Ask the Pros

Tara Barney, CEO, Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (lnd.)
“We are a newly merged chamber, economic and community development organization so 2022 is E-REP’s time to cast a vision for the region and our role in enabling our future. Our work in economy-building and addressing economic resilience for the region requires a unified strategy for growth and is imperative to collective success. We are taking our data and our plans from the board room to the streets this year. ”

Candace Boothby, CCE, President & CEO, Newnan-Coweta Chamber (Ga.)  
“Historically our chamber is known as a convener, conduit, mediator and alliance-builder. We look forward to applying a new technique called Human-Centered Design (HCD) that we trained our board in recently. The HCD process gives us an opportunity to create a new language to unify the community around adapting to growth, to share a compelling narrative and to lead cross-sector collaboration.”

Greg Durocher, President & CEO, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce (Ontario)
“What we have found is a new element of attendee to our events using virtual platforms. We don’t want to lose them now that we have become a part of their routines. So, as a result all of our events will offer in-person as well as online, a hybrid format with full engagement.”

Kristofer Johnson, IOM, President & CEO, Association of Washington Business
“Building on the goodwill and credibility we established during the pandemic, which was a time of crisis and challenge for many of our members. Because of the work we had already done developing and living our mission statement, we were positioned to act as both an advocate and resource for employers. Going forward, Washington employers need someone to continue to step up and be their champion. That’s us.”

Maria Salinas, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
“After two years of unprecedented changes, I think organizations like ours have shown that we are not afraid to lean in to unchartered territories. Our opportunity is to grow our membership, deepen our member engagement and expand relationships for our members, continuing to bring value. As a trusted partner, members have embraced the L.A. Chamber and recognized the important role that we play in the Los Angeles region.”

Baiju Shah, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership
“Both Greater Cleveland and our organization are in a period of transformational change. There is new leadership across the region and a renewed all-in civic spirit and sense of community. We are also emerging from the pandemic with unprecedented growth and transformational developments. Our biggest opportunity is to work in partnership and with urgency across the civic system to capture these opportunities.”

Mark Wilson, President & CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce
“I’ve often said the only legitimate excuse for a chamber of commerce is leadership. As Florida wrestles with growth, a workforce crisis and a need to diversify our economy, our biggest opportunity is to unite our members and others to do what’s needed, not what’s popular. 2020 and 2021 were the two best new membership years in our history, and we’re expecting 2022 to keep the momentum going.”

Tara Barney, CEO, Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (Ind.)
“Our members are looking for ways to align their businesses with the post-pandemic customer base. Rebuilding their sales strategies and pivoting to meet new post-pandemic customer expectations is an ongoing and everchanging challenge for members. Leaving aside the workforce shortage, our members are facing the tsunami of change in work environment expectations. Working professionals are reflecting on their personal goals and values and evaluating whether their current work culture is inclusive, cultivates leadership, and is conducive to their personal growth plans. E-REP meets this challenge offering resources and regular programming around the trends. Our highly regarded diversity, equity and inclusion series is specifically targeted to engaging employers wherever they are in the workplace DEI journey. E-REP will continue to educate and be a resource for employers with an eye toward our region’s aspiration of welcoming and embracing this changing landscape. ”

Candace Boothby, CCE, President & CEO, Newnan-Coweta Chamber (Ga.)  
“Many of our members are rooted in outdated, ineffective and limiting models to connect with others. As a result, they are experiencing challenges reaching new audiences and establishing invigorating relationships. We are moving from traditional networking models, encouraging members to embrace new mediums and offering more thoughtful, meaningful connections through increased alliances and niche think tanks.”

Greg Durocher, President & CEO, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce (Ontario)
“Meeting the demands of the consumer. Hard to compete with the “Amazons” of the world as this order online becomes more and more convenient, and the supply chain woes getting to businesses that deal predominantly offline, is a huge challenge. We must fix the brokenness of our supply chain and pandemic proof it as well. We won’t be another 100 years before the next pandemic, we have lots of work to do when we reach endemic status of this pandemic.”

Kristofer Johnson, IOM, President & CEO, Association of Washington Business
“Workforce challenges are indeed significant and across every industry sector, but our surveys and interaction with members tell us that core issues like taxes and regulation remain ongoing concerns and an issue that came to the fore recently — supply chain disruption — is also a major concern. This legislative session, we backed investments in transportation infrastructure as a means of addressing the issue.”

Maria Salinas, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
“One of the continuing challenges is the constantly changing health orders. Many employers, especially small business employers, are struggling to understand the complexities of the health orders: constant changes, lack of alignment across all levels of government. The uncertainty has created ongoing turmoil. We’ve engaged our local public health officials to ensure we have the most relevant information. With ongoing member communication, our members look to us to help demystify health orders that impact businesses. ”

Baiju Shah, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership
“Beyond talent and supply chain concerns, our corporate and middle-market members are very invested in our civic mission with a focus on bringing as much funding for transformational, business and community-building projects into the region as possible. Our small business members cite inflation and capital access as major concerns. We are expanding our group purchasing programs to help small businesses save on the products, services and benefits they need.”

Mark Wilson, President & CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce
“Working to move the needle on making Florida the safest state in America, the Florida Chamber launched the Florida Chamber Safety Council to help small to mid-sized businesses who may not have a full-time safety professional on staff. An incubator of research, leadership, and education, the Florida Chamber Safety Council is a one-stop platform to help Florida employers develop employee-driven programs that empower personal accountability for workplace safety and health.”

Tara Barney, CEO, Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (Ind.)
“E-REP has the opportunity to give our regional development plan (RDP) huge momentum this year by leveraging the just-awarded $50 million READI Grant from the State of Indiana. Our RDP focuses on population growth, talent retention and the development of transformational quality of place projects.”

Candace Boothby, CCE, President & CEO, Newnan-Coweta Chamber (Ga.)  
“We’re excited to continue a journey we began last year to learn a new process called Human-Centered Design Thinking, a process to unearth underlying needs and motivations to design things people want. A way for us to find answers that are outside of us that help us strengthen our partnerships with governments and incorporate new ways of thinking and planning to take our mission to the next level of alignment. Currently, we are focused on critical transportation challenges and plan next to apply the process to smart growth.”

Greg Durocher, President & CEO, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce (Ontario)
“We are excited about our hybrid events, we have invested in amazing technology for multi-cam streaming and engaging our online viewers as though they are live with us. We anticipate a dramatic increase in attendance and our events being streamed have longer life living online as well and can be used to lure new members.”

Kristofer Johnson, IOM, President & CEO, Association of Washington Business
“So much is happening inside of the AWB Institute, which is really coming into its own. Through the Institute, we recently launched a workforce portal that’s addressing the workforce shortage by helping connect employers with students. We also helped establish a remote rural worker training program to enable people in rural communities to benefit from the growth of online work. And we’ve got a larger initiative in the works later this year to help our members address labor shortages.”

Maria Salinas, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
“In late 2021, we launched an initiative called Balance California, an effort to unify business leadership to engage civically and to define our the business narrative. In the 2022 election year, the changes to the political landscape are daunting, I am excited for having a voice in the process and sharing the real contributions of businesses.”

Baiju Shah, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership
“There is a lot to be excited about! We have launched a new All-In Plan and vision for the region with a goal of becoming once again one of the great regions in the Great Lakes, as measured by business, jobs and income growth. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of our small business program, the Council of Smaller Enterprises. We recently rolled out a video series showcasing 50 outstanding small businesses from across our region and are planning for a number of celebratory events.”

Mark Wilson, President & CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce
“When testifying before Congress a few years ago, I shared the battle of this generation is between economic equality and economic opportunity—between those who believe that everyone is entitled to equal outcomes and those who believe everyone should have an equal opportunity at earned success. The Florida Equality of Opportunity Initiative, America’s first comprehensive chamber-led strategy to cut childhood poverty in half, ensure all third graders are reading at grade level, and champion diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace, the Florida Chamber Foundation is doubling down on focusing resources towards helping those in the bottom 20% economically. Focused on three aligned projects, the Florida Business Alliance for Early Learning Project, the Florida Prosperity Project, and the Florida Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Project, the Florida Equality of Opportunity Initiative tackles the systemic obstacles that block a person’s access to opportunities. This is a chamber-led, zip-code-level effort, and every chamber in America can replicate it.”

Tara Barney, CEO, Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (Ind.)
“Relevance. As a new organization, E-REP has the luxury and the responsibility to be the organization that reflects our community’s priorities today, and to cast ourselves as the business and community-serving organization that our upcoming leaders can lean on. Talent leadership that supports our business community’s journey through DEI best practices, remote working, new work-life balance expectations and other changing dynamics in their relationship with employees will be critical to our value-proposition in the coming years.”

Candace Boothby, CCE, President & CEO, Newnan-Coweta Chamber (Ga.)  
“Two things come to mind. It is critical that chambers understand that social issues are business issues and that we must be leaders and champions in our communities. Also, the importance of re-evaluating the chamber’s role and format post COVID with an eye to changing member benefits and using data to drive change and the nature of programs remains critical to a chamber’s sustainability and relevance.”

Greg Durocher, President & CEO, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce (Ontario)
“We have found our purpose. I look to the Horizon Report and focus on Catalytic Leadership, which is sadly missing at the political level, nearly everywhere. Chambers transform communities, we are the magicians of Main Street, we need to help transition to better political leadership, leadership that understands the need to heal all by hearing all. We’ve seen the Horizon Report come to life, we laid out the arguments in 2015, we need to execute for the sake of our communities.”

Kristofer Johnson, IOM, President & CEO, Association of Washington Business
“Staying relevant means going deeper within your member organizations, making sure you have multiple connections as the baby boom generation continues to retire. Chamber leaders need to reach out to the next-generation leaders, and they need to continually work on reaching more diverse populations both within their membership base and in the broader employer community. At the same time, they need to pay attention to their staff — keeping them engaged in the mission and making sure they reflect the diversity of their community.”

Maria Salinas, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
“Chambers are leading the way in understanding business trends like the future of work. The role of work, workplace, and workforce. The pandemic has accelerated how we think about the future of work. This is one of the most relevant topics for businesses, especially as they emerge from the pandemic. Chambers are well-positioned to fully explore trends and define best practices for the road ahead.”

Baiju Shah, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership
“Two future-focused areas that we see growing in both interest and importance are diversity and inclusion initiatives and sustainability initiatives. Work in these areas is gaining momentum and attention as businesses consider the priorities and values of a changing workforce.”

Mark Wilson, President & CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce
“Florida, and America, has more jobs looking for people than people looking for jobs. Through the Florida Chamber’s Future of Work Florida initiative, we have developed a multi-year plan to unite, and harness, Florida’s business community to turn this workforce crisis into a competitive strength for Florida. Millions of jobs will require certifications and credentials but not necessarily four-year degrees, and Future of Work is promoting the importance of work and a business-led effort to align market needs with future talent supply.”