Since beginning my journey as the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce CEO in July 2013, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the organization and its history. The Chamber marked its 110th anniversary of service in 2014. It is important to honor the innovations of the past that helped to bring the organization to where it is today.
Change. Love it or hate it, our world is constantly evolving; being shaped by technology and innovation. I believe that any business owner would be hard pressed to look back over their history and say that they continue to do business exactly the way they did in the beginning. This is also true of the organizations who serve our businesses. We too must innovate in order to remain relevant. With that in mind, the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce embarked on a year of innovation as we endeavored to create opportunities for our members to make their businesses better. We did this in many big and small ways. We worked to bring a fresh new look and feel to our traditional annual events – Mayors’ Business Day, Scramble for Commerce Golf Tournament, Liberty Festival on the Falls and the 4th of July Parade. We said goodbye to Taste of Idaho but introduced the Business of Distinction Awards Gala where we recognized 13 area businesses for distinction by industry.
As an organization we invested a significant amount of time on introspection; making sure that we are fulfilling our mission, providing maximum value to members and being good stewards of their investment. We hired new staff members and we took steps throughout the year to ensure that we were operating in an efficient, ethical and profitable manner. We invested time in updating our bylaws, policies and procedures, conducting financial reviews, board development, staff training and human resources updates – the behind the scenes engines that ensure we are meeting our fiduciary responsibilities.
The mission of the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce is to “create opportunities for our members by being the leading business resource for networking, advocacy and educational activities. We work together to create and protect a competitive advantage for business in the greater Idaho Falls area.”
Our goal for advocacy is to “represent our member’s interests on public policies that impact competitiveness and the ability to do business in the state of Idaho”. Advocacy is one of the three cornerstones of our organization where we invest a significant amount of energy. A new Legislative Priorities publication has replaced our traditional Legislative Bookmark. It provides our priorities, information about the Chamber’s ongoing advocacy activities, and contact information for our local, state and federal elected officials. Throughout the Idaho legislative session, our Advocacy Committee holds a weekly teleconference with our area representative in Boise to discuss legislative activities with potential to affect our local businesses. For the Idaho Legislative Session, we have also started a Weekly Legislative Update email that includes a summary of our weekly video conference calls with our area legislators along with links to bills of interest and recent legislative news items. The last week of January, the Idaho Chamber Alliance (ICA) hosts Chamber Days at the Legislature, a two day event where local chamber members can learn about legislative issues and meet with their local representatives. The chamber staff also keep abreast of issues through participation in conference calls hosted by ICA and Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI). Annually, we also participate in the Idaho Falls Community to Capital advocacy trip to Washington, DC. During this trip our community representatives meet with our Federal Delegation, the US Chamber of Commerce, Department of Energy officials, federal appropriations staffers and other to show community support for the economic drivers of our community like the Idaho National Laboratory.
Our goal for education is to “connect our members to the people, information and resources they need to grow their businesses and make a positive impact on the future of Eastern Idaho”. We keep this mission in mind as we schedule speakers for Chamber events and exploring new program ideas to bring new education opportunities to our members. We launched the 2020 Vision for Business speaker luncheon in 2014, featuring monthly speakers focused on issues that will inspire, educate and motivate business owners and key staff to move their businesses forward. Where will your business be in 2020? Speakers represented companies like Micron Technology, Adobe, US Department of Energy, and D.A. Davidson and included individuals like Boise State University Football Coach, Bryan Harsin, University of Idaho President Chuck Staben and the Mayors of Idaho Falls, Ammon and Iona.
Another new addition for 2015 is the CEO Speaker Series, which launched in December 2014, with “An Afternoon with Frank VanderSloot, CEO of Melaleuca, Inc.” The CEO Speaker Series is an intimate fireside-style interview and audience Q&A with some of our community’s most intriguing leaders.
One of our expanded staff additions was a full-time marketing and communications position. This addition has allowed the rest of our staff to focus their efforts in other areas while also stepping up our game considerably in the area of communication. At our Annual Membership Meeting in January we showcased our 2014 Annual Report, and launched our newly revamped website. The new website, while still being populated provides a much improved user experience and is visually refreshing. If you haven’t visited our site in a while, it’s time to check it out. www.idahofallschamber.com. In the social media arena, the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce can now be found not only on Facebook, but also Twitter, LinkedIn and we even have a YouTube Channel. We also utilize email and text alerts to help keep the information flowing, because after all, communication is education!
Our goal for networking is to “convene a broad range of regional leaders to address issues that determine our future competitiveness and fuel workforce development”. Networking is an area where our chamber has excelled but there is always room to improve. In 2014, we added our monthly Out of the Box Networking Luncheon. This is an opportunity to build professional networks and learn about other businesses in the community. Six featured businesses showcase themselves through trade show display tables and a presentation. New members are introduced and everyone participates in a networking activity. For 2015, we are re-launching our improved Young Professionals Network (YPN) which now features a monthly networking event in addition to quarterly Professional Development Speakers and the annual Distinguished Under 40 Awards. Committees, programs and special events provide too many opportunities to list for our members to make their businesses better.
To everything there is a season. A season for thankfulness for our history; a season for change and innovation. Most importantly, we hope for your business a season of profitability in 2015. If you are a member of the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, are you maximizing your membership through participation and telling your customers about it? If you aren’t a member, maybe you should be. For more ideas about ways to network your business, contact the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce at ceo@idahofallshcamber.com or visit www.idahofallschamber.com.