Greater Rochester Chamber 2022 Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2022

2022 YEAR AT A GLANCE SECTION 01.

2022 Strategic Plan and Overall Priorities

As they are each year, our efforts as an organization in 2022 were guided by our strategic plan. Our strategic plan is segmented into five distinct pillars to address the most compelling needs of the region and business community. This strategic plan was shaped in partnership with the ACCE, based on conversations with all members of our staff, our board of directors, and other stakeholders. It represents the collective understanding of our role as an organization and is based on our understanding of the needs of our members, customers, and people in our broader community.

Pillar I of our strategic plan discusses exceptional member support, with a specific focus on small companies. Greater Rochester is a small business region, and our membership reflects that, so we must refine our resources for small businesses. 80% of our member companies have under 100 employees and 38% have 10 or fewer. We have come to understand that it is important to cater to this audience, which makes up the majority of our business community.

Our commitments to making our region a diverse and equitable place and recruiting and retaining talent from special interest populations remains a hallmark of our work. These areas are addressed in Pillars II and III of our strategic plan and we have developed programs to address both of these areas which are spotlighted in Section 3 of this report.

Ribbon Cutting for a new Small Business in our community

On the note of DEI, internally, we have several measures in place to ensure that our culture celebrates diversity. It is our goal to organically build a team whose members bring unique perspectives to the table and that input is met with respect. We have an internal DEI committee of 9 staff members who plan quarterly events to help our team bond, learn, and celebrate its diversity. Recent events include a “Pass the Plate” potluck where team members were encouraged to bring a dish to share from their culture, a series of diversity trainings, and a scavenger hunt in our office that was centered on recognizing and appreciating our core values. The committee also provided displays for every employee’s desk with our organization’s values to ensure that we are reminded every day of why we do the work we do.

OUR VALUES

Inclusion: We believe that diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging aren’t buzzwords – they are our game-changing competitive advantage.

Pillar IV focuses on business advocacy and outlines the importance of our organization and members to meaningfully impact policy through direct advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels. New York State is seen as uncompetitive for business; it is our duty to help combat both the perception and reality of this claim. We strive every day to ensure the voice of business is heard by decision-makers and that we offer input on matters and legislation that impact our membership.

Passion: We are brave, bold, and daring. We bring new ideas and solutions. We lead with inspiration, courage, and vision.

Integrity: We hold ourselves and others accountable for delivering on our promises and doing what we say we will do.

Collaboration: We seek out others’ perspectives. We lift our team members up. We demonstrate respect, excellence, and kindness always.

Customer Commitment: We strive to excite, wow, and amaze our partners, members, and customers with unparalleled service. We win together.

Staff Board Leadership Team

DEPARTMENT UPDATES SECTION

02.

Advocacy & Policy

Greater Rochester Chamber has an extensive network of connections at all levels of government that we utilize to advocate for businesses in Greater Rochester. Through partnerships with organizations and government leaders, as well as the network developed by our staff, we continue to be effective in serving as Greater Rochester businesses’ prime advocate. Another unique aspect of advocacy stems from the pedigree of our President and CEO Bob Duffy. Bob previously served as the police chief in Rochester, as Mayor of Rochester, and as the Lieutenant Governor of New York State before joining Greater Rochester Chamber. Through Bob’s decades in public service, he has fostered countless relationships, at every level of government that we are able to leverage on behalf of our members and the business community.

We are a people-first organization, and our priority is to remove barriers to our members’ success and promote measures that will encourage their growth. When talking about advocacy, we emphasize that no problem is too small and that advocacy comes in many forms. Our approach to advocacy is multifaceted and involves direct grassroots efforts as well as behind-the-scenes tactics to get things done. We create opportunities for members to engage in local, state, and federal advocacy days, partner with them to develop advocacy plans specific to their needs, issue memoranda in support and opposition to policies that would prove helpful or harmful, and work directly with Executive and Legislative staff to proactively lend input as legislation is being developed. We also engage in business advocacy at a more on-the-ground level, for example, helping members to obtain business licenses and permits, navigating agencies to accomplish a task, writing letters of support for grants and funding opportunities, and answering a variety of questions relevant to economic development and general policy.

We have seen a great deal of success with direct advocacy efforts. Our conversations had a direct impact on the FY2023 Enacted Budget including the elements related to significant healthcare and childcare funding, funding for a digital gaming tax credit, funding for shovel ready site development, small business tax relief, unprecedented investment in workforce development, tax credits for capital improvements for businesses as a result of COVID-19, the legalization of alcohol-to-go, renewed funding for the REDC’s and DRI, and several industry specific victories.

President & CEO Bob Duffy with Governor Kathy Hochul at a Moderated Panel hosted by Greater Rochester Chamber, October 2022

Events, Trainings, & Affiliates

When COVID closed our offices in 2020, all our events were moved to an online format. In the years that have followed, we came to understand and see the value in continuing to offer a large portion of our events as webinars rather than returning to a fully in-person event structure. Having webinars for our regularly scheduled event series removes barriers to their accessibility and enables more people to receive the content in their busy schedules. With this being said, we do also see the need for some in-person events and have returned to offering our Business Made Socials and signature events in person. This hybrid model has been a new approach but has helped our members get exactly what they need from events. If anything, we have found that at in-person events, stakeholders are more engaged than they were previously which has been an unexpected but positive outcome of so many virtual events.

2022 EVENTS RECAP

27 Webinars Hosted

Attendees at our 25 Webinar Events

1,602 In-Person Events Hosted

3,310 Attendees at In-Person Events

1,140

25 Attendees at our 8 Signature Events

Additionally, Greater Rochester Chamber offers workforce training opportunities through our Chamber Academy sub-brand. In 2022, our Chamber Academy hosted sixteen training courses for 192 participants, which is a 67% increase from 2021 participation. Trainings are available for professionals at any level of their career from young professionals to managers.

Greater Rochester Chamber offers the following courses:

• Fundamentals of Diversity: A series of workshops designed to foster an understanding of the concepts of DEI and establish a foundation on which to build a diversity initiative.

• Human Resources Management: A series designed to refresh skills for people already in the HR field or provide an overview for new HR professionals.

• Leadership for Managers: A broad-spectrum leadership course for senior leaders, managers, and high-potential professionals.

• Successful Supervision: A series focusing on decision-making skills, successful delegation, effective communication, and the selection and retention of talent.

Left:

Below: Business Made Social Event

Virtual Webinar Event

Human Resources Services

Our Human Resources services in 2022 continued to support members in whatever capacity they needed. As we continued to navigate the changing circumstances as the COVID-19 pandemic came to a close, our HR services team helped our members return to work in a safe and compliant way. We have hosted numerous events specifically dedicated to helping companies navigate hybrid work and returning to the office in addition to our regularly scheduled member HR Forums where this was discussed in detail. Our team has also helped many members navigate their RTO through HR Helpline calls. Our Policies and Practices survey includes information about working conditions and workplace policies from over 1,200 local and national companies, including over 120 member organizations. This survey was shared with all Corporate and Partner members and was available for other members to purchase to help benchmark and provide best practices. Our chamber also provided a vast amount of other resources to our members over the past two years including updates about vaccines, free mask and test giveaways with Monroe County, maintaining a COVID-19 resources page, and more to enable a safe return to work.

HUMAN

1,250

HR Helpline Calls (estimated)

RESOURCES SERVICES PROVIDED IN 2022

472

141

Registrants for 2022 HR Forums

1,375

Participants from 300 Members in 11 Surveys

In 2022, we invested in rebranding our Staffing & Screening divisions and spinning off Authentica into its own brand, as the two were previously unified under the RBA Staffing and Screening name. With the new brand identities, we have seen a significant influx in new business. Since launching in early 2022, Authentica has expanded its presence nationally with new clients in New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. TalentEdge, formerly known as RBA Staffing, will be launching in January 2023, better reflecting our ability to find talent for all industry sectors and at all levels.

Visit RBA Staffing’s Website Visit Authentica’s Website

RBA

2022 BY THE NUMBERS

453 71

A Presentation introducing TalentEdge

Workforce & Talent Strategy

As part of the ROC2025 partnership, we have been charged as the regional lead for talent. We have developed a myriad of programs to build a diverse, equitable, and capable talent pipeline for our community. Our strategy for talent attraction and retention has been to use these programs to connect with specific audiences so we can tailor messaging and programming to these groups. This creates the best opportunity for our team to form genuine relationships with the candidates and get real buy-in for the programs. Our talent strategy initiative will be discussed more extensively in Section 3.01.

Additionally in 2022, we placed our CLIMB (Chamber Leadership Initiative: Mentoring for Business) program on a hiatus and throughout the year, spent the time to recalibrate the program to best meet the workforce development needs of young professional in Greater Rochester five years after it was initially launched. In 2023, it will be re-launched to benefit a new class of participants. CLIMB is a ten-month program that creates a cohort of young professionals (ages 21-40) for experiential learning, personalized leadership coaching, and executive mentoring. The program helps participants develop skills and ascend to new levels of success in their organizations and community

HEAR FROM A CLIMB PROGRAM ALUMNI:

“Through the CLIMB Program, I learned a lot about myself and how I can become a better leader. I also enjoyed the great networking with my peers to get an understanding of opportunities and challenges that young leaders are facing in the work place. This program was valuable to bring a group of peers together and build actual relationships.”

Brandon Underwood, CLIMB Program 2021-2022

CLIMB Participants, May 2022

Marketing & Communications

Greater Rochester Chamber is the regional voice of business. In 2022, we used an expanded number of communications channels to reach members where it is most convenient for them. Each vehicle provides a different value to members:

• Weekly Newsletter: Each Tuesday our Voice of Business newsletter is shared and consolidates all the most important information from the region into a single, digestible email. This includes our internal stories, business advocacy news, HR resources, an events calendar, and member news. The Voice of Business Newsletter is one touchpoint to brief the business community on what they need to know.

• Social Media: Greater Rochester Chamber maintains a robust presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Our content on these platforms is a mix of real-time reporting, details about upcoming programming, member stories, and connecting with prospective members. Our messaging resonates with audiences on these platforms. Social media has the value of meeting people where they already are, and our frequent posting allows us to stay relevant and top of mind.

We also foster a two-way conversation and tell the story of our work to foster confidence and pride from current members, attract new members already in the region, and uplift the whole region. In 2022, we increased our efforts to do this with new or enhanced channels:

• Blog: Our Voice of Business blog helps us build thought leadership on relevant topics in the business community by sharing listicles, event recaps, passive promotion, and other content to build relationships. Here we focus more on crafting a narrative and building goodwill than having a direct call to action.

• “Your Chamber at Work”: Greater Rochester Chamber publishes a quarterly e-newsletter recapping key accomplishments and how we moved the needle that quarter. This helps tell our story on a broader scale and communicate regular updates to our Board. It additionally helps member retention by showcasing our value to the community and our members and building a sense of pride in being a Chamber member.

2022 SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS

• Total audience size: 27,611 followers (+10.1%)

• Total impressions: 1,104,340 (+83.6%)

• Engagement rate: 4.76% (+17.3%)

(as of 12/31/2022, compared to period from 1/1/2021-12/31/2021)

Greater Rochester Chamber’s finances exceeded expectations in 2022 as the economy improved as we exited the COVID-19 pandemic. Key points explaining our financial performance are below:

• Membership revenue increase compared to 2021 by $92,000

• Revenue for Authentica Background Screening Services saw an almost 10% growth in 2022

• Continued focus on staffing direct hire business growth, generating $450k in revenue, marking our highest year ever

• New ROC on Tech and Colors of Success DEI Leadership Award events generated $222,000 in 2022

• 2022 Greater Rochester Chamber Top 100 event revenue returned to pre-pandemic totals, bringing in $292,000

• Conservative expense control additionally helped our financial performance in 2022

2022 INCOME SUMMARY

2022 Revenue

Budgeted Net Operating Income

$144,000

$261,000

Financial Overview

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT:

GREATER ROCHESTER

TALENT STRATEGY

Program 1 Spotlight: Talent Strategy

Introduction

Rochester is the fourth largest city in New York (following New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers), with a six county population of 1 million people. Once known for many large iconic companies, such as Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch & Lomb, we have since evolved to become a hub for innovation, start-up companies, and entrepreneurs, making us a global center for science, technology and research and development. We are a college town, home to University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and 17 other colleges and universities. Unfortunately, Rochester also has one of the worst graduation retention rates in the nation (34% for four-year degrees).

Greater Rochester Chamber board members funded a regional economic study by the Boston Consulting Group that identified sustainable access to high-quality talent as the most pressing concern for growing and mature companies, with 77% of CEOs noting “availability of key skills” as the biggest threat to their business. This closely aligned with what we were hearing every day in conversations with our own members.

From there, we began engaging our community members even further to directly assess their needs. We conducted surveys and focus groups, held conversations with active board members and other CEOs and HR Managers, and formed a Talent Strategy working committee. We listened to the concerns of our region in order to develop programs and services that were designed specifically to meet the needs of our community.

Our approach has both breadth and depth to ensure that there are viable and effective solutions to address the talent issues that have plagued our region, and only became increasingly complex due to the impact of COVID.

Program Objectives

The Greater Rochester Chamber Talent Strategy initiative aims to address the workforce challenges of the Greater Rochester area by creating a robust talent pipeline that aligns with the needs of local businesses, ensuring that companies can access the skilled workers they require to grow and succeed. The goals and objectives of the program are as follows:

• Make it easier for employers and employees to connect in order to fill open local jobs.

• Create new job board with at least 10,000 jobs from 200 employers by the end of 2022.

• Increase retention of local higher education students from 34% to 50%

Leading Indicators:

• Connect with at least 10,000 local students via email, social media, and events by 2022.

• Grow student database to 1,200 by 2021 and 2,500 by 2022.

• Host 40 events within the community and at area campuses by 2022.

• Host annual full-day downtown event with a goal of attracting at least 400 students and 100 employers in its first year (2021).

• Draw additional talent and investment to the region

• Connect with at least 400 Veterans to discuss opportunities in Rochester by August 2023.

• Relocate 5 Veterans to Rochester and place in local employment by August 2023.

• Relocate 40 remote workers in 2022 and 50 in 2023.

• Quantify economic impact of additional remote workers and trailing movers

• Better align workforce development efforts with employer needs

In addition, Greater Rochester Chamber Talent Strategy benchmarked the Greater Rochester region against 53 other MSAs in the following areas, and began 2021 at the following ranks:

• Job Growth - #45

• Unemployment Rate - #40

• Regional GDP - #50

• Labor Force - #47

• Net New Jobs - #43 in 2019

Methodology

Over the past two years, Greater Rochester Chamber created a number of targeted programs as part of our overall Talent Strategy Initiative to address the key workforce and talent issues that have been identified.

We created a sophisticated one-stop career portal where employers can upload their positions, search the database for candidates, and tap into local resources at GreaterROCCareers.com.

With inspiration from Campus Philly in Philadelphia, PA, we created a program called Campus ROC designed to connect with our student body and influence them to choose Greater Rochester as their career destination. We partner with local colleges and universities to host special events, link students to career opportunities, and host an annual “CollegeFEST” full-day event.

We offer up to $19,000 in incentives for remote workers to relocate to Greater Rochester, bringing new and diverse talent into our region, along with family members that are searching for local jobs.

We started an effort to actively recruit Veterans transitioning to civilian life to consider the Greater Rochester region as their next career destination, as well as providing housing, employment placement, and other supportive services.

We also began gathering data, assessing existing workforce development offerings, and helping to create connections and employment pipelines between business and community organizations.

Above Left: Newly relocated Greater ROC Remote participants volunteering at a local food bank

Above Right: GreaterROCCareers.com job board

Our target audience for our Talent Strategy Initiative encompassed a broad range of businesses, community organizations, students, job seekers, Veterans, and remote workers across the country. In order to accomplish our goals related to recruitment, retention, and connectivity, we used a number of different tactics.

Target Audience: Higher education students from the region’s 19 colleges & universities

• Call to Action: Participate in events and programs focused on celebrating the region, as well as connecting to job, internship, and volunteer opportunities.

• Communications Vehicles Used: CampusROC.org, CampusROC social media channels, emails, events (including CollegeFEST), Welcome Orientations

• Examples: CampusROC.org | CampusROC Instagram

Target Audience: Greater Rochester job seekers

• Call to Action: There are thousands of great jobs available in Greater Rochester, and you can find and search them easily at GreaterROCCareers.com.

• Communications Vehicles: GreaterROCCareers.com, local bus wraps and bus stop ads, paid LinkedIn Campaign, other social media, collaboration with regional library career resource centers, press releases/earned media

• Examples: GreaterROCCareers.com

| Greater ROC Careers Press Release | Bus Wrap (Left)

Target Audience: Local businesses and workforce organizations

• Calls to Action:

• Encouraging engagement with our higher education, Veteran, and remote mover population through job and internship opportunities, job fairs/event attendance and sponsorship

• Encouraging participation in our Greater ROC Careers job board.

• Seeking information (surveys and feedback) and communicating key information about workforce resources and opportunities.

• Communications Vehicles Used: CampusROC.org, GreaterRochesterChamber.com/Veterans-Connect, GreaterROCCareers.com, Voice of Business Weekly emails, Voice of Business blog, press releases/earned media

Target Audience: Veterans from Fort Drum

• Call to Action: Convincing them that Greater Rochester is the best place for them to continue their career and life

• Communications Vehicles: GreaterRochesterChamber.com/Veterans-Connect, Veterans Connect social media channels, visits to Fort Drum every six weeks, Welcome to Rochester events

• Examples: Veterans Connect LinkedIn

Target Audience: Remote workers nationwide

• Call to Action: You can live anywhere - why not choose a place where your money will go further and your quality of life will be better.

• Communications Vehicles: MakeMyMove.com, GreaterROCRemote.com, Greater ROC Remote social channels, national earned media

• Examples: GreaterROCRemote.com | MakeMyMove.com

CollegeFEST 2022

Form Drum Career Fair, 8.4.22

Outcomes

Greater Rochester Chamber’s Talent Strategy Initiative is a targeted effort to address workforce challenges in our region. We have undertaken the task of improving the workforce pipeline to provide our local employers with the skilled workers they need to grow and thrive.

It was clear from the beginning that this complex and multi-faceted issue would have to be approached from several angles. Our work here has just begun – but we are proud of the progress we have made.

We have successfully created a strong “net” to engage our higher education students and be even more intentional about placing them in careers in our region. This begins to stem the tide of highly educated talent graduating from our 19 colleges and universities, whose graduates are greatly needed in local organizations.

With hundreds of local companies looking for talent, we knew we needed to improve the process of posting and finding local jobs. The Greater ROC Careers portal is becoming a household name as a place to easily search and find positions, as our marketing efforts have led to considerable utilization.

We have identified a strong source of talent from nearby Fort Drum in Watertown, NY. As they hail from all over the country, Rochester’s opportunities and quality of life are unknown to many of these U.S. Army servicemen. Veterans are skilled, disciplined workers that are greatly desired by local employers.

A post-COVID program to attract remote workers to the region has relocated 32 so far, with the added benefit of bringing another 39 “trailing” family members. The program has attracted applicants from all 50 states and has both attracted talent and economic ROI, but it has put Greater Rochester into the national conversation as a fantastic place to live, work, and play.

Lastly, we are leading the effort in our region to better align the existing workforce and educational resources focused on training and re-skilling our incumbent workers. We are serving as the voice of business to ensure that employer needs are being met, and that they are adapting to take advantage of the current workforce landscape.

We will be conducting a 2023 Workforce Needs Assessment to compare the change in employer needs and challenges since beginning this initiative in 2021. We plan to conduct this survey every two years to continuously calibrate our efforts to best serve our region.

We are actively involved in the community connecting with students, veterans, and the broader region as a whole.

TALENT STRATEGY BY THE NUMBERS:

OUR CONNECTION TO EMPLOYERS OUR CONNECTION TO JOB SEEKERS

OUR IMPACT ON PLACEMENTS OUR IMPACT ON COMMUNITY

377 employers registered on GreaterROCCareers.com

315 employers have worked with CampusROC, 100 of which have launched new internship programs

500+ employers have worked with Veterans Connect

93,000+ job views on GreaterROCCareers.com since July 2021

349 veterans engaged with through visits to Fort Drum and other briefs and events

19,000+

college students engaged with through over 40 events and presentations on- and off-campus

32 remote workers relocated to the Greater Rochester region

$2.1M in income added to the region by Greater ROC Remote movers

24 college students directly placed in internships or postgrad jobs by CampusROC

7 veterans have committed to relocate to Greater Rochester by 2023

71 jobs added to the region through Greater ROC Remote

15 MSAs the Greater Rochester region has passed in regional GDP in a national benchmarking survey

27,000+ jobs posted on by employers on GreaterRocCareers.com

5 new Greater Rochester Chamber staff members added to facilitate talent strategy work

2,300 jobs applied for on GreaterROCCareers.com

1,800 applicants for the Greater ROC Remote Program

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: COLORS OF SUCCESS: LEADING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Introduction

In Greater Rochester, NY, issues of division, inequity, and even injustice have sown a rocky path for many in our community throughout the past decades. At the end of 2020, many of these issues came to a head during violent citywide protests of the death of Daniel Prude in police custody, many of which made national news. Following that turbulent period, the Greater Rochester business community decided to make a bold choice. Either we could continue on with “the way things had always been done,” or we could be an example of a city and region that was living up to the honor of being the home of Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. As the region’s largest and most influential business association, Greater Rochester Chamber made a commitment to lead the effort towards a regional economy where diversity and equality of opportunity is not only a right, but a competitive feature.

We are addressing the following impact areas:

• Belonging & Gathering - We are bringing the table to historically marginalized and underprivileged communities and tapping their power to drive equity and prosperity in our region.

• Population Shift - Far from “your grandfather’s chamber,” we understand the importance of evolving to embody inclusive core values to connect with the next generation of business leaders.

• Catalytic Leadership - We are boldly leading the conversation, driving action, and creating resources to enable meaningful change and equitable leadership.

The target audience of our Colors of Success: Leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative was and continues to be business leaders throughout the Greater Rochester region, with a special focus on those that are leading DEI efforts in their organizations. Our goal of undertaking this initiative was to lead a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the business community and Greater Rochester economic development space, and increase organizational capabilities to create an environment of acceptance and belonging.

Countless surveys and research show that the tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace have a real, tangible positive influence on business success. We also feel like it’s the right thing to do. Too many Greater Rochester citizens live in poverty because of barriers, real and perceived, that have existed for so many segments of our society. With Greater Rochester Chamber’s strong organizational and staff background in human resources, talent strategy and recruitment, business advocacy, and training, we were uniquely positioned to take this role above any other economic development, philanthropic, or media agencies in our region.

In order to achieve the potential that Greater Rochester has as a region, it needs to harness the power of all of its citizens, not just a select few. By undertaking these efforts to ameliorate entrenched social, cultural, and business issues, Greater Rochester Chamber is helping to put our region on a path to a bright future.

Press Release from Governor Kathy Hochul on New York’s MWBE Program

Program Objectives

Recognizing that leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts among our 1,300 members and other regional businesses was no small task, Greater Rochester Chamber developed a number of smaller goals designed to advance this effort. The first was to introduce new audiences to diversity, equity, and inclusion-related topics, in order to inform and inspire positive change. We also wanted to elevate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leadership to a position of even greater respect in the community, while giving seasoned leaders a chance to connect and share best practices. We wanted to make sure we were “walking the walk” within our own organization. Lastly, we wanted to directly support diverse business owners and help them succeed.

2021 & 2022 Goals:

• Host at least 5 new Colors of Success: DEI event series events per year on a wide variety of modern and relevant topics designed to create conversations and equip businesses and leaders to drive change in their organizations.

• Form an internal DEI Team of >5 people to discuss important DEI-related issues within our own organization and host at least 1 DEI-themed team building/social event per year

• Create a new award to elevate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leadership to the highest level of community recognition

• Engage at least 10 leaders in the inaugural DEI Leadership Program

• Create and launch both custom and open DEI training courses available to member companies ready to take the next step into creating an inclusive workplace

• Sign on at least 50 MWBE members through a complimentary membership offer with the Monroe County Office of MWBE

Methodology

Building off the successful test of DEI webinars following the Daniel Prude riots in September 2020, we kicked off in 2021 with new “Colors of Success” branding and a slate of eight programs for the year, followed by six additional webinars in 2022. These included topics such as “Radical Success Through Open Hiring,” “Managing Inclusion in Response to Racial Obstacles & Realities,” “Building an Equitable Rochester & Monroe County,” and “Open Spaces - Creating Affirming LGBTQ+ Environments at Work.”

In 2022, the Colors of Success DEI Leadership Award was announced, with applications opened to the community. We received 27 applications from business leaders in our community. The Award was presented at a joyful evening celebration with a keynote speaker, music, dancing, and food from an array of cultures. This event was attended by over 400 business leaders and garnered a great deal of social media and traditional media coverage that evening and in the days and weeks to follow.

In March 2022, Greater Rochester Chamber hired a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion expert that we had worked with regularly at a member company. With his expertise, we were able to develop and launch a 3 x 1.5-hour DEI Training program, custom DEI training and consulting, a new DEI Helpline for members, and strong guidance and creative new ideas for our newly-created internal DEI team.

DEI Training for Members led by Fernán Cepero

Greater Rochester Chamber used a variety of communications vehicles to further our goals of informing, engaging, and educating members of the business community about the importance and value of undertaking DEI efforts within their organization and community.

Target Audience: Business owners, leaders, and team members

• Call to Action: Participate in events, programs, and trainings designed to teach skills and reinforce themes related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Communications Vehicles Used: Colors of Success webinar series, DEI Training, social media, weekly newsletters, DEI Helpline

• Examples: 2022 Colors of Success DEI Leadership Award Magazine

Target Audience: Local DEI Leaders

• Call to Action: Participate in opportunities to share best practices and connect with peers

• Communications Vehicles: DEI Leadership Exchange, Colors of Success DEI Leadership Award, social media, custom materials

• Examples: DEI Leadership Exchange webpage

Left: DEI Leadership Exchange

Happy Hour Participant Testimonial

Target Audience: Internal Staff

• Calls to Action: Learn and grow together to create a welcoming and inclusive environment

• Communications Vehicles: Values displays, internal emails, social media posts, staff events, internal training, all-staff meetings and calls

• Examples: “Pass the Plate” Facebook album | DEI Policy

Target Audience: The Community at Large

• Calls to Action: Emphasizing that the business community values diversity, equity, and inclusion, and encouraging widespread adoption of these ideals

• Communications Vehicles: Press releases, media advisories, social media

• Examples: Colors of Success DEI Leadership Award Press Release

Inaugural Colors of Success DEI Leadership Award Nominees

Outcomes

As the preeminent leader of our region’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative, we have touched, informed, and engaged hundreds of regional business professionals in the past two years, elevating the conversation, recognition, and knowledge around this important topic since a turbulent wake-up call at the end of 2020.

We have understood the important role that business plays in creating an equitable playing field for all of our citizens. We have also come to understand the key role that these previously underserved or underutilized individuals can have in our economy. Together with our staff, board, members, and community, we have we developed a clear vision to foster an inclusive community that celebrates diversity and empowers individuals to embrace their unique identities. Over the past two years, we have focused on tactics that would encourage open conversations, challenge biases, and inspire action.

Creating a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive community is another intractable issue that requires decades of hard work and dedication to truly influence. We understand that the efforts we have undertaken so far must be sustained and scaled and plan to do so in the years to come. This initiative is a long-term commitment that has become a core of who we are as a progressive, thoughtful Chamber of Commerce in a progressive and thoughtful community.

Progress on our lead measures and the extraordinarily positive reaction of the community has given us encouragement that our initiatives in this area are slowly moving the needle. It is our vision that the Greater Rochester business community be one of the most diverse, equitable, and inclusive in the country – and therefore the most successful. We will continue to use all of the communication tools at our disposal to continue to monitor the levels of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our community, and adapt our strategy as needed.