President’s Message: Flunking the Small Talk, Firm in Focus
By Chris Berleth, Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce
“Hey, Chris, what’s new/how’s it going at the Chamber?”
As members return to a consistent work schedule following summer vacations, stay-cations, or PTO, that’s the question I’m encountering most frequently. At this point, you’d think I’d be prepared to answer it, but unfortunately, what I’ve managed to blurt out repeatedly is “Oh, we’re uh, pretty busy, doing a lot of great things!”
That’s lame.
Do you ever feel like you’ve got so many things going on that when asked a simple question, you’re stuck between not offering enough information or dominating the conversation? The truth is that my brain isn’t fast enough to give the tailored answer I want to give to the folks I meet, while also giving them time to chat.
Members, friends, you deserve to know what’s going on with your Chamber and finding the answer should be easy. That’s why we’ve invested in a reporting system designed to keep you looped in, and I’ll be working to be more ready with a copy of it for the occasions I’ve described.
What We’ve Been Up To, All in One Place
Each month, your Chamber publishes a Dashboard which showcases the work that we’re doing under our Five Focus Areas. (You’ve already heard about this from Taryn). It’s a one-page (front and back) document which highlights our financial position, metrics and analytics for membership and communications, and most of all, how we’ve spent our time on what’s most important to our members. The Dashboard is great, but it’s limited –it isn’t designed to connect the dots as to how the work we’re doing ties into a comprehensive strategy to meet our mission of “vibrant and sustainable communities”.
For that, you’ll need another President’s Message, but here’s a glimpse of what’s got us most excited lately:
Foundation & Chamber Alignment, Member Benefits
In August, we announced the hiring of Kyra McKinnon to our team. Kyra is part of a fundamental shift in how we operate, and a strategic realignment of our partnership with the Chamber Foundation. She’s taken to the role like a fish takes to water and is already making improvements to the Chamber and Foundation website, social media, and communications. Just wait until you see what she’s bringing to the table. Spoiler alert: you’ll be seeing more of us through Instagram very soon.
Talent Pipeline and Employee Development
Taryn Crayton, who’s handed off her responsibilities in marketing, communications, and events to Kyra, continues to lean into her role as a key strategist on our team. She’s leading Leadership Central Penn, as well as key Foundation programming with our school partners. In August, at the K-12 Educators’ Summit, we doubled down on our talent pipeline efforts to meet workforce and educators’ needs. We’re re-launching Educator in the Workplace next Summer, thanks to a generous Arconic grant, we’re doubling down on financial literacy offerings to local students, thanks to our partnership with Journey Bank and Brighter Financial Futures. Our S.E.A.L. Challenge (STEM Contest) continues to grow, and we’re continuing to coordinate What’s So Cool About Manufacturing. That’s just what’s up with the Foundation.
Advocacy, Business Connections
As to the Chamber, we’re building on our advocacy efforts by continuing dialogues with legislators and municipal leaders and will be hosting a state issues conversation in October (I wrote about the dress code for that last week). We’re also very excited about the other premier event this Fall, which is our Business Leadership Forum. This year’s program is designed to be a practical resource for your business’ technology and AI questions. You read that right - we’re focusing on practical and tactical – so that you have takeaways that you leave feeling informed and better equipped, contrary to what’s so easy with fast-moving technologies (overwhelmed and anxious).
To be more transparent with our process and include more of you, we’ve created a new mechanism for our annual awards – complete with a rubric, and a better way to nominate eligible businesses and individuals.
We’re also planning on sending some of you to Ireland through our new group travel experience with Colette (and there’s still an opportunity to build more relationships through that fun experience.)
Strengthening our Communities
As I type this, I’m on my way out the door to stump for the Chamber in our community, through advisory committees, planning groups, downtown efforts, and more. Montour County’s Comprehensive Plan is in full swing, as are efforts to poll businesses through Danville Business Alliance’s Economic Vitality Committee. We’re growing experiential learning opportunities alongside Scouting America’s Exploring program and connecting with the U.S. Chamber and its Foundation about best practices for Chambers.
I’m proud to share that we’ve submitted paperwork for Chamber accreditation, which would make us one of only a handful of accredited Chambers in the Commonwealth.
I hope to see you at events this Fall, at celebrations like the 150th Anniversary of Millville Mutual Insurance (next week), and community staples like the Bloomsburg Fair, Riverfest, and the Covered Bridge Festival. When I do, I hope that you’ll hear me say something better than, “We’re pretty busy…,” but in case I flub it, I trust you’ll give me grace.