From Relevant to Essential: Five Key Insights for Chambers of Commerce

By Casey Steinbacher

The world wide pandemic, economic upheaval and social unrest that 2020 debuted will linger with us in many forms for years to come. As international as these issues have been, the management of the crisis and disruption it has caused in the United States has fallen most often to state and local leadership. In every local community, Chambers of Commerce have been part of that critical response and recovery team, aiding citizens and businesses alike. But just like the business they serve, they too have faced significant disruptions and challenges to their normal operations. These challenges have exposed the cracks in their operating model that have been there and growing for decades.

Our COVID-19 environment has now made the cracks too wide to ignore. It has also provided the perfect opportunity for chambers to rethink their mission and model in a way they may not have had the time or permission to do before. It is forcing chambers to re-imagine what they will need to be moving forward.

To help in that reimagining, "From Relevant to Essential" identifies five key insights that all Chambers can use to ensure their organization is not just relevant to the members of their organization, but is truly essential to the larger community that they serve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098355050

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INTRODUCTION

The world as we knew it is no longer the same. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on our lives. It has resulted in a catastrophic loss of life, economic recession, and social upheaval. Job loss has been large. Families have been self-quarantined at home with limited social interaction. Schools are struggling with remote learning, while digital inequity is front and center. Even as parts of the world reopen, they do so in a significantly different way. This pandemic has totally redefined our concept of normal. As I write this, vaccinations have begun, but the level of uncertainty remains high for 2021. The long-term catalytic change it will force is frighteningly unknown.

In the United States, we have traditionally looked to national leadership to address such national catastrophes. In the case of COVID-19, however, it has been the state and local leadership that has led the fight and set the direction for the citizens it represents. The immensity of the challenge has thrust local, regional, and state associations and chambers of commerce into the fight as five-star generals in a war that threatens the prosperity of the communities they represent. As an industry, they have responded with the full weight and authority of their organization, doing remarkable work that they were neither prepared nor required to do. They did this all while their own organizations endured the same negative economic impact and dwindling capacity as the businesses they served.

Chambers of commerce are a testament to the tenacity of local spirit and sense of place that most community residents rely on but oftentimes take for granted. With 30 years of experience in this incredible profession, I have never felt their passion, commitment, or pain so much as I have during this time. To me it is obvious as hell. However, because they are perceived to be – and quite frankly sold themselves as – the voice of business, there is limited community-wide understanding and appreciation of the essential nature of their work or the passion that drives it. Only the small percentage of resident business owners who are members in each community get a true glimpse of the impact of their work in the community.

Like every business and organization in the world today, chambers are experiencing challenges to their normal operations as a result of COVID-19. But, in reality, there have been cracks in that normal for many years. COVID-19 has widened and exposed them to a much larger degree. But equally, it has provided a perfect opportunity for the chambers to rethink their mission and model in a way they may not have had the time or permission to do up until now.

The tensions that have existed between the mission and the model for these organizations are now on full display, and conversations on solutions are beginning. Before jumping into those solutions, the industry would be well served to take a step back and understand both, the root cause of those tensions and the current environment in which they are operating, before attempting to course-correct. The question before us is not how do we repair the crack in the cup, but first whether the cup is the right cup to repair.

In the following chapters, I will share five key insights that I believe will shape the future success of chambers and related associations and organizations that serve business as their key constituency group. They will provide chamber leadership a new lens to rethink the organization’s mission and model, and identify opportunities to better engage the broader community. If heeded, they will transform the organization from relevant to business to essential to community.

What this book will not do is provide a deep dive into how to monetize these insights in a new and improved operational model. Subsequent books will provide those examples. This one is dedicated to why the model has struggled and will not be effective moving forward.