ARTICLE
Last Friday, the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce Board held our annual retreat to review the past year’s activities and chart a clear path for 2018. It was a long day, but productive conversation lead to a refreshed vision of what your Chamber can do for our members. If you have ever attended a business organization retreat in the past you know that the process can take on new meaning for an organization. Our Chair Mark Mesiti-Miller stated at our Annual Membership meeting in January, “It is not what you can do for the Chamber but what your Chamber can do for you.” “We can only impact Santa Cruz County if we have full engagement of our board and our members. There is strength in numbers and we need to get every member involved in our mission to improve the economic vitality of our region.” The Mission: The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce champions the issues that impact the Santa Cruz County economic community. As the local voice for the county's businesses, the Chamber advocates on issues that drive economic vitality, provides information, ideas, and resources that help businesses navigate a competitive environment, and creates opportunities for business people to connect and forge relationships that strengthen their businesses and careers. Since 1889, the Chamber has worked to make Santa Cruz County a better place to work, live, and visit. This Board retreat marks the beginning of a new era for the Chamber as we introduced six new board members. We rolled up our sleeves and went through the labor intensive activities of reviewing our 2018 budget plans, the intersections between membership, events, programs and projects all geared to maximize the values of a Chamber. As the day moved along the synergy between new board members and longtime serving members created a collaborative conversation that stirred the imagination and fueled new ideas on long held beliefs about the Chamber. What is the Chamber’s role in the community and what does the community need from the Chamber? Our retreat facilitator, Jessica Wolf, walked us through the day’s conversation about how we can create a sustainable financial member driven future. It was a telling sign to see ideas come from each board member that added to the discussion — if we can be more focused on outcomes that provide greater benefit to our members it enhances the value proposition of the Chamber. The interactive commentary was helpful for our board finding consensus on reflecting back on the Chamber mission with a vision to the future. • The breadth and depth of the Chamber’s reach is to ‘get things done’ • Chamber leaders ask open ended questions through an inclusive strategic process • The Chamber is the business voice advocating for economic vitality • Effective and influential relationships with state and local government leaders • Small businesses frequently do not understand how government works and so the Chamber helps businesses to be engaged and be heard • The Chamber creates a collective voice for the 600+ members • The Chamber leadership is strategic in addressing issues and seeking solutions. The path toward a successful 2018 can be summarized in four key areas: Membership Growth and Retention, Policy & Advocacy Leadership, Collaboration & Partnership, and High Value Events. Collectively, the Chamber Board understands that the region’s infrastructure is inadequate to meet the current and future needs. Once again inadequate housing and lack of a more efficient transportation network is paramount to sustain economic vitality. The policy focus — housing, transportation, workforce development and water must be improved now. More public-private partnerships are necessary which can be the drivers of our mission. How do we help chamber members and the general public see these core issues as a ‘system?’ The Chamber staff and board are committed to make positive efforts to address our county’s infrastructure by educating the members and the community about the whys of the housing and transportation crisis and focus on solution oriented options that will make a difference. 2018 is an election year. In an election cycle, the Chamber will stand up to ensure that these issues are part of any candidates’ pledge to improve the economic vitality of our region. With a sustainable plan for our region, the Chamber board made strong commitments to influence our public sector partners, engage with the community and produce thriving and vibrant economy. Please join us in that effort.
Last Friday, the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce Board held our annual retreat to review the past year’s activities and chart a clear path for 2018. It was a long day, but productive conversation lead to a refreshed vision of what your Chamber can do for our members.
If you have ever attended a business organization retreat in the past you know that the process can take on new meaning for an organization. Our Chair Mark Mesiti-Miller stated at our Annual Membership meeting in January, “It is not what you can do for the Chamber but what your Chamber can do for you.”
“We can only impact Santa Cruz County if we have full engagement of our board and our members. There is strength in numbers and we need to get every member involved in our mission to improve the economic vitality of our region.”
The Mission:
The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce champions the issues that impact the Santa Cruz County economic community. As the local voice for the county's businesses, the Chamber advocates on issues that drive economic vitality, provides information, ideas, and resources that help businesses navigate a competitive environment, and creates opportunities for business people to connect and forge relationships that strengthen their businesses and careers. Since 1889, the Chamber has worked to make Santa Cruz County a better place to work, live, and visit.
This Board retreat marks the beginning of a new era for the Chamber as we introduced six new board members. We rolled up our sleeves and went through the labor intensive activities of reviewing our 2018 budget plans, the intersections between membership, events, programs and projects all geared to maximize the values of a Chamber.
As the day moved along the synergy between new board members and longtime serving members created a collaborative conversation that stirred the imagination and fueled new ideas on long held beliefs about the Chamber. What is the Chamber’s role in the community and what does the community need from the Chamber?
Our retreat facilitator, Jessica Wolf, walked us through the day’s conversation about how we can create a sustainable financial member driven future. It was a telling sign to see ideas come from each board member that added to the discussion — if we can be more focused on outcomes that provide greater benefit to our members it enhances the value proposition of the Chamber. The interactive commentary was helpful for our board finding consensus on reflecting back on the Chamber mission with a vision to the future.
• The breadth and depth of the Chamber’s reach is to ‘get things done’
• Chamber leaders ask open ended questions through an inclusive strategic process
• The Chamber is the business voice advocating for economic vitality
• Effective and influential relationships with state and local government leaders
• Small businesses frequently do not understand how government works and so the Chamber helps businesses to be engaged and be heard
• The Chamber creates a collective voice for the 600+ members
• The Chamber leadership is strategic in addressing issues and seeking solutions.
The path toward a successful 2018 can be summarized in four key areas: Membership Growth and Retention, Policy & Advocacy Leadership, Collaboration & Partnership, and High Value Events.
Collectively, the Chamber Board understands that the region’s infrastructure is inadequate to meet the current and future needs. Once again inadequate housing and lack of a more efficient transportation network is paramount to sustain economic vitality. The policy focus — housing, transportation, workforce development and water must be improved now. More public-private partnerships are necessary which can be the drivers of our mission. How do we help chamber members and the general public see these core issues as a ‘system?’ The Chamber staff and board are committed to make positive efforts to address our county’s infrastructure by educating the members and the community about the whys of the housing and transportation crisis and focus on solution oriented options that will make a difference.
2018 is an election year. In an election cycle, the Chamber will stand up to ensure that these issues are part of any candidates’ pledge to improve the economic vitality of our region. With a sustainable plan for our region, the Chamber board made strong commitments to influence our public sector partners, engage with the community and produce thriving and vibrant economy. Please join us in that effort.