forward to everybody putting some of these ideas into action.
38:38.52 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.

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

Episode 20 — Leadership & Professional Growth with Aaron Cox
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Aaron Cox
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.108 Aaron Cox
That leaders can see those things that are not before that they are. They can see that end before it is. And I know that many of the folks that'll be listening to your podcast will will think of a project or or a something that went on in their own community. And one of the key elements of getting that thing accomplished and them leading through it was that there was them or a group of invested individuals who saw that. thing as a reality before it ever happened and they were willing to take the steps necessary to get there.
00:35.758 Brandon Burton
Today we have Aaron Cox with us to discuss what makes a good leader and the importance of continuing to develop professionally. Let's cue 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.
01:01.784 Brandon Burton
Thank you for joining us for episode twenty of the Chamber Chat Podcast. I'm 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're new to the Chamber Chat Podcast, please visit Chamberchat Podcast.com/slash start to learn more about the show, wait learn what you can expect from the show, and you can re receive some valuable tips. for some non-dues revenue ideas that you can use at your chamber. Again, that's chamberchappodcast.com slash start. And before we jump into the show today, let's take just a moment to learn about our sponsor for this episode. 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 Swipeit for all of your credit card processing needs. Swypit has a unique affinity program that 1. 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 cc for credit card. Again, chamberchappodcast.com slash cc and get swiping with swipe it. And we're back. Our guest today is Aaron Cox. Aaron currently serves as a Senior Vice President of Member Development for the Texas Association of Business, or TAB, and the Chief Administrator for the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives, or TCCE. Positions he's held since November 2011. For the Texas Association of Business, Aaron oversees membership sales, onboarding, and retention efforts for the association. In addition, he works with a team of professionals to align member benefits and
03:10.818 Brandon Burton
To fit the needs of Texas businesses. Also, as part of his role, he oversees the coordination of grassroots advocacy networks, creates legislative research, insight, and education materials for chambers of commerce. Ultimately, he works to inspire businesses and chambers to action on legislative action taken by TAB. TCCE is the Texas Association for Chamber Professionals. In his role with the association, Aaron works with the TCCE board and oversees training and professional education, operational and organizational consultation, and develops operational resources to empower chamber professionals in their daily work while helping their organizations become more effective, efficient, and profitable. Prior to joining Texas Texas Association of Business and Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives, Aaron worked for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in a similar role. Before that, he served as an associate executive director for two not-for-profits, where he led initiatives in workforce development, transportation, independent child care, and several youth programs, among other things. He was a chief legislative agent as well and worked with legislators at state and federal levels on numerous policy and funding initiatives. Aaron, please say hello to the chamber chat podcast audience and share something interesting about yourself that might not have been in your bio so we get to know you a little bit better.
04:47.759 Aaron Cox
Good afternoon, everyone, or good day, everyone on the Chamber Chat Podcast. It's my pleasure to be here. and as I think of of something interesting about myself that was not in the bio, there's not much. I'm pretty dull individual. But I guess one that's in there is that I really enjoy fishing. And that is a That's a a good one that I think some people may not know about me.
05:21.218 Brandon Burton
Right. So fresh water or salt water or or either.
05:24.034 Aaron Cox
Both. Yeah, either. Anything on the water. and typically putting forth a lot of effort with not much yield, but it's still a beautiful day to be out there.
05:35.726 Brandon Burton
That's right. As long as you can stay out of the sun, you're in good shape. Yeah. Well, that's great, Aaron. as I read the introduction and and your bio, I don't if there is anything that I've missed, I'd love for you to fill in any gaps. But also if you'd like to maybe further explain your role at the Texas Association of Business and Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives for
05:39.648 Aaron Cox
Absolutely.
06:00.428 Brandon Burton
Chamber professionals who might not be in Texas, they may not be as familiar with these two organizations. So do you just wanna give maybe a a quick summary of both?
06:09.816 Aaron Cox
Sure. The Texas Association of Business is our state chamber of commerce in the state of Texas. We are a general business association, like all others, serving companies from you know the sole proprietor, mom and pop on the street or on Main Street, to our large multinational corporations. we serve them with the the primary mission of engaging in business advocacy at the Capitol. both in Washington, DC and here in Austin, to create a business environment that allows them to flourish. So our primary mission is advocacy and ensuring that the regulatory and and legislative environment are great for them to do business. But we also provide a multitude of services to help them be more operationally efficient and effective day to day. TCCE is our state association for chamber professionals. and our role there is really to to educate and to empower our members to to learn and to grow so that they are more effective in their roles in their local communities. And so we we do a lot of professional education and training. We we do a lot of resources. to help with everything from the minor things like, you know, I'm getting ready to undertake a an overhaul of my bylaws and and looking at those operational documents like that or those governance documents like that, to just providing direct consultation, whether it be a board retreat or a strategic planning session or or or just a shoulder to lean on at times, I think, with a a phone call.
08:05.278 Brandon Burton
All right. So it sounds very much like you are in the business of helping to develop leaders in the chamber industry. so I think naturally that fits in with our topic for discussion today, which is leadership and professional growth. So can you take just a minute and explain why this topic or these topics of leadership and professional growth are so important to you?
08:30.762 Aaron Cox
Absolutely. I I think leadership for sure is an important topic to me today because we we find ourselves in a place where both in the chamber industry, in other industries, in our our government and and everywhere we look, there we we have a need for for solid and strong leaders. That are going to be effective and to help us move toward where we want to be. I won't say that there's necessarily a leadership void in our world, but there's certainly a need to grow leaders, to grow leaders of of character and integrity, and to have those that that are are courageous and that are are willing to take a stand for the things that are right and willing to forge the path. That gets us to the next level. You know, if we look through history, even those are our two kind of characteristics that that were held within a many of our our great leaders, and among them being courage, and and just being courageous to step out and to take a stand. And then that courage was often fueled by their passion, their passion for community, their passion for country, their They're passion people to to help us grow and excel in all that we do. So I I think that that's one of the reasons why I'm I'm so passionate about it. And then of course for our industry, we want to develop great leaders because the the Chamber of Commerce is one of the most critical organizations in every community. I think that's that's often over, you know, it's kind of overlooked. I I think in the day to day grind of the chamber professional, it kind of gets lost in the shuffle of all of the things that are going on around them. But but they are critical to the the survival, the advancement, the growth, the development of communities. And they're that critical component needs great leadership, both at the staff level as well as the volunteer leader level.
10:56.92 Brandon Burton
Perfect. I love how you with the in regards to leaders and developing strong, solid leaders, talking about integrity, courage, and passion. So as you go about trying to help develop these leaders and helping to instill some of these character traits, where's the starting point? Do you have to start with the passion or what what's your experience as as you come across people that you're trying to help develop? Where's the starting point?
11:27.01 Aaron Cox
You know, I I think that the starting point is is really wherever they are at that moment. typically, you know, I I think that the passion can be fueled. it's great if that is there. And I I think that it does exist within the individual, when they step out. But but oftentimes it's discovered. You know, they they realize that once they're into it, that that they have a passion for a particular area or a particular thing. But when I look at leadership in in a grander view, you know, I think there are a few other characteristics that that play into there. and if we're going to be really great leaders and we're looking at our communities from a chamber perspective, I I look at kind of a a series of things that helps us to be who we want to be as leaders. And and the first is it kind of starts with a vision. You know, and having a vision of our community where it is today and and where it can go, where we're looking for it to go, and and collectively hearing the voices of the people around us to know where we need to go. And then that vision guides our direction. And so we have vision and direction, then we have a passion for that vision that allows us to to fuel it and and to go forward. And then the the courage steps part steps in because we're not going to we're not always going to be popular, we're not always going to be suggesting things or recommending things that are are gonna be the the way that people see and that's another beauty of of a true leader and and a leader with that vision is that let leaders can see those things that are not before that they are. They can see that end before It is. And I know that many of the folks that'll be listening to your podcast will will will think of a project or or a something that went on in their own community. And one of the key elements of getting that thing accomplished and them leading through it was that there was them or a group of invested individuals who saw that thing as a reality before it ever happened and they were willing to take the steps necessary to get there.
13:52.694 Brandon Burton
Right. I I think as a leader, like you were alluding to, you need to be kind of on that watchtower to look out and be able to see things as they're coming, be able to see the trends before they come to your community to try to stay ahead of that curve. And as far as developing leaders go, I know, at least in the chamber world, and and I know throughout all different professions, but since we're talking about chambers of commerce, I know a lot of these chamber executives, maybe they don't have as much experience or they're newer, or some have been in the business for a long time and they have still somebody, another chamber executive, that they look up to. They idolize their their mentor whether they know it or not and kind of lift them up on a platform of sorts. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I think it's great to have mentors, but What would you say to that person looking up to these mentors up on a platform about being able to lift themselves up and be able to be that person that other chamber executives look to as a mentor?
15:03.734 Aaron Cox
Absolutely. I think the first thing that I would say to them is don't idolize, understand them. we we recognize and we appreciate great leaders. We recognize and appreciate the knowledge that people have and the skill sets that they have, but but we don't need to sit those on a shelf as as idols, you know, and and kind of worship them. We we want to have them as true mentors and so engage with them and and ask questions. Ask them, you know, about their journey, ask them how they develop those skills, ask them you know, what pitfalls to avoid in that quest, and then take them on as our own, you know, to to start to develop them in our own style, in in our own way of of doing things. You know, John Maxwell says it very well that you know, he boils it down and says, Leadership is influence, you know, nothing more and and nothing less. And I I think If we can and get a hold of that in the many dimensions that exist within it, you know, that that mentor, that person that we look up to quite often is influencing, you know, whether they know it or not, just like you said. and so we take their influence and we bring it into our own and you know, glean some of those characteristics that we want and that we admire and try to emulate them, try to learn how they implement some of the the things that they do. and then use it in turn to influence others to shape the world around us. I would say though that that influence is is certainly a wonderful thing to have, but we want to influence and we want to lead And have it be shaped and informed by education. You know, I I think that that's one of the things that that we can learn from a lot of leaders is that if you you look at them, they have a a broader understanding of things outside of just what's in front of them. And so they're able to take bits and pieces from those things around them that they've learned and compile them to move things forward. So
17:15.508 Aaron Cox
long answer to a short question, but I I think it's it's it's not to to idolize them, but to engage with them and to to you know, to really learn from them.
17:26.306 Brandon Burton
Yeah, as as you explained that, I love that phrase. Don't idolize, but understand. And as that was sinking into me, I was thinking, you know, idolize you're being idle. You know, you're you're not moving if you're sitting there idolizing somebody. But reach out, engage with them, understand what it is that was allowed them to get to where they are in their leadership role and see what you can adopt into your own leadership strategy and abilities. and and get that education. And I think that that makes for a great transition, I think, into the professional development. As you have these these different roles, especially with TCCE, you are over creating some of these programs for professional development. What are some good resources for people to chamber executives, chamber professionals to continue in their professional growth and that journey?
18:26.168 Aaron Cox
Wow, there are there are a ton of of resources out there for them to you know to to look to, to glean from. I would say on the the in-person face-to-face side, those who are in Texas and in our surrounding states, I'll even say I I would say engage with with some of the TCCE conferences and and face to face meetings that we have. our annual conference is coming up on June the 18th. And that will have you know a multitude of courses that folks can can sit and talk with or sit in and participate in where you'll learn about the basics of operations, but also talk about how to be more effective in leader. Talk about learning your leadership style and and how we need to to operate with within leadership. So so certainly TCCE I I would say ACCE, the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, is another great place to learn. For those who are outside of the state of Texas, engage with your statewide association for for two reasons. Number one, there's a a ton of professional education that can go on, but for the TCCE events, the ACCE events, your state associations events. US chamber events that we can go to. That classroom learning is is very important. that classroom learning is a a great tool in your development. But the the key, I think, and and and a and a key part of that tool is sitting in the room with other professionals. there is a a saying, it's actually scriptural saying, but it it it's iron sharpens iron. You know, and so we need to to embrace those moments where we can sit with other leaders and and hear what they're doing. Cause, you know, kind of going back to what we were talking about with not idolizing, when we sit in the room with other leaders, one of the things that we learn is that some of the same challenges we face, they face. And and so we can see how they're attacking it or or how they're fed up with it. And we may have a solution.
20:50.838 Aaron Cox
Because you made a great point. When you're when you're idolizing, you are sitting idle. And I I think what what sitting idle often in those circumstances may do is it's it creates a sense of inferiority. It creates a sense of you know, I'm I'm not as good or not good enough in aspiring to that. And if and if that sits and fessers for long enough, that it can harbor resit resentment. It can You know, start to to breed almost jealousy where you're you're going, well, and then we start looking at well, they they can do that because they have this type of community, or they can do that because they have more money or they have more staff. Start looking for the excuse. And and we when we get beyond those things, that sitting in the room with that individual and and just engaging with them and hearing from your peers, you understand you have a lot of the same challenges, you have a lot of the same, you know, some of the same victories.
21:33.08 Brandon Burton
Start finding excuses. Yeah.
21:50.606 Aaron Cox
But you can sharpen one another. And the other thing that it it provides is that critical network of support and and advice. none of us, you know, I I hear, I often hear stories of you know, self-made people. And and every time I see it, I go, it's such hogwash because none of us do this alone. None of us do it by ourselves. And I I love that's one of the the reasons I love the book, Outliers. You know, because it it takes this concept of you know, the the the self made man and the the self made woman and and it turns that that thinking on its head and and shows the process of some of the people who we regard as great in our world who people say, they did it all by themselves, you know, Bill Gates being one. he started off in his garage and now he's a gazillionaire. Well, no, there was a lot of people that that helped him along the way that touched and guided and moved and taught him how to lead. And you know, so we all have those influences and and we we don't do it alone, which is the great thing about that network. So TCCE, your local or your statewide association, your your fellow chamber folks, ACCE, the US Chamber is another great resource for training and education. there are are tons of leadership books. I I would say we can't read enough. and then seminars that that come out of different leaders. And you know, I won't use one over another, but you know, I I tend to to read a lot of John Maxwell. I I think that that he has some great information on leadership and how to develop ourselves as leaders and and really conceptual And and I guess one of the reasons that I I love it the most is that it talks about he he talks a lot about developing yourself as a leader, but then also developing within the context of people. because that's what it's all about. You know, we we often get engaged with processes and with projects and and all of those things. But when all of those things are boiled down.
24:15.998 Aaron Cox
At the end of the day, it is what is the impact that we are having on people? how are we making things better for those that we love? And you know, even if they're a person in the grocery store whose face that you you don't know and and name that that you haven't learned, the work that we do in the Chamber of Commerce can impact that person. And and we have to be mindful of that. And I I think we have an awesome charge. We we have a a huge responsibility that that's not to be taken lightly, but it also gives us the great privilege, I mean the absolute privilege of working within our communities and with our local government and state government structures to leave a legacy for people that will carry on beyond us. And and I think that's just so awesome. And and that's why I love one of the big reasons why I love the chamber world.
25:17.654 Brandon Burton
Love that. So a couple things you you said I just wanted to to highlight. You had mentioned that you can't read enough. Reminds me and it it can't be said enough that leaders are readers. And as you find these great leadership books, and and I know you've you know resonate well with John Maxwell. Yeah, everybody needs to find that leadership style, that type, that author, that book that you resonate with, and consume it. You know, take it in any way you can. I know Yeah, reading's great. There's audio books. I mean, there's all different ways to to participate now with these these types of of formats. And then the other thing I was gonna ask you, you know, some some good reasons to attend state you know, these chamber conferences. And I think you highlighted several good reasons, so I don't think I need to ask that question. But one of the things that stood out to me was being able to sit with others, with other leaders. And it goes back to the comment about being a leader and being able to see some of those trends that are coming beforehand. Because if you're in a room of you know other chamber professionals and they're asking questions and talking about you know challenges that they're coming up against that maybe you haven't seen yet at your chamber, it tells you what's on the horizon, something that you can look and know is gonna be coming your way and be prepared for it before it gets there. So I think those are are great points. Yeah,
26:44.622 Aaron Cox
And and you know, our our leadership, and and that's one of the keys in in terms of our leadership, is it it has to be informed. You know, I I think far too often we we see people stepping out in leadership or or on a leadership type mission, anecdotally. You know, there it's not based on real data, it's not based on information, it's not based on the trends. And so our ability to have a greater understanding of those things and like you said, to see things coming down the pipe, see what's happening across the country or within communities, you know, our legislation that's going on right now, we we can see some of the waves. We can see, whether it be in Texas or or in other states, you know, what the impacts of things like immigration are are starting now. But then if we're looking at the trends out, we'll see. How the dynamics shift and and that will help us stay ahead of the curve. That will will help us because one of the the biggest challenges in leading, whether it be through you know, sustaining what we have or growing something new or or or just being a leader, is the ability to to calm fears. And and I I think increasingly as leaders, We have to to be able to provide real data, real reasons and solutions as to why this is okay and move forward with it and and how we can change the dynamic to to fit the the coming need, you know, the other side of that and and being well informed is that it allows us to be problem solvers. I I think you know, a lot of of those who will be listening have read and and have implemented parts of ACCE's Horizon initiative. And one of the the key findings in there is that, you know, in the future chamber leaders are going to have to be, they use a little different term, but it boils down to kick butt problem solvers. and we can't solve problems if we don't have knowledge. we can't solve problems if if we don't have
29:05.632 Aaron Cox
a a group of of trusted colleagues that we can go to and and bounce ideas and and bounce issues and just really be able to to collectively you know attack an issue from angles and then come up with real life solutions. So that that's a critical part of of why we learn of of why we we we look to grow our our knowledge base is that we're we're gonna have to be problem solvers. We we're going to have to be those who can can provide real facts and real data.
29:39.294 Brandon Burton
Right. That's it that's one of the common things that I've heard from several people that we've had on the the Chamber Chat podcast is the importance of being a problem solver and and it shows that people are getting their education. You know, they're they're looking at what ACC is putting out there and reading the horizon initiative and and being able to try to stay ahead of that curve. I know we need to kind of start wrapping things up here a little bit, but I wanted to ask you What is one action item? I think we've talked about several today, but what is one action item that listeners can do to become better leaders at their chamber?
30:16.056 Aaron Cox
You know, I I think one action item, certainly I think we we'd be remiss if we didn't say here is to engage in in training and and in professional education, develop and grow, develop some expertise in in an area or a couple of areas. But i if I were going to challenge us to do one thing in in terms of an action item of pleading, and it's gonna be a little bit different, I I hope. but it would it would be that we learn to be better listeners. leadership very often is not our ability to stand on the mountain and proclaim what's next or where we need to go. But but leadership is often formed and developed and and and best implemented when we have a full understanding. of the landscape that we're operating in. So if we will listen to those that are around us, if we will listen to the the data and information that's presented to us, and if we'll listen to those folks that are our mentors and our idols and our you know the the folks that are around us, we'll have a better sense of how to develop direction, of how to cast the vision of where to be passionate and when not to be passionate. and then ultimately where to expend our energies and and stepping out and and moving forward.
31:51.99 Brandon Burton
Right. So educate yourself and become better listeners and and find where those passions are and when to apply I love it. Now I ask this question to everybody that I have on the show that is as we look in our our magic crystal ball, we look into our the future, how do you see the future of chambers of commerce and their purpose?
32:17.304 Aaron Cox
That's a a a really tough one. because you know, we're in this this constantly changing world, you know, and chambers have been around for a couple of hundred years and we've seen several iterations. But going forward, I think that at least in the near term, our ability to remain that that balanced group that can convene people and and reasonably discuss issues that are going to move us forward and to solve problems will allow us to be the key link that we are in the in our communities today. I I think going forward, we will remain in that role. But we will also have to to speak a little more and and be visionaries and address real problems. we we have to get our shift and our focus back to our mission. And that's where I see Chambers heading. We we wrap it in a lot of different things, but I see us heading back to our mission. Which is to serve and to advocate on behalf of business and to engage in projects that matter to our communities. And so I I see chambers stepping it up even more. And I know a lot are doing a lot of great things, but I see us stepping it up in the area of workforce development and in education, in helping employers to to see the next iteration of of how to pursue those folks and to to get the talent that we need to survive. I see us really becoming more focused on on some of those initiatives that will connect our communities at a deeper level and and make our communities livable and you know places where folks want to be because a kid a critical link in in what we all do from here forward is is
34:32.534 Aaron Cox
recruiting talent, developing and recruiting talent. So I see us being a lot more engaged in that area, but on the policy side, on the programmatic side, on you know, kind of many aspects of what we do. Not a a very complex or, you know, philosophical answer, but
34:51.989 Brandon Burton
No, but I think every point that you gave in that answer goes back to continuing your professional growth and development, educating yourself. You can't be that problem solver if you don't know how to solve the problems. You know, find those resources and put yourself in contact with the right people to be able to to do all those things that Aaron just explained in that in that great answer. I appreciate that. so Aaron, I wanted to thank you. For spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. I also want to thank everyone for listening. I'm glad that you all are here. The show notes for this episode can be found at Chamberchatpodcast.com/slash episode 20. And Aaron, I I'd like to ask everyone who's on the show if they don't mind putting out some contact information. So as listeners listen, they don't sit around and be idle, but they can actually act and they can engage and understand more about what you shared with us today. How can listeners get in contact with you?
35:53.61 Aaron Cox
Absolutely. folks can reach me in our office anytime at five one two six three seven seven seven one one or by email at acoxacox at textbiz dot org and that's T X B like Boy, I like igloo z like zebra dot or g and Call me, email me anytime, and I am happy to help. And if I may, I'll I'll take just a minute to to do what I do a lot of times when I get opportunities like this to speak directly to chamber professionals and and that is just to simply say thank you. thank you for the work that you do leading our communities that that goes unseen quite often. Thank you for the long hours and and the really difficult job that you make look so easy, that you do with a smile, and that you serve us all well. Because all of our states, and I I sit at a state chamber and I I interact with our friends at the the US chamber and and others nationally a lot. It all starts with you. Great states are made of great communities and this nation is made of great states. And I know here in the state of Texas we have some awesome communities that are led by chamber professionals that care. And that are helping them to be that. So so thank each and every one of you who listened to this.
37:25.696 Brandon Burton
I appreciate that, Aaron. I appreciate you thanking all the chamber professionals out there too for their efforts. Again, thank thanks for being with us today. I hope everybody received a lot of valuable information and and ideas out of this episode. Thanks a lot, Aaron.
37:45.496 Brandon Burton
Thank you for listening to this episode today. I hope that you're finding value as you listen to Chamber Chat Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, I would encourage you to tell your colleagues that are in the chamber industry. Also, please hop onto iTunes and leave us a five-star rating and review to help others find this show. Thanks again, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week.