What new ideas or plans do you have in 2020 to become a stronger 3C chamber?
Jill Rowland-Lagan
CEO
Boulder City (NV) Chamber
The Boulder City Chamber will be employing a fourth C for 2020: Collaboration. In the final stages of a two-year negotiation on state land, we will be partnering with adventure operators to open an adventure hub that offers a one-stop shop for all things outdoor recreation in Boulder City.
We have partnered with a transportation company, four adventure outfitters and highway patrol to be tenants in our new Boulder City Adventure Center. It will have a staffed tourist information center, a gift shop, kiosks for each outfitter’s guests to check in prior to their adventure activity, and transportation to and from the Las Vegas Strip. This amazing collaboration will be a boon to tourism in a community that lost over 75% of its traffic due to a freeway bypass last year. The chamber saw the need, developed a strategic plan and created the solution. Our chamber means business.
Eddie McBride
President/CEO
Lubbock (TX) Chamber
This fall, we began new messaging with our own “The Chamber Is” video, followed by 10 weeks of the 10 “other Cs” ad campaign. We fully integrated the 3Cs into our 2020 program of work and will kick off a political action task force this month to strengthen our role as the champion for a stronger community. As we enhance our 3C membership messaging, we will also create a first-ever community diversity council to serve as a convener of leaders and influencers. Several other 2020 programs will encourage growth as a 3C chamber.
Anne Gill, IOM
President/CEO
Tempe (AZ) Chamber
Recently we worked with W.A.C.E. to conduct a survey of our membership, which incorporates the findings from the Brandbirth branding project. The improvement of our scores compared to our 2017 survey was outstanding—a clear result of implementing the 3Cs at our chamber. While the majority of the results were above average, there were three areas in which we need to improve our communications: electing business-friendly candidates, being a catalyst for business growth and helping build business relationships. Our membership value committee will create a targeted communication plan to identify ways to better share the work we are doing in these areas.
Chris Romer, IOM
President/CEO
Vail Valley (CO) Partnership
Vail Valley Partnership has made a commitment to the quality of Eagle County’s future through community programming focused on workforce development. We have launched Vail Valley Works as the premier local program for establishing, training and supporting a network of aware and knowledgeable citizens ready to take on the challenges of an ever-changing community. Focusing on future workforce, current workforce, and professional development and training, our goal with this comprehensive workforce program is to analyze challenges and identify, educate, train and support a team of public and private sector community leaders to attack those issues.
Nancy Lindholm
President/CEO
Oxnard (CA) Chamber
Our chamber will focus on convening the business community with our city council. Like many others, our city recently converted from at-large elections to districts. I have since received numerous phone calls and emails from our business members inquiring about who their council member is. There is clearly a disconnect between the business community and our city council members. In 2020 we will be convening roundtable meetings with local business leaders and the council member who represents their respective districts to establish better working relationships between the two groups.
Kevin Hougen
President/CEO
Aurora (CO) Chamber
The legislative session in Colorado is just a few weeks away, and we are getting ready and closely monitoring issues that are important to our business members. We will convene our leaders and those in the community who make things happen at our first legislative breakfast.
This year our government affairs/public issues committee will invite other business champions and their lobbyists in our business community to the table. It’s important to hear from our partners at the Colorado Association of Realtors on limited growth initiatives. Our friends from the Colorado Apartment Association will present the dangers of rent control, and our hardworking partners at the Colorado Restaurant Association are very concerned over the minimum wage increases proposed by the Colorado General Assembly. Being a champion for businesses and working to create stronger communities is a job that chambers are built for, and it starts at the local, state and federal levels. Our chamber is proud to be a catalyst for business growth and development. But an old political saying is: if you are not at the table, you will be part of the menu.
Tom Pierson
President/CEO
Tacoma-Pierce County (WA) Chamber
We are committed to tackling the tough issues facing not just the business community but our entire community. One problem we are facing that also plagues many other chambers in the West is the multifaceted issue of homelessness. Without businesses at the forefront of the discussion, the solution may not be something the business community will embrace. Community issues like this are difficult, consuming a lot of time and resources. However, being committed to the solution demonstrates that we are a 3C chamber and shows the newer leadership in our community that we are not a chamber of the past. We are working to think differently in order to move the needle.