CHAMBER EDC DEVELOPS NEW STRATEGIC PLAN

By Scooter Pursley, Clearwater Communications

Previously two distinct groups with different missions, the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce and the Bismarck-Mandan Development Association (BMDA) merged in 2019 to create the Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC.

“In those first few years after the merger, it made sense for us to focus on two things; business advocacy and economic development. Now that we’re entering the fifth year of the Chamber EDC, it’s time for us to expand our mission,” Chamber EDC President & CEO Brian Ritter says.

In order to develop this new strategic plan, the organization laid out a year-long process that began in early 2022 with a review of the organization’s previous strategic plan to determine what goals had been addressed previously or completed. Once that was complete, the Chamber EDC conducted its annual membership survey to determine the issues most important to them.

“The days of businesses joining an organization just because it was the right thing to do or it was an expectation, those days are gone,” said Ritter.

“If we’re going to remain relevant to our members, we have to change with them.”

Following the membership survey, Chamber EDC Staff went about developing a first draft of the new strategic plan and vetting that draft with Chamber EDC leaders. Finally, once suggested changes and revisions had been incorporated, the new Chamber EDC 2023 – 2025 Strategic Plan was formally adopted by the organization’s Board of Directors.

“The most important thing to note is that as we approached the development of this newest strategic plan was to make sure that it represented the next evolution of the Chamber EDC” Ritter says.

An accompanying story in this month’s Connection will focus on one part of the Chamber EDC’s mission; economic development. However, economic development is only one of the five ‘foundations’ of the 2023 – 2025 Strategic Plan along with: professional development, leadership development, network development and policy development.

Network Development

The Chamber EDC already has a robust lineup of events and opportunities for members to meet one another and grow their professional networks. Events like Celebrate Bismarck-Mandan, State of the Cities, the Outdoor Golf Scramble and Sporting Clay Shootout all were either sold out or set attendance records in 2022.

However, to keep events like those and others growing, the organization is looking to increase the level of sponsor involvement at existing events, but also add new types of networking events such as a ‘family-friendly’ activity to accommodate changing schedules and family dynamics. In addition, earlier this year Chamber EDC staff conducted the first of what could be a series of networking events targeting women business leaders in Bismarck-Mandan called Empowering Women in Business.