ANNUAL REPORT 2020
A MESSAGE FROM CHAMBER LEADERSHIP The understatement of the year: 2020 was challenging for all. The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world, and it has certainly changed business. It will likely be some time before we understand the full scope of the impact this crisis has had on the Greater Rochester region.
A Spring 2020 CGR study ranked Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce as the number one resource for businesses during the pandemic. But we have done more than provide the latest information, guidance, and services to our members and local organizations during their most trying times. We have continued to lead Greater Rochester on our path of success and prosperity.
There is a saying that "a smooth sea makes not a skilled sailor." 2020 has tested our resiliency in ways we never could have imagined. It has called to reckoning some of our most pressing social issues. It has forced us to work smarter, be more agile, and most importantly, to pull together. It has made us stronger and more resilient.
As we honor the lives we have lost to this virus, we look with renewed hope towards the future. This organization, like many others in our community, has walked through the fire. We will continue to serve as a beacon in the storm for Greater Rochester/Finger Lakes businesses, and a bold leader on the path ahead.
BOB DUFFY
ROB SANDS
President & CEO
Chairman of the Board
POLICY & ADVOCACY As the voice of business for the Greater Rochester/Finger Lakes region, Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce is a strong advocate for business interests at the local, state and federal levels. Indeed, it is one of the main reasons our organization was formed some 140 years ago, and continues to be a core component of our mission. Though 2020 was a year of unprecedented challenge, Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce never stopped working on your behalf. We are proud to have achieved a number of advocacy wins and successes on behalf of the Greater Rochester/Finger Lakes business community.
COVID-19 Response Shared continuously changing guidelines to provide the most up-to-date information and resources. Worked to secure unemployment and pandemic assistance for businesses and individuals at the local, state, and federal levels. Shared both anecdotal and quantitative feedback with the Governor’s office which led to our region being the first to reopen for each of the four phases, and stay open even when our numbers might have otherwise indicated a need to shutdown. Feedback on behalf of businesses led to adjustments in regulations that proved beneficial for many industries. Successfully advocated for allowing restaurants in Orange Zones to operate under Yellow Zone guidance, and for allowing high-school sports to resume. Coordinated with local and regional leaders to assist with vaccination distribution planning for the private sector.
Advocacy Coalition of Rochester Area Chambers Last year, we began convening a group of Greater Rochester/Finger Lakes region chamber executives committed to helping our collective members grow through collaborating on legislative advocacy. Our coalition has grown to 15 active chambers and was a valuable resource throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Successfully advocated for the Save our Stages Program. Successfully advocated for a NYS middle-class tax cut.
2020 Advocacy Items Even in the wake of COVID-19 our team engaged directly with elected leaders, built coalitions around critical issues, and delivered results for our members.
Successfully advocated for a fix to the deductibility issues surrounding Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding. Successfully advocated for NYS employers to avoid full impact of unemployment charges due to layoffs necessitated by the pandemic. Successfully advocated against the FDA’s attempt at levying a fee against distilleries who produced muchneeded hand sanitizer. Successfully advocated for inclusion of 501 (c)(6) organizations in COVID-19 stimulus legislation. Successfully advocated for making permanent the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA).
PPE Distribution
3,000 Face Shields 5,000 Face Masks
Generous Greater Rochester Chamber members purchased and donated personal protective equipment, or PPE, to us when it was needed most. We were honored to help distribute these materials to businesses and the community.
EVENTS & TRAINING In 2020 when COVID-19 hit our community, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce Events Department transitioned from organizing small to large size in-person gatherings, to a virtual world starting in March of 2020. The events department quickly scrubbed and refocused events/topics that were no longer relevant, and worked on strategizing and putting together a new plan to offer cutting edge informative events for our members and community who were dealing with this unprecedented shut down.
We hosted 80 webinars with over 8000 views, including: Regulatory/Legislative/COVID-19 Relief updates Exclusive conversations with top leaders and officials Executive roundtables on successes and challenges of managing a business through the shutdown Professional development strategies on how to cope in stressful situations, while continuing growth Leadership & communication skills Work/life balance and coping with stress CLIMB (Chamber Leadership Initiative: Mentoring for Business) young professional leadership program held virtually
Despite the decline in sponsorship support, we continued to offer our webinars at no cost not only to our members, but also to non-members who looked to us for the latest information on the pandemic and other pertinent information on emerging business/community trends, strategies, and happenings. We understood the need to not only serve our members during these difficult times, but also the Greater Rochester community.
Addressing the racial disparity and unrest our nation was going through in 2020, we focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our leadership, supervision, and HR management trainings. We also launched our very first informational program series called
Colors of Success to help educate, inspire, and encourage organizations to
improve workplace equity in their existing or new DEI journey.
We encouraged our members to be more active by hosting a
virtual 5K with proceeds of over $1000 going to
the Veterans Outreach Center.
Greater Rochester Chamber’s newly realigned affiliate, the
Small Business Council, helped add more event
options for our combined membership, including impactful community initiatives like the annual
Backpack and
Thanksgiving Drives, which raised over $80K in cash donations and over 1500 backpacks for City school kids. A golf tournament helped participating members get out and network while generating proceeds close to $1500 from ticket sales, which went to Foodlink.
Signature Events celebrated virtually: IGNITE – 2nd Annual Young Professional’s Award Rochester Chamber Top 100 – Online celebration with food & beverage delivery
ROC Tech Conference - Held virtually with over 500 attendees and speakers from Rochester and beyond
Overall revenue increase of 10% through ticket sales, sponsorships, and magazine ad sales
If you wish to contribute to our success and our plans to be more innovative, please feel free to contact Director of Events & Training
Susan.George@GreaterRochesterChamber.com or call 585) 256-4612.
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To stay connected and up to date with all our events and webinar offerings, please visit us at
GreaterRochesterChamber.com.
HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES In 2020, in addition to the typical HR Services duties, Helpline staff responded to over 1,000 COVID-19 related inquiries from members and other employers in the community. This assistance helped ensure businesses were able to promptly respond to COVID-19 cases in the workplace, provide appropriate federal or state pay to affected employees, obtain tax credits and/or paycheck protection program funding, and were able to safely reopen in accordance with NYS guidelines. We are proud to be the go-to resource for human resource-related questions and issues for businesses in the Greater Rochester/Finger Lakes region.
MEMBER TESTIMONIAL I always tell my HR peers at other companies, that if you don't have a Greater Rochester Chamber membership you should get one. The Chamber will become your new best friend. The surveys and Small Business HR Forum are invaluable and Kathy Richmond is an amazing resource, you can't stump her with any HR question. Teri Edom, Our Lady of Mercy
MEMBER TESTIMONIAL When I was thinking of implementing a new program, the HR Helpline was able to provide thorough information very quickly. The Benchmarking Surveys provide us with insightful data for recruitment and retention. And you can't miss the Friday HR Briefings - they are always relevant and very well organized. .
Amy Marra, CPL
THE YEAR AT A GLANCE Friday HR Virtual Briefings 2020 was our first year offering webinars vs. in person. Only 9 meetings were held in 2020 but our average attendance was more than double the previous year at 66 attendees, and a total of 591 people attended the sessions (some attended more than one). Being virtual opened up attendance to individuals who have not been able to attend in the past. Highest Friday HR Virtual Briefing attendance - 171 member contacts attended the NYS Paid Sick Leave Update meeting in November 2020.
HR Forums 92 different member companies participated across all 4 forums; 127 member individuals participated across all 4 forums (some individuals participate in more than one forum and some companies have representatives in same or multiple forums)
HR Benchmarking Surveys 240 unique members participated in one or more of the 10 annual wage and benefits surveys offered in 2020.
WORKFORCE & TALENT STRATEGY In 2019, five local economic development agencies came together to form a collaborative initiative called ROC2025, which is designed to implement a coordinated capacity-building strategy focused on our region's growth.
As the lead organization for workforce and talent strategy, 2020 was a key year for working toward our goals of retaining more regional college graduates, developing a consolidated regional career portal to connect talent to employers, expanding tech career pathways for underrepresented groups, and recruiting veterans and remote workers to the region.
Launched CampusROC Initiative, which consists of: Active and engaging social media campaign on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook CampusROC.org - a one-stop hub for all Greater Rochester students to connect with others, explore our region and learn about what’s happening out and about in Rochester Internship in a Box program – a step-by-step guide for companies to start up an internship program in their organization Planning CollegeFEST for September, 2021 – the five best hours of a student’s life in downtown Rochester
Launching GreaterROC Careers portal in Q1 – A one-stop career site for every company in Rochester to post their open positions, and every individual to find their next great career. This will take the place of the LinkedIn GreaterROC Careers page which consolidates open positions into one place right now.
Veterans Connect Initiative: Veterans offer our labor market not only a plethora of skills and competencies, but they also bring with them various federal benefits that offer residual benefits to the community, such as education benefits, housing, stipends, health benefits, and various others.
Employability Training in conjunction with Baden Street Settlement, Greyston Center for Open Hiring, Project Management Institute, and Eleversity. The training we are designing is focused on gaining the buy-in of the trainee. We aim to achieve this by showing them how to incorporate the job opportunity, training, credential, skillsets (life, hard, or transferable), into their own overall plan for themselves.
Up Skill/ Re-Skill Tech Training: AWS certification program that MCC is launching that we are supporting along with Scale FLX. We are recruiting people who have interest in the program, and it is slated to roll out this Spring. Career Readiness Training with ROC the Future: In the RCSD space we are concentrating on career readiness and hard skill development. We are engaging both our membership and our board leaders who want to get engaged with students. We see career readiness as preparing our students for a career track in one of the following E’s: Enroll in college Enlist in the Military Employee in a company Entrepreneur, and start their own operation
RBA Staffing & Screening is a full-service employment agency working with Greater Rochester-area top employers and job seekers. Hiring services include:
Traditional
Staffing Services, Direct Hiring, On-Site Staffing, Payroll Services, and Onboarding and Recruitment Managed Services. Even with the challenges of COVID-19 drastically changing the employment landscape, we were able to pivot our entire office to remote work and continue to support the needs of our customers that were essential employers.
2020 STAFFING STATS: 2242 TOTAL JOB SEEKERS PLACED 500 CHECKS ISSUED WEEKLY TO LOCAL EMPLOYEES
BACKGROUND SCREENING Background Screening during the hiring process is an essential part of reducing your business risk. RBA Background/Drug Screening Services has access to all the latest products and over 25 years of experience navigating the complex and everchanging world of background screening.
In June of 2020, we sent all of our background screening customers a survey to better understand the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on our customers. We then focused on targeted outreach to specific clients based on these responses. This survey was a key part of improving our monthly sales for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2020, as well as assisting our customers in the ways they needed most.
2020 SCREENING STATS: 20,000 TOTAL BACKGROUND CHECKS 93,000 TOTAL SCREENING SERVICES 27 NEW CUSTOMERS
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW Like many businesses in our area, Greater Rochester Chamber had critical financial challenges to overcome due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, we undertook drastic overhead cuts, eliminating a third of our workforce. This, along with the hard work and dedication of our staff, allowed us to rebound in our key revenue-generating areas like staffing, screening, membership, events, and more.
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1,500,000
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MEMBER GROWTH Despite the challenges 500,000
faced, 150 new members joined us to support our mission in 2020.
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FOCUS ON GROWTH Progress is very rarely about achieving one major milestone, but rather achieving multiple, smaller milestones. Sometimes the biggest things come from all the little things adding up. True growth comes over time, with the compilation of many small wins and many obstacles overcome.
There is no goal more important to Greater Rochester Chamber than facilitating the growth and success of business in the region. In 2020, we helped move the needle for many businesses large and small. Here are just a few examples of how we put our relationships to work:
MWBE Certifications: This designation opens up many opportunities for a woman/minority-owned business, but without assistance, the process can take years. We were able to help multiple members navigate this complicated and time-consuming process quickly and efficiently.
Liquor Licenses: Many new establishments wish to serve alcohol to their patrons, but the red tape can be a serious barrier. Greater Rochester Chamber was proud to help pilot several local restaurateurs through these issues.
Key Contracts & Connections: A letter of introduction or recommendation from Greater Rochester Chamber meant landing a game-changing deal for several members in 2020.
25,000
"We like doing business in New York State, we enjoy all the benefits of our region, and we love working with Bob Duffy and the Greater 18,750
Rochester Chamber team. We appreciate all they do to help us expand Research, Development, and Manufacturing in Rochester. 12,500
We feel very fortunate to have such an outstanding team advocating for us and look forward to working together to broadcast all the
6,250
great things we have to be thankful for here in our region." FIGURE 1.
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Daniel O'Connell, Plug Power
GreaterRochesterChamber.com