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Brandon Burton 0:00
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.
Hello, Chamber Champions. Welcome to Chamber Chat Podcast. I’m your hosts Brandon Burton. And it’s my goal here on the podcast to introduce you to people and ideas to better help you serve your Chamber members and your community. You’re joining us for a special episode as part of our 2023 ACCE Chamber the Year Finalist Series.
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Becki Womble 1:03
I’ve been using Community Matters for probably six or seven years now. And in a previous life, I sold commercial printing so I can highly recommend Community Matters because it’s a complete turnkey job for any busy chamber exec and it’s a wonderful, beautiful printed product whenever you’re finished. And I just I’m very sold on Community Matters. And with a printing background I just big endorsement from me.
Brandon Burton 1:44
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Our guest for this episode is Jill Rowland-Lagan. Jill is the native of Boulder City, Nevada, and she is an experienced entrepreneur and community leader and has been the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce CEO for over 20 years. Driven by the need to see others succeed. She takes pride in providing each chamber investor with their time and consideration so that they are empowered to surround themselves with success as well as the CEO. Her goals include building the business community to be economically strong, and setting the chamber at the forefront of that by being a bright light in Boulder City that provides excellent and community service to visitors and to those doing business in Boulder City. Jill, I’m happy to have you with us today on Chamber Chat Podcast, I’d love to give you an opportunity to say hello to all the Chamber Champions who are out there listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can all get to know you a little better.
Jill Lagan 2:54
Well, thank you so much for inviting me to be a part I am truly honored. And I have an interesting tidbit that I’m very, very proud of and honored to say that my daughter is an Olympian, she is an Olympic shooter. She shoots air pistol standard 22 as a wonderful female athlete for the United States. And so she was able to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. We were unable to be there. So it was a little little disappointing. So we’re kind of excited that she is again in the running for the Paris Olympics. So Summer Olympics next summer. And that’s one of my all time favorite things to share.
Brandon Burton 3:35
That is fantastic. I wonder. So last summer, our family took a trip to through Colorado and Utah. And we stopped at the Olympic Museum, the new and Olympic Museum in Colorado Springs. And they have a table set up where you get to meet an Olympian and there was a Olympian doing the same event that your daughter is somewhere has your daughter been there manning the set the booth there at the at the Olympic museum. I wonder if
Jill Lagan 4:04
she trains at the Olympic training center there. I don’t know if you went to just the museum where if you actually went to the Olympic Training Center itself, and she does work in both of those different locations and has the honor of being able to sit there at the table and get to visit with people and take them on their tour. And so yes, so she lives in Colorado Springs and has been doing some great things for our for the United States. I’m very proud of her.
Brandon Burton 4:31
That is awesome. Well, thank you for sharing that tidbit. You gotta be a proud moment. But why don’t you take a few moments and tell us a little bit about the Boulder City Chamber just to give us an idea of the size of the chamber scope of work staff budget, just to kind of give us some perspective before we get into our topic of discussion today.
Jill Lagan 4:53
So here in Boulder City, we’re just on the outside of the Las Vegas Valley and we are considered a rural community we have just over 14,006 33. And so that was the last demographic count that we had, that we participated in. And in this great community, we actually are pretty phenomenal in our space because we are over 204 square miles. And the idea then of having such a small population, but be able to protect our resources, and that’s something that this community it feels very strongly on. We have a control growth ordinance here in our community, we also have no gaming, we are the only municipality without gaming in the state of Nevada, which makes us a little bit different in the fact that we don’t have those casino, the tax revenue coming in and flowing into our community. So we work pretty hard at being unique, and then making sure that we take care of each of our businesses, because they respect that factor. And it provides such a great quality of life for our residents as well. It’s also a wonderful way for tourists to be able to have the nightlife and the fun of the Vegas valley and then have a little bit more of that outdoor recreation experience here in Boulder City. So we spend a lot of time promoting that our chamber itself has 438/39 members right around that. And we’re really honored that each and every one of them gets a lot of our attention. We pay attention to making sure that they feel like they are heard and that their voice matters. And so we’re grateful for that word, just just over 250,000 on an annual basis as our budget. And we spend a lot of time doing a little bit of everything. So we also operate the economic vitality Commission. It is a nonprofit that we’ve formed because our city does not have an economic development division. And so we operate as that for the city. We also have the Tourism Commission. Like I said, we operate the Nevada State Welcome Center here in Southern Nevada. And so as people are coming across the new bridge, that is the right there at Hoover Dam, as they come from Arizona into the state of Nevada, we are kind of that first stopping point. And so we are grateful that we are able to introduce them to Nevada and encourage them to travel all throughout the state. And so it’s I have one staff member, she is an amazing office manager. And we’re really grateful for her. And then we wouldn’t be able to operate without our 25 plus volunteers. And they are the ones that help us man the phones and operate the in the lobby at the reception desk. And then of course, also for all the different special events, I have a board of nine, and they’re all very active. And I’m grateful for them. And I’m also grateful that we have people who are kind of on a waiting list to be able to be on our board to be able to participate. That’s always that’s been a big deal for me. And so I’m grateful that they see the relevance and the importance of the chamber in Boulder City. All
Brandon Burton 8:02
right, well, that definitely helps to paint the picture and you guys are very involved for you and one other staff person. So like you said heavily relying on those volunteers who step up and help out and, and you guys are managing it well. It seems to be able to keep all those things afloat.
Jill Lagan 8:19
We’re trying we’re doing the best we can. And like I said, our volunteers are heavily recognized, we always want to make sure that they realize how important they are. And I think they even see that. Without them. We would not be operational. And I know that they’re very proud of the work that they do because we do great work here. Absolutely.
Brandon Burton 8:39
So the topic that we decided to settle on for our conversation today. The the title of this episode might seem a little contrarian. So we’re talking about a three P versus a three C chamber debate. And for those who have been in chamber role a little bit know the difference between a three P chamber and a three C chamber. And we’re going to get into a discussion about why we may not want to just totally neglect the three P’s as we move forward with chambers but we’ll get in deeper in this conversation as soon as we get back from this quick break.
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Raquel Borges 11:32
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Brandon Burton 12:12
All right, Jill, we’re back as a tease before the break there, we’re going to be talking about three P chambers versus three C chambers and maybe the debate that comes up with that, but specifically, from the perspective of a smaller chamber. I think for some of these really big, maybe reasonable regional chambers or larger cities, it’s easy to get on board with the argument of a three C chamber and it makes a lot of sense. But for a smaller chamber, I think there’s and I think we both agree there’s still some value in some of those those three keys and being you know, involved there more locally and and doing some of those traditional things chambers have done. You mind sharing some of your thoughts from your perspective as a chamber of you plus one other staff? I would put you in the smaller chamber category. But how do you see that debate with the three P versus three C?
Jill Lagan 13:08
You know, I am a huge advocate of three C’s and I always will be having been a former board member with the W the Western Association of chamber executives. And still currently on the foundation there, I absolutely believe in the work that is being done and in the idea that many chambers need to relook at what it is that they do their performance. And whether they’re doing the parades, pageants and pancake breakfast, for the right reasons. Because I believe that you can still be a three C chamber, you can still be that champion that convener, you can still do those great things. But I think that in some of our rural communities, especially the the person that leads or the the entity that leads that organization and that community with those pancake breakfasts, those grades, those pageants, those things that make that community special, that might drive the tourism to that area that might create that quality of life. I think in those communities, it’s very valuable and still very relevant for chambers to be a part of that. I will say that I truly do believe that that collaboration is what makes it important for chambers to understand, what are they good at? You can’t be good at everything. You can’t do everything 110%. So what can you do that you do really, really well. And I do believe that in some of our smaller areas and smaller communities that they still need to do the peas and the C’s. And it means that for smaller staff, we kind of have to be on top of a lot more than some of the larger metro chambers. They have such they play such a key role and I I feel strongly about what it is that they do as well. But we see that in many of those communities. They’re really taking a larger role in the political side of things and Government Affairs and For me here in my region, I am so grateful that we have the Metro Chamber, the Vegas chamber, the Henderson chamber, because I don’t have the time to stay on top of some of those things. So I, I kind of have to glean from them some of that information. I’m grateful for that. And so I see where their relevance level lies. Here in my community. However, if we weren’t doing the Christmas parade, there will not be activities that are happening in centering around that time. And that’s where we bring people into the community to stay a little bit later to shop in those shops to provide those retailers some of that opportunity as well. And so I see relevance in both locations, large, small, but I also see the importance for each chamber to determine what it is they do best and what it is they can do to remain relevant in my particular community. I have to do PS MCs.
Brandon Burton 15:51
That’s right. So it’s not a it’s not a matchup necessarily of the peas versus the C’s. But it’s the peas and the C’s. I was going to ask you about how you work with your regional chambers and Metro chambers to especially on those areas of advocacies and public policy and things like that. How are those relationships fostered? How do you develop those and, and really, I’m asking this because I know there are a lot of newcomers into the chamber world who typically will start at a smaller chamber. And they need to know how to build some of those relationships. And to really lean into that advocacy side, even though you may not have the staff and the bandwidth to take it all on yourself.
Jill Lagan 16:35
Well, because I don’t have the staff and the bandwidth, I am really a champion for making sure that you utilize your your key partners. And for me here in Southern Nevada, that means Vegas chamber Henderson chamber, they are really my go twos, as well as our ethnic chambers, I don’t have the ability to formulate an entire Hispanic Chamber, Asian chamber or urban chamber, but I have got some really great friends and other CEOs that do that really well. Why would I want to reinvent the wheel or even attempt to do it in a halfway manner, I very much want to lean on those people and collaborate. And it makes us stronger when we are partnering with those other chambers and see them as a in the collaboration sense versus in some kind of a competitive sense, because I really do think that we’re all stronger as we’re as we bridge together and our voices stronger. When we’re all together. We really noticed that here in Southern Nevada with our different legislative sessions. And when it when it stated that the chambers have this opinion, that speaks volumes to those elected officials and those policymakers who are worrying about what does that do to the business community? And how does, how is that impacting some of the residents that are a part of those communities. So I truly believe that those partnerships and collaboration are key and essential. And I’m very grateful that we’ve always had a great relationship with our partners in the Vegas valley. And I know that in some communities, there’s an you know, we’re we’re getting to the point where a lot of the the chambers and who they represent and the communities they represent are all merged, right. And so in some of those areas, we have to think of, it may not be that a small chamber is small because of the rural area. But small because they’re the people that they represent are in a small geographic section, even though they represent a small, larger community. And so not all small chambers are that because of the population, it also has to do with the region that they represent. And it’s even key for them to be able to be a part of what the other chambers are doing, and making sure that we have a stronger voice together.
Brandon Burton 18:54
Absolutely. And I would even argue that the sense of community and in what communities are has changed, as the world has gotten smaller. It used to be that you lived in a community because you worked in the community and you went to church and that community and your kids went to school in that community and and now this community can mean county wide, it could mean you know neighboring communities that you commute into and whatnot. So being able to collaborate with those neighboring communities, if you will, that to use that term a little more loosely, I guess. It’s just being open minded to being able to see where those opportunities are to make a stronger overall community. So I think there’s a lot of advantages, though, to for a smaller chamber where you had mentioned the Christmas parade really draws people to your community and allows for more shopping and businesses stay open later and really being an economic driver at that time of year. What are some of those other advantages that you see as a small chamber and maybe some of those is a piece that you hang on to.
Jill Lagan 20:02
So I in going back to that specific example, not only are we able to allow for that impact that comes in from the financial side, but we also take that time to recognize some of the special people in our community and to highlight great businesses, the businesses of the Business of the Year to talk about and spotlight some of those different businesses that are doing great things, maybe spotlight the nonprofit that has done something phenomenal. And so it gives us an opportunity also to highlight those key individuals in our communities that are doing good things and are doing the things for all the right reasons. And so also to recognize and acknowledge elected officials who are paying attention to the business community. So we we kind of balanced the idea of making sure we safe thank you and recognize those things that are taking place, at the same time as obviously creating that economic boon for that that short period of time, we see especially here in our community with the fact that we have a control growth ordinance. We need those many population explosions on the weekends when we’re doing special events. And I realized events are very, you know, they they take up so much time, they’re time consuming. Within staff, they’re time consuming in my thought process. So I’m not able to think through, you know, maybe something else a new program, but they also are very valuable for us to bring people into this community. And so I know that for us, it’s important for us not only to recognize the things that are going on here, to spotlight that with the different media that are paying attention because of special events. But also for us to acknowledge the good that the citizens here are doing. And whether we recognize them at a special event, or we’re providing them with a little bit of additional media attention. Those types of activities are secondary, but they are still very valuable. And I think that that’s one of the reasons that we’ve been so successful in having those events, bringing those people together and staying informed on who and what and the things that are going on in the community. I know that it takes time to have those planning meetings. But in those planning meetings, a lot of activity are going on, I might be able to find out a little bit more about what their needs are. They’ve got volunteer needs, they’ve got, you know, they’ve got money for a scholarship, but they’re not getting any kids to participate, that gives us the opportunity to reach out to the schools, let them know that some of these different programs that are available and making those connections. And so we can’t get to that C word of connectivity and convenience those people with we’re not if we’re not doing those things in our smaller communities.
Brandon Burton 22:46
That’s right. And I love that was you are getting together to plan a big activity, parade or whatever it may be, to, you know, keep your eyes and ears open, because you’re going to learn so much as you deal with those volunteers and businesses that are being a part of this, that then you can build upon and continue that momentum of your chamber, just by being aware and paying attention and not being so hyper focused on that one event that you’re working on. Because it does take a lot of bandwidth. So you may have to be, you know, very intentional about paying attention to those other signals, as you see them, call them signals.
Jill Lagan 23:24
And you know, we’re we want to Chamber’s always want to be part of the solution, right? We we pride ourselves on finding those solutions in our communities and for our business owners. And so you would not know that you would not know what we’re the the need is if you weren’t connected if you weren’t involved if you weren’t engaged. And so I think that that’s one opportunity. You know, sometimes I don’t have the solutions, but I have the ability to bring the two people together that need to create that conversation, that dialog to get to that solution. And so I see us as being really that, that conduit, and we would not have that opportunity if we weren’t involved and engaged in what’s going on in some of the different organizations and I find that to be many rural communities, many small communities, that’s where they excel and that’s the that’s what they do so well that creates that relevance for that community to have the chamber.
Brandon Burton 24:18
Absolutely. So I’d like to ask it for Jack column chamber champions listeners to the podcasts that are out there who are interested in taking their chamber up to the next level. What tip or strategy or action item might you offer them to be able to accomplish that?
Jill Lagan 24:37
I know that had I not had a wonderful mentor Kara Kelly was with the Las Vegas chamber at the time, had she not introduced me to Western Association of chamber executives. I would not be where I am today. Having the ability to get together with your peers and understand best practices have that professional development time. You know right down to it. Just thinking about your own your own mental health, and having that dialogue with others as they, during the pandemic, I don’t know what I would have done without having those connections to those other chamber CEOs, and membership. You know, managers and all of those people who we come together, we exchange great ideas, you also have the opportunity, I learned even more with ACC E and some of the other Association organizations meeting together with them, it has been probably the biggest thing that has excelled my career and has helped us make this chamber better had I not had those relationships, if I had not had those peers to go to, to bounce ideas off of even just simply finding out about some of the different vendors that they use that they have vetted out and know that you know, this is a great credit card processing company, or this is a great insurance program. So having some of those things and meeting up with them. And being a part of those different organizations, I 100%, highly recommend, I truly believe that they are what has made my job a lot easier. Yes,
Brandon Burton 26:08
it’s much easier to learn from others who have gone through and gain some of those bumps and bruises themselves. So you don’t have to do that yourself.
Jill Lagan 26:18
But you know, when you get back to your board, and you’re reporting to your board, it is so valuable to be able to say my peers in these six communities or, you know, in the western region or the eastern areas, it, it creates a quite a bit of stability, continuity, and it gives you the ability to share with your board and other people that other people are doing this. And it has been proven.
Brandon Burton 26:42
And I would say one of the big reasons why I started this podcast was I would work with chambers who I saw were really struggling, I saw some that obviously were doing very well, but some that were really struggling. And the more I learned about it, they were not members of their state association or the regional Sesay or their IT WAC E or ACCE they weren’t learning from their peers. Maybe they had a neighboring chamber that they were connected with. But that was about the extent of it so that that the podcast could share some tips and strategies and best practices, and really be able to get people like Jill on to encourage you to be a part of these Peer Associations. So you can learn and build those relationships, and learn from your peers to really accelerate your growth in the chamber industry. So thank you for sharing that as a tip and action item.
Jill Lagan 27:36
You know, it takes a lot of pressure off of us when I don’t have to have all the good ideas. And I know that I don’t and I love being able to give credit to another chamber for some of the great things that they’re doing that I can say, hey, let’s give this a try. take some pressure off of me. Right, exactly.
Brandon Burton 27:53
So I’d like asking everyone I have on this show this question. As we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see the future of chambers in their purpose going forward?
Jill Lagan 28:06
I have always had a huge passion for chamber work. And the fact that we represent the business community, those voices need to be heard, especially in that small business realm. Obviously, they are going to be the lifeblood of this country from now until whenever. And so I really want to make sure that chambers are relevant in small communities. And I feel like the the best way that they can do that going into the future is putting aside any ill will or bad feelings that might have happened through lack of collaboration. Maybe they had an economic vitality, or an economic development entity come into town and they didn’t get a seat at the table, go ask for that seat at the table. Make sure that you’re opening those doors be a part of some of those different activities that are taking place in your community that makes it so important for you to be at that table. Make sure that when the city council creates new new programs and new scope of work that they know that they need to reach out to the Chamber of Commerce to ask those questions, how that fits how they fit into that picture and how they feel they feel that that’s going to be impactful to the business community. I really believe that being part of those regional organizations, whether it’s economic development, whether it’s, you know, some of the different programs that are happening statewide with your legislative issues, government affairs type activities, I feel like if if we are more engaged and involved and part of some of those bigger pictures, that’s how we fit in so that they can see that when the chamber speaks. It means something when the chamber is engaged or asked to be a part of something or ask their opinion. I feel like if we’re not part of all of that, and we’re not making sure that we have a seat at the each of those tables that we will get left behind and I know that that for me is something that I’m always paying attention to. I want to make sure that without burning us out, obviously, you only have so much time but making sure that you have made a splash in your community so that people are calling to the chamber to make sure that they know that that the Chamber’s opinion is high, and that they have the ability to make a difference in that community. So that doesn’t happen without that collaboration. And in some communities, it may not be especially new people, if you’ve got a new chamber, exactly. It’s just trying to get in and trying to make a difference in that community, the best thing they can do is go meet up with their elected officials, the leaders of the economic development organizations, the leaders of the tourism organizations, and make sure that they realize that they want to make be a part and be a part of the solution for that community.
Brandon Burton 30:42
Absolutely. Well, I wanted to give you an opportunity jail for anyone out there listening who’d like to reach out and connect from you and continue this conversation or maybe learn more from from your example and connect with you what would be the best way for someone to reach out and, and make that connection? Well,
Jill Lagan 31:03
thank you for that opportunity. And I’m going to do a shameless plug for The Best Damn Podcast, which we also host and we’re very excited that we have that chance. And obviously, podcasting is probably something else that people need to look at for the future. We know how important that has become, and what a great tool and a resource for our communities. And not only that outside of our communities for us to be able to reach a broader audience, much like chamber chat does. And so I very much want to introduce that to everybody. But my website is BoulderCityChamber.com. And anyone’s welcome to give me a call or an email, our phone number is 702-293-2034. And my email is jill@bouldercitychamber.com. Awesome.
Brandon Burton 31:50
And I will get all of that in our show notes for this episode, including a link to the best day in podcast. And, and I couldn’t agree with you more the value that a podcast brings for a chamber, but just getting your message out there telling the work you’re done, you’re doing telling the stories of your members and just you know, bringing in those outsiders who maybe are coming for a visit or looking to relocate to the area, just give them a sample of what your community is about. And I will do a shameless plug for my podcasting guide and course that I have four chambers to get up and go on with the podcast. And you can find that at chamberchatpodcast.com/pivot. So there’s a free guide to get started, and then a link for the podcasting course as well. But, Joe, this has been great having you on the podcast, you brought a lot of value and great perspective that I think some people may be a little hesitant to say out loud. So I’m glad we had this discussion and and hopefully some of the smaller chambers out there listening can say yes, that’s what I feel, you know, and they can resonate with that and, and really lean into that work that matters. So thank you for being with us today. And then enjoyed having you with us on the podcast. Thank
Jill Lagan 33:03
you. Thank you for this great opportunity and thank you for your great work.
Brandon Burton 33:07
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