Area Chambers of Commerce Summit for Growth

More than 30 representatives from local businesses and community Chambers of Commerce came together to compare notes at a local business summit hosted by New York State Assemblyman George Latimer (D-Westchester, 91st A.D.) Wednesday afternoon in Rye.

Chambers of Commerce for Rye; Port Chester-Rye Brook-Rye Town; Larchmont; Harrison; New Rochelle and Mamaroneck gathered around a shared table in the Community Room of the Rye Free Reading Room to weigh in with their respective successes and challenges.

Assemblyman Latimer said before the event that "the Sound Shore communities have a great potential for economic growth when they can pool their talent and resources for appropriate efforts. Our role is merely as a conduit to bring people together for the initial effort - I'm confident they'll work on their own initiative thereafter."

The informal program gave each local chamber organization an opportunity to share their recent programs, services they provide, and their special events. The afternoon agenda also included time for the groups to share strategies for recruitment, improved member services, and next steps. Assemblyman Latimer said he would start a contact list so the area organizations could remain in communication.

State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer (D- Mamaroneck) attended. Rye Councilwoman Catherine Parker, also a vice president with Rye Chamber of Commerce, also actively participated in the discussion.

Guest keynote speaker Dr. Marsha Gordon, President of The Business Council of Westchester, experienced in organizing business interests throughout the county and the Hudson Valley region, welcomed the group.

“Everyone talks about business development in terms of bringing business in,” said Gordon. “I think the most important is building business and helping business grow...hopefully creating jobs and building the economy.”

She went on to share that business organizations like chambers of commerce are meant “to help do 1 of 4 things: market, learn, advocate, and most of all to grow business.” Local chambers were invited to reach out to the Business Council of Weschester, which is a primarily business-to-business modeled organization, for ideas and support with membership expansion.

Here are some of the issues and events shared by area Chambers of Commerce:

Tuckahoe-Eastchester
Sandra Albanese shared that the informally run Tuckahoe-Eastchester Chamber of Commerce of which she is president currently has less than 150 members. The group currently honors an area individual and business as its main fundraiser as well as high school students at a dinner event. Albanese said area banks have been very supportive of the group, but she hopes to pull in more participation from Bronxville and surrounding areas.

New Rochelle
Eli Gordon of New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce said his organization currently has 252 active members. The group currently offers health care discounts, dental and vision plans, and pet insurance to its members. Free seminars on topics including social networking, succession planning, fraud prevention, and loans have been a recent success for the group. Currently, the group is offering a pre-packaged China tour for its members this October.

Gordon said that there will be free seminars on June 15 and 30 as well as in September on use of the social networking service Constant Contact. Interested individuals need to contact the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce for more details.

The group currently holds a business-to-business networking event on the last Thursday of each month as well as a trade show, awards event and other civic activities.

Larchmont
Jeff Rosenberg shared that the Larchmont Chamber of Commerce is currently in its third year of revival. Originally founded in 1944, the group waned in 1999. There are currently 100 active members.

Restaurants have been the strongest pillar of business activity in the area with the Taste of Larchmont proving to be “tremendously successful.” According to Rosenberg, area restaurants saw a 30 to 50 percent increase in business because of the event.

Rosenberg says the group continues to survey its members to find out how to best serve them. They currently offer a welcome package for new business and work with Larchmont Mayor Josh Mandell and area realtors to attract new businesses.

Parking and serving two separate businesses districts are two of the organization’s current challenges. Developing a 3 to 5 year mission statement is the organization’s current priority.

Mamaroneck
Steve Josephson said that the Mamaroneck Chamber of Commerce currently has 131 members and a full calendar of events including seasonal sidewalk sales, an annual dinner and golf outing, and a new wine trail event with 19 participating restaurants.

Social networking, a new website, blog and weekly newsletter have helped the group to recently double their mailing list subscription by sharing merchant coupons, promotions and profiles with area businesses and potential customers.

The group, Josephson said, works closely with local government on popular events such as Harborfest and Halloween Spooktacular.

Rye
Lisa Summa- Guarino reported that Rye Chamber of Commerce currently has 130  active members. The group’s most successful activities include its annual luncheon, December holiday-themed Mistletoe Magic, and July Sidewalk Sales. A local business map and website are also showing positive results for members.

The organization hosts a regular monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of each month at Morgan’s Restaurant in Rye.

Port Chester, Rye Brook, Rye Town
Ken Manning reported the multi-city chamber currently has 300 active members with steady growth. With a sliding membership fee scale based on number of employees, the organization offers a number of services including welcome boxes delivered to new homeowners, free email blasts, and a banner program. The group will hold a barbeque next week at TD Bank, and a Summerfest on July 29 in addition to its annual dinner dance and golf outing events. The group meets on the third Thursday on each month.

Harrison
Ada Angarano shared the difficulties currently facing the Harrison Chamber of Commerce. Though represented in a full slate of charitable endeavors, Angarano said the group is not fully functional.

“We’re closing stores and not reopening them,” said Angarano. “Harrison’s real problem is there really isn’t a business community.” The recession has dealt the area an especially hard blow, she said. Empty storefronts only compound the perception that Harrison businesses are not attractive to consumers.

“At some point in time, every group in the room, their organization went into a slump,” said Latimer in response. “The question is, what can be done about it.”

One of the suggestions, offered to all as well as to specific organization concerns, was to keenly focus on the needs of area businesses which varied from region to region.

When Sally Wright of Rye asked about membership growing pains and trouble collecting dues, Marsha Gordon suggested tiered membership packages as a way of stimulating interest and increasing the value of services offered.

Gordon also suggested that the groups employ paid executive directors as soon as possible. Several groups, including Rye, Mamaroneck, and the combined Port Chester-Rye Brook-Rye Town chambers all indicated their part time staff had more than sufficient responsibilities for a full time work week. Generating the revenue to cover a full time executive director seemed to be the only obstacle to employing dedicated support staff.

Sally Wright also shared that term limits for officers helped to prevent burn-out and ensure an infusion of new perspectives and ideas.

After the roundtable discussion, representatives of the regional organizations did briefly linger to exchange ideas and contact information.