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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.
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Our guest for this episode is Michelle Epling. Michelle is a dynamic leader and the 2024 Alabama Chamber Champion as the President and CEO of the Madison Chamber of Commerce. Michelle has transformed the chamber by earning its first accreditation in 31 in its 31 year history, with a rich background in sales, business development and entrepreneurship, Michelle combines her passion for community engagement with the focus on professional growth, having completed three years of the US Chamber’s IOM program. But Michelle, I’m excited to have you with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. I’d love to give you an opportunity to say hello to all the Chamber Champions who are out there listening, and to share something interesting about yourself, so we can all get to know you a little better. Sure. Thank
Michelle Epling 1:57
you so much for having me today. Brandon, it’s an honor to be on this podcast. And again, I’m Michelle Epling. I’m the president of the Madison Chamber of Commerce in Madison, Alabama, which is very close to Huntsville, Alabama, for those that aren’t familiar, and it’s been my honor to be the president of the Madison chamber for the last three years. Something interesting a lot of people don’t know about me. I’ll say there’s two things. One, I have nine year old twins. They’re identical twin girls, and their hobby is Irish dancing. So we actually go to Irish dance competitions, and they look like little river dancers. It’s really quite fun. And then a family to bit is we actually run a family pecan farm on the side. So we have Newberry pecans that has over 1500 pecan trees, the largest pecan orchard in North Alabama. So if you think your family is nuts, my family, little literally sells nuts, and so we have a great time doing that. That’s been in a family business for about 10 years now, and it continues to grow, and really helps keep me having the perspective of the struggles of what we go through as business owners, because we’re right there on the front line as a family, figuring it out step by step. So yeah,
Brandon Burton 3:12
definitely helpful in giving you that perspective. I’ll say so, I’m in Texas, and we don’t have pecan farms, but we have pecan farms, so I think they’re similar, but yeah,
Michelle Epling 3:23
absolutely, absolutely, we don’t say pecan here in Alabama. But yeah,
Brandon Burton 3:27
yeah. So I’m originally from California, so it’s pecan to me, but there’s a lot of pecan people here. So anyway, well, tell us a little bit more about the Madison chamber. Give us an idea of the size of the chamber, staff, scope of work, just things you guys are involved with to kind of set the stage for our discussion today.
Michelle Epling 3:48
Absolutely. So I started at the Madison chamber three years ago. This month, actually, in November, we had about 259 members. Three years ago, they had not done any major events coming out of COVID. That was November of 2021 and really came into a chamber where the business owners were not happy with the chamber. They didn’t like us. Most of the town didn’t even know we existed, and really just stepped in from day one and always focused on, how do we add value to our members, and by doing that, we have now grown to over 500 members. In the last three years, we’ve grown the budget more than tripled it. We’re right about under a half a million dollar budget as a chamber size, and we put on anywhere between 25 to 30 events a year, on top of about 50 to 60 ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings a year, just due to the exponential growth in the city of Madison, we’re the number one school district in the state of Alabama, number one city to live in the state of Alabama. And we just had, we just opened our Costco last week. Week. So that was super exciting. We’ve also opened a BJ is wholesale this year. So I like to say we run with scissors. You know, Mom always says, don’t run with scissors. We literally run with scissors each and every day. And the team works very hard behind the scenes just to keep up with the growth.
Brandon Burton 5:14
That’s great. Yeah, it I know there’s chambers out there listening that are always a little jealous, and they hear of a community that has that kind of exponential growth. I’m always curious, is there a certain industry or something happening specifically that’s driving that growth?
Michelle Epling 5:30
So we are about 15 minutes next to Huntsville, Alabama, which was named by the US World Reports last year as the number one city to live in the state of Alabama, we have a huge presence of Redstone Arsenal, the FBI, and so we also have a big diversity of businesses in our county, being in the Huntsville metro area. So we just are very fortunate in the community, really, truly believing in regionalism and coming together. You know, we always say a win for Huntsville, a win for Muscle Shoals, a win for Scottsboro or any other surrounding city or Athens, Alabama, is a win for the whole region. And we truly all work together as chamber professionals to share that regionalism and work towards that regionalism together.
Brandon Burton 6:20
Yeah, that’s fantastic. I like the the regional approach, because it does make everybody better and and raises all the ships as that tide rises. So it does, it’s good. And hopefully the the community is starting to to recognize that the Chamber exists, that the Madison chamber is there. So keep, keep making those positive impacts. But for our focus, for our conversation today, we’re going to, we’ve titled this episode reinventing the rubber chicken dinner. And I think we can all relate. We’ve all been to these chamber dinners that were luncheons or whatever it may be, and the the chamber chicken, right? So we’re gonna take a fresh approach to reinventing this and see the approach that Michelle’s and her chamber has taken as soon as they get back from this quick break.
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Brandon Burton
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All right, Michelle, we’re back, as I mentioned before the break, we’re reinventing the rubber chicken dinner today, so that should get everybody excited. We can toss that that old menu, and it’s not just the menu, right? So talk to us about talk to us about how you’ve approached this, this reinvention of what a traditional chamber dinner is
Michelle Epling 10:47
absolutely well, I we have a saying in our office if me and the team does not want to be at the event, why are we putting on this event? Alright, so I think that also goes down to what you eat at the event as well. And you know, making the events in such a way that, does it have to be a plated serve chicken dinner? Is there a different way we can go about doing a state of the city that is still fun and interesting, and, you know, bridges the community together, but doesn’t have to just be in round tables. And so three years ago, when I started, our city had just built a brand new minor league baseball stadium called the Rocket City trash pandas. And yeah, they’re they’re really cool. They have the guy, the little mascot, is out of a trash can, looking like a rocket. I mean, everybody wears trash pan and merchandise. And so within our city limits of the city of Madison, we actually don’t have a venue space that can seat 500 people and round tables of eight like it physically does not exist. We would have to go to Huntsville or Athens outside our city limits. And so with my mayor’s encouragement, he said, Let’s re look at how we did the state of the city before COVID. You know, you’re the new chamber president. We have this beautiful new stadium. How can we reinvent this dinner? And so we actually, in partnership with the Rocket City trash pandas, open the gates of Toyota field. We give out 500 free hot dog Soda and Ice Cream, and we invite the entire community to come to our state of the city. We line the concourse with a business showcase that’s super popular, and we do a community state of the city on the field of our minor league baseball team. So it doesn’t have to be a rubber chicken dinner for it to be an official state of the city. And I think we’ve proven that. We just did our third annual State of the City this past year. It was super successful. Our members love it. The community loves coming out to it. You know, we’re going to even have a mayor showcase and city council showcase next year, where they’re going to be on the concourse, meeting the constituents. And so it’s just a fun way to highlight our community. We give out a Military Family of the Year Award during that presentation, the mayor shows videos. Really just a neat way to reinvent that rubber chicken dinner. And then, you know, thinking of the rubber chicken dinner, we also had our annual gala Monday night. And, you know, at a gala, you give out the membership awards. We gave out Business Person of the Year, and then you give out young professional of the year. And this is the first time in our 31 year history, we’ve actually done an annual membership meeting that was a formal event that was cocktail, long dresses, and, you know, giving out award after award after award. I mean, it’s the same, right? It’s someone’s getting an award on stage. And I went to the team and I said, you know, I saw this thing a few years ago. This influencer did in Nashville, and she had these Santa elves come out, and they carried a basket during the middle of one of her events, and everybody got a free whatever it is. I wonder if our business community could get behind this. So I made a few phone calls to our local downtown restaurant that’s iconic, that’s in the Old City Jail, that serves like the meat and three I called out back. I called Chicken Salad Chick and some local retailers. And between the rubber chicken dinner, the team came out, and I had one on the podium for me and my chairman of the board. And we put on a blue because our logo is blue. Santa hat. Played Christmas music, and we distributed what we call Madison favorite things, and everybody loved it. So again, as you were planning these rubber chicken dinners, we serve steak. By the way, don’t serve chicken service. Pay the extra money. People want to eat the steak. Don’t serve the chicken. And. And make it fun. Do you want to be there? Would you want to sit through this entire program? And if your team’s answer is no, what are you doing to add value to your members at that event? And that’s what we look at with every single thing we do at the chamber. I love that
Brandon Burton 15:18
man. I love the reinvention, thinking outside the box, these approaches that really drive engagement. I mean, the thought comes to me the business showcase and the concourse of the baseball field. Now, if you just did your typical annual you know, state of the city in a conference hall, you’re not going to necessarily have the space to do business showcase, but Right? You’re supporting the businesses, giving them that space, or interacting with people in the community. They’re there. I mean, just the whole idea of it is much more effective, much more in line. I would even argue with what a chamber is and should be focused on.
Michelle Epling 15:57
And we even find some of those sponsorship levels to nonprofits. So we will say to someone that’s willing to give us X amount of money. Look, you could either have two tables on the concourse, or you can donate them to two nonprofits, and they love that. Yeah, how are you adding value to those sponsors, with the money they’re investing in your chamber, what’s important to them and to those sponsors, it’s those nonprofits and those causes that they give a lot of time and money to. How can you then turn that sponsorship and giving it back to that member as well, and not just taking money from them for you to put on an event? I
Brandon Burton 16:39
love that, so help us. I think you’ve done a good job with the setup, with the state of the city, and at the baseball stadium, just being able to see and visualizing the displays of businesses in the concourse get people seated with their hot dogs and ice cream. And normally in that setting, we’re waiting for that first pitch to be thrown out. So is there a stage set up on the field, or are you utilizing the big screen? That’s how what? What’s that look like? We
Michelle Epling 17:10
do have a podium on the field. They have a huge jumbotron at the baseball stadium that we use, and then they have the announcer, just like you’d be like, coming on home plate is so and so, I don’t baseball, whatever. And he announces, you know, please direct your attention to the field. In five minutes, we’ll be starting our program. And then at the time, he will say, please direct your attention. We always start with the tripping of the colors, because that always gets everyone’s attention, and that gets everyone to quiet down. And then after the tripping of the colors we have, we incorporate our schools and they sing the national anthem. That also gets everybody to kind of get in their seat and settle down. And so that kind of starts the program itself
Brandon Burton 17:56
gets butts in seats too. When you involve the schools and parents, they’re going to come and watch their kids sing, and that’s awesome, absolutely.
Michelle Epling 18:04
And then I would say another thing we do that’s kind of unique to our chamber is because we did not have an a venue that could host, like a business, or what we call it best in Business Awards. Three years ago, we ended up having to host it at the high school? Well, no one told me, Brandon that. I guess I never got in trouble in high school. I didn’t know you couldn’t serve alcohol in an auditorium at a high school, and it’s against a federal law, even if the superintendent is nobody tells me this Brandon Okay, and so I’m talking to the superintendent, and I’m talking to him about, okay, we’ll have our cocktail reception out here with the bar. And he’s like, Michelle, you’re legally not allowed to do that. And I’m like, Well, what do you mean? I’m not allowed to do that? And he was like, Well, you’re not allowed to serve alcohol in my auditorium. You can still host your best in Business Awards, but there will be no alcohol served during this entire night. And so we had a bank come forward at the time and said, Michelle, let’s host an after party at one of the local restaurants and bars. I’m good friends with this restaurant. We will sponsor it. We’ll invite all the nominees. We’ll give out drink tickets and serve some like desserts. But then, because I have both insurance licenses, from an insurance standpoint, I’m like, it’s really not a good idea to let these hungry people leave an award show and go straight to drinking alcohol. That just seemed like a liability. Brandon, so we got with a local restaurant, and they made a charcuterie cup, like to go. So think of like a charcuterie platter, and they in a cup, and my ambassadors handed them out as people were walking out the door, headed to the barn, I made a joke on the stage and said, enjoy your Madison car snacks on the way to the after party. Well, then a few months later, we were recognizing one of our elected officials, was our former Speaker of the House, who is. Now our chairman of the county commission. We threw a welcome back party for him. We found out what his favorite snacks were, put them in a little lunch bag, gave them out to all those attendees. Called him a Madison car snack. So much so that that’s now a sponsorship item in my sponsorship guide, and it has been requested thing I had another chamber, the Athens chamber. President Monday morning at 7am said, Do we have Madison car snacks at your annual gala tonight? That’s all I want to know again. How can you create these little traditions within your chamber that makes everyone feel part of it, but then it lets the celebration continue, even if it’s just for the car ride home, to continue adding value to that event. And so Madison car snacks, you ask any of our members, they can tell you exactly what it is, what a great idea as a sponsorship, and everyone wants it. And so again, how are you reinventing that rubber chicken dinner is what we look at every day.
Brandon Burton 21:04
Yeah, man, that is, I love that. I love how it wasn’t necessarily a plan to have your Madison car snacks, but it came out of a, maybe an oversight, we’ll say, you know, and necessity and and then that kind of evolves to be in the thing people look forward to. And you know, kind of rolls off your tongue. You’re you want your car snacks, right? You gotta.
Michelle Epling 21:26
Can we put the members logo on it, and we have an actual logo that says Madison car. And the snacks is, like, crunched out of it. I can email it to you and show you, and we put them in little clear bags, or little lunch bags we buy at Party City, and then I get up on the stage of whatever event it is and say, Brandon, the CEO of chamber, chat, podcast, favorite snacks or Milano cookies and skinny pop and join them on your ride home. And everybody loves it. You know, it’s just such a fun way to again, how are we adding value in what we’re doing at these events. Yeah,
Brandon Burton 22:02
that’s fantastic. And I’m glad you learned about the no alcohol on the campus before the event. I mean, it is, it’s zero tolerance. I don’t know what would
Michelle Epling 22:14
that is not allowed so several weeks before we put that event on, and thankfully, we have members that stepped in to help solve that problem. So so now we always do also have an after party at one of our local bars. So when we do best in business, we partner with the local bar and we have the after party again. How are you making this fun? And also don’t give speeches. That’s the other thing we do the award shows. We do not do any speeches on that stage
Brandon Burton 22:44
that’s much appreciated by everybody there that your
Michelle Epling 22:47
great aunt Nancy inspired you to start the business. What we do instead is we have announcer that has, like the deep announcer voice, and he gets he’s there right next to my marketing director, and he will say, now please welcome to the stage. Brandon, who has started this podcast X number of years ago and has won so many awards and and really highlights that person in a much more professional way than people can. Sometimes, if they’re shocked, get up and say in front of the microphone. So we gave out 11 awards Monday night, plus recognizing our elected officials and all that, gave an annual report for about seven to 10 minutes in in in less than an hour, according to our mayor, from start to finish. Yeah, that’s good, adding value. You know,
Brandon Burton 23:37
I like the announcer telling about the business as they’re walking up, because otherwise you get applause, and by the time you’re at the fourth, fifth person, everybody’s like, Hey, we’re tired of clapping the whole walk up. So being able to utilize that time in an effective way and cut down in other areas is super helpful. Well, I love this. I love the energy. I love the outside the box thinking, the creativity is is wonderful as we shift gears a little bit. I wanted to ask you, on behalf of chambers listening, who are looking to take their chamber up to the next level, what kind of tip or action item might you share with them to try to accomplish that goal?
Michelle Epling 24:17
Yeah, something one of my consultants taught me, um, two things really is one, and I said it several times, how are you adding value to your members? You know, what are you doing that’s setting yourself apart from all the other noise, whether it’s the newsletter or the E blast, um, how are you adding value? And then the second one is, never make it hard for people to give you money. So Veronica cram is one of my consultants that helps our chamber with insight, strategic solutions. And she always says to me, Michelle, do not make it hard for people to give you money. And so I can’t tell you the number of times, especially, you know, when I started, it was me and one other full time employee if I got an email from. Somebody, and they said, Michelle, I’m trying to pay an invoice. I would stop what I was doing right then and there and get that payment immediately. And again, that drives the bottom line. And I’m a big believer that if you solve the income problem, all the other problems are a lot easier to fix. Yes, don’t make it hard for people to give you money.
Brandon Burton 25:22
Those two points of how are you adding value to your members, but also not making it hard for people to give you money, are great lessons for business owners to think about and implement as well. So there may be, there may be more there that can be taught and be you own programming there in its own to remove some barriers from people giving your members money, and for your members to learn how to add value to their customers every transaction. Absolutely. Michelle, as we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see the future of chambers and their purpose going forward.
Michelle Epling 26:03
You know, I really see Chambers as being the convener. You know, when you think of a chamber, we are really in a unique position that can convene all the groups around the table as truly a neutral, unbiased third party. And so one of the things we’ve done at our chamber three years ago is we had the downtown businesses, we had rotary we had the Madison Street Festival. We had all these different the school system. We had all these different entities all doing great things in our community. But then sometimes their events would overlap, sometimes they would get upset that so and so’s doing something, and so and so is doing something. And we created the one Madison meeting, and we put the mayor with the chief of fire and police and all the festivals and all the organizations that really do those community events in our town, the trash panda baseball stadium people. And we meet once a quarter, and every organization gets five minutes to give an update on what their organization is doing. And the the amount of cross collaboration that has happened because we convened them together is immeasurable. I mean, the amount of initiatives that have come out of that meeting, and I think we need to continue to find ways to convene people together, whether it’s convening them in person, or being the convener on social media, on Instagram and Facebook, and being the one at the event going live, talking about what’s happening in and around your community. You know we really have a unique voice in being that neutral, unbiased third party to really share the good news. And so we call it celebrate Madison for our state of the city event, and we truly believe in celebrating our community. And I think chambers really could really make a big impact if they continue to find ways to celebrate their community, because you can go to any community and go to the what’s happening in ABC towns Facebook page, and you would think that city is on fire, and it’s the worst city in existence. How are you being louder on social media and in the groups you can lean around the table to celebrate your city. And I think that’s where chambers really have the future, is celebrating the communities they serve. And I think sometimes we forget that we have a unique opportunity to do that.
Brandon Burton 28:34
Yeah, I love that. When you It talked about Facebook and the, you know, saying it was on fire, I was thinking the other way, you have people talking about all the good things, but it’s really those communities online, online tend to be trash talking, right? Just really negative. So to be able to turn that and put it on its head and celebrate what your community has to offer and the good things going on, and build upon that there’s so much value there so but Michelle, I wanted to give you an opportunity to share any contact information for listeners who may want to reach out and connect with you and learn more about Madison, car snacks or anything else. What would be the best way for them to reach out and connect sure
Michelle Epling 29:18
they can email me at Michelle, at Madison Al, like Alabama, chamber.com, and I would be happy to have a conversation with them.
Brandon Burton 29:29
That’s perfect. We’ll get that in our show notes to make it nice and easy to find. But Michelle, this has been a fun conversation, energizing. Should give people some ideas of some new approaches that they can take to their annual banquets or awards night, or any other, I’m gonna say, old fashioned, traditional chamber event, right? Let’s, let’s reimagine some of these things and bring some new light life to them. Thank you for sharing your example and experiences and. Know, and building the excitement for the listeners to be able to bring that back home for themselves. No
Michelle Epling 30:06
problem, we love celebrating Madison and thank you for having me on the podcast today. I appreciate it.
Brandon Burton 30:12
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