21 minute read
Mastering The Chamber Role
Mastering The Chamber Role
On opposite coasts, the number 1 ranked chamber by the ACCE – the Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership in Florida, and the largest LGBT chamber in North America – GSBA in Seattle, Washington, are rede ning how and leading the way for other chambers to emulate e ective partnerships and programs. Together, their innovation paves the way for increased business inclusion for their respective communities.
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STORY BY JOHN SOTOMAYOR AND ROBIN DILLARD PHOTOS BY JOHN JERNIGAN & OLANA M c DONALD FOR OCALA METRO CEP AND MERYL SCHENKER FOR GSBA
A widely known proverb of unknown origin says necessity is the mother of invention. The housing recession of 2008 proved this to be true for Ocala, Florida, a small town of 50,000 and the economic hub of Marion County, population 350,000. Branded the Horse Capital of the World®, at the time the moniker applied to a third of the local industry. The area was highly dependent upon manufacturing and development, both housing and commercial. When the housing bubble burst, building stopped, and commerce slowed for the largest growing town most people have never heard of. By 2012, local leaders scrambled for a solution. A decision had to be made.
The local leaders in Ocala decided to merge the ve-star Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce with the Economic Development Corporation. At one time united, they had gone their separate ways, dividing their resources and responsibilities. A reunion was needed, and they needed someone to lead that merger. They set their sights on Kevin Sheilley, the president/CEO of Northwest Kentucky Forward, the lead economic development organization for four counties in Northern Kentucky.
The Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce merged with the Economic Development Corporation on October 1, 2012, to form the Ocala/Marion County Chamber and Economic Partnership with Kevin Sheilley at the helm. In 2013, on its rst-year review, the CEP, as it is known for short, had already been hailed a success. It was credited with new job creation, and the implementation of a new structure whereby members were now considered partners, a move that increased participation and investment from the 1,400-plus “partners.”
Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away in Seattle, Washington, GSBA, the largest LGBT chamber in North America, and a founding member of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), was celebrating new accomplishments of their own. By 2013, GSBA was one of several organizations to support the rst annual Trans Pride; launched Travel Gay Seattle, GSBA’s tourism initiative to attract inbound LGBT visitors to the greater Seattle region; opened the Seattle LGBT Visitors Center, only the second of its kind in the United States at the time and they had already been supporting LGBTQ scholars since 1990 through their annual scholarship fund.
Established in 1981 by nine gay business owners, GSBA evolved from a networking group to a chamber of business owners that used their economic power to address widespread discrimination endured by the LGBTQ community. Local public agencies, such as the police and re departments, were antagonistic toward the community hindering a sense of belonging among LGBTQ residents.
Today, GSBA represents over 1,300 small business, corporate and nonprofit members with the common values of equality and diversity in business and in the community. Their innovative programs such as Travel Out Seattle, GSBA Scholarship Fund and the Capitol Hill Business Alliance consistently listed among the top most in uential LGBT chambers in the country.
In Florida, the Ocala CEP has demonstrated its own prowess. Over the past seven years, the CEP announced the creation of more than 8,000 jobs and a billion dollars in capital investment. The business creation e ort has assisted nearly 900 start-ups and two dozen graduates from its incubator. NextWorks, the talent development initiative generously underwritten by a corporate partner, built a seamless skills pipeline from middle school through post-secondary level by connecting the business community with the education providers. Additionally, the CEP’s budget more than doubled during this timeframe.
These accolades did not go unnoticed. In 2018, the CEP was named the Florida Chamber of the Year. After being a nalist in 2017 and 2019, the Ocala Metro CEP, as it is now known, was named 2020 Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) national Chamber of the Year, ranked # 1 among 1,300 chambers throughout the United States, Canada, and parts of the Caribbean.
Economic need fostered GSBA creation in 1981, and the Ocala Metro CEP in 2012. In 2020, the COVID pandemic created an economic catastrophe for our nation. Could this be the right time for another chamber or LGBT a liate chamber to redesign their partnerships and programs? For any chamber that still primarily follows the mixer model, the pandemic presents an opportunity to have a real impact on local business.
—Kevin Sheilley, Ocala Metro CEP CEO
For any organization that wants to master the chamber role, the key questions they should ask themselves are: What role is our organization playing for our community? What services are best served by the traditional chamber of commerce and what services are niche and best delivered by an a nity chamber or organization? Do we need partnerships or a liations with other organizations to ensure services for our members? Does it make sense to have an overlap in services provided by both types of organizations? What are the key industries in the area? What do our members need? Is our organization inclusive? How are the needs of the diverse business community being addressed? How are we developing talent and entrepreneurship? What role do corporations and the greater business community serve? Where is the greatest need and how are we addressing the need?
Role Reversal
According to surpriseregionalchamber. com, chambers of commerce began as business owner associations which promoted and protected business community interests. In the 1950’s, many chambers transformed into civic organizations focused on ceremonies, celebrations, and pageantry. In the 1960’s, many chambers added networking events, also known as mixers (networking gatherings with adult beverages). Beginning in the 21st Century, many chambers switched back to their original objective of serving the interests of the business community. Today, chambers fall on a broad span of business models, ranging from those which are special event/mixer driven, to the most influential business lobbying organizations in the community. The Ocala Metro CEP and GSBA fall into the latter category, and have taken on the role brilliantly. In Ocala, economic resolve rose from economic calamity.
“The Ocala area was especially hard hit during the Great Recession and struggled to come out of it,” said Sheilley. “A group of business leaders, of their own volition, decided the community could not continue to do what it had been doing and visited approximately a dozen communities they viewed as successful. One of the common attributes from each of these cities was a singular ‘voice of the business community.’ The group decided that the best way to accomplish this would be to merge the Chamber and EDC to create a singular voice and coordinated economic development approach.”
After the merger idea was accepted, the next step was to clearly de ne its role.
“Just as the mission states, our role has been to be the catalyst. We lead the e orts to aggressively recruit new employers, assist existing businesses by asking what is a barrier to your growth and what can we do to remove it, and work to foster and encourage entrepreneurship,” said Sheilley. “The focus with all of these has been not only to create more jobs but jobs with higher wages and in industries which would be anti-cyclical or recession resilient. The response of the local economy through the pandemic suggests that these e orts have been largely successful.”
Once the role was clearly de ned, the next step was to develop a system of execution.
“Probably one of the best parts of the merger was the opportunity to start fresh,” said Sheilley. “Leadership was very clear that everything was on the table, there were no sacred cows. The chance to reimagine a nearly 130-year-old organization for the 21st century free of any ongoing commitments and requirements allowed us to work toward our vision of being a model 21st century chamber. The CEP is not structured like a traditional chamber. This is a result of the merger and is a real reason for our success.”
Similarly, over its 40-year history, GSBA set, then redesigned its mission, role, and execution over time, establishing the foundation upon which it is now the largest LGBT chamber in North America, representing 1,300 small business, corporate, and nonpro ts with the common goals of equality and diversity in the workplace.
“We have a legacy of working in the community as the convenor and connector,” said Mark Rosen, GSBA acting president and CEO. “Our members agree to our Code of Ethics and our Corporate sponsors are uniquely engaged with the work of GSBA. We're not interested in companies who just want to sign a rainbow check and think that they have done the work. We o er training and a chance to volunteer and be a part of the di erence. Members recognize that we are more than a chamber, we are a voice for change and we amplify the voice of the individual as a collective community.” As a chamber of commerce by and for the LGBTQ community and its allies, the policy work of GSBA is centered around two main areas: Civil Rights and Economic Prosperity.
BY THE NUMBERS
Ocala Metro ranked
33
out of the 200
LARGEST METROS in performance and FIRST OVERALL in 12-month job growth.
Source: 2021 Milken Institute’s
Best Performing Cities Report
PERCENT
year over year while the industry broadly reported a nearly 30% DECLINE Source: Kevin Sheilley, Ocala Metro CEP Ocala Metro CEP ranked
#1
in ACCE Category 3, which includes populations between 250,000 and 499,999 and a community of 6,000 to 9,999 businesses Source: Kevin Sheilley, Ocala Metro CEP
Partner Up
Angie Lewis, the 2020 Ocala Metro CEP board chair and Tamara Fleischhaker, vice-president for business advocacy and partnership services, both see the ACCE 2020 Chamber of the Year award as an a rmation of how the Ocala Metro CEP responded to the COVID pandemic, especially through the emphasis on staying in contact with partners (members).
“The CEP really bucked national and industry trends,” said Sheilley. “Our value statement from the beginning has been that we have no members but 1400+ partners. You are not a member of a club or social group; this is an investment. As a business making an investment, you should expect a return. Everything we do revolves around providing that ROI.”
That really shone during the pandemic. In addition to everything else they do, the team jumped quickly on the PPP program the weekend it was nalized and the following Monday rolled out “Get. Gather. Go,” a marketing campaign to encourage local businesses to get informed, gather information, and go apply. The e ort included coordination with lenders and multiple training seminars. Through the rst round of PPP, CEP partner businesses were 300% more likely than other Florida businesses and 250% more likely than the rest of the nation to receive a PPP loan. This was one of several e orts to engage all businesses.
“Businesses saw the value so they continued to invest, said Sheilley. “In 2020, our partnership revenue (membership) grew 6% year over year while the industry broadly reported a nearly 30% decline.”
While merging chambers with economic development organizations is not unusual — in the southeast, it’s actually the norm — having partners instead of members is revolutionary. A game-changer.
“You can ask me how many members we have and the answer is none. We don’t have any members, we have 1400+ partners, because when you are in business, you make an investment, and you should expect a return on investment,” said Sheilley. “If you are to be a member of something, there are some great civic clubs and country clubs in this community. You can be a member of those, but this is a business organization.”
In addition to its internal partnerships, the Ocala Metro CEP works closely with other civic, private, and business entities to achieve local business goals, such as the City of Ocala; the Board of Marion County Commissioners; the School Board; The Ocala/Marion County Visitors & Convention Bureau; Ocala/Marion County Hospitality Council; the Small Business Development Center; One Stop Workforce Connection; The Hispanic Business Council of Ocala; the Marion Cultural Alliance; the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County (home of the Non-Pro t Business Council); Marion County Building Industry Association; and the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association.
BY THE NUMBERS
Over the last 8 years, approximately 30
BUSINESSES
have successfully graduated from the Ocala Metro CEP’s incubator. 27 OF THEM ARE STILL IN BUSINESS in the metro area
Source: Kevin Sheilley, Ocala Metro CEP
37.6
PERCENT
of all GSBA scholars have earned an advanced degree. 26% have earned a masters and 11.3% have earned a doctorate
Source: Mark Rosen, GSBA
Likewise, GSBA engages with local economic development agencies, the greater Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Washington state agencies, Washington schools, the travel and tourism industry and NGLCC.
“We have an excellent and ongoing relationship with the Metropolitan Chamber and the Downtown Seattle Association as well as with other chambers, the SBA, Port of Seattle, the O ce of Economic Development,” said Rosen. “We have had a reciprocal relationship and have had a seat on the Metro Chamber’s Board. Currently we are one of the organizations that is part of the Mayor’s Downtown Revitalization Project along with the Metro Chamber and the DSA.”
The GSBA proudly serves as a connector across the state of Washington, bringing the community together through business while advocating for civil rights and small business.
“Town Halls and round tables are the key for our connections around the state,” said Rosen. “Our legislative and scholarship work has been statewide for a long time. We work to solicit scholar applications statewide and advocate for statewide measures that a ect the LGBTQ community. A prime example is our leadership in authoring and promoting legislation that led to the creation of the Washington State LGBTQ Commission.” The Commission works to improve the state’s interface with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, and intersex community, identify the needs of its members, and ensuring that there is an e ective means of advocating for LGBTQ equity in all aspects of state government.
—Mark Rosen, GSBA President & CEO
Get with the Program
As a business organization, the Ocala Metro CEP provides business programs to attract, retain, and build new business. “I love a parade, but we don’t do Christmas parades,” said Sheilley. “And I love sh fries. But we don’t do sh fries. We’re about business.”
A key component toward the Ocala Metro CEP Chamber of the Year win was an aggressive strategy and coordinated e orts in business attraction (new business), business retention (existing business), and business creation (entrepreneurship) coupled with a focus on education and workforce development, crediting the Ocala Metro CEP as a respected leader in innovative regional development. That success comes from innovative programming.
The new programs at Ocala Metro CEP include targeted e orts in Equine Engagement, Healthcare Development, Talent Recruitment, and IMPACT, their minority enterprise e ort.
“We manage a very successful business incubator, run a strong program of business education e orts, a successful issues-speci c political committee, and some pretty incredible communications e orts,”
said Sheilley. “The key with all of these is that they work in tandem with one another. Our mantra is no silos.”
The Power Plant Business Incubator Program is an equal part of the CEP’s approach to growth and is an important part of that puzzle. “It is a three-building complex located adjacent to the main CEP building in downtown Ocala. When built over 100 years ago, it was the city’s rst electric plant. Today, it powers entrepreneurs,” said Sheilley. “It serves as a hub of our entrepreneurship e orts. Over the last eight years, something like 30 businesses have successfully graduated from the incubator and 27 of them are still in business in the metro.”
GSBA has their own stand out programs in place. They implemented unique programs, like Travel Out Seattle. “With no state tourism board, we saw the need to support our tourism and hospitality members and working with them, we have brought a focus to the region and its many attractions,” said Rosen. “We work with local partners to promote travel within and to our state.” Their partners include Visit Seattle, Alaska Airlines, Holland America Lines, and Marriott Hotels, as well as numerous smaller hospitality companies.
Another unprecedented program is their GSBA Scholarship Fund. “The Scholarship Fund was created by two educators who saw the need to support LGBTQ students who had very little familial support at a time when no other such scholarship program existed in the country,” said Rosen. “As the oldest LGBTQ Scholarship Fund, we have invested $4.6 million in our future leaders. It is a renewable scholarship for up to four years and we have a 91% success to graduation rate.”
In continuation with the educational/ training programs is GSBA Leadership Academy.
“The Leadership Academy focuses on the ongoing leadership training for our current and recent scholar cohort, by connecting them to their personal leadership style and through lecture, training and engaging with recognized leaders who they can identify with,” said Rosen. “Guests have included WA State Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, the rst Latino/Asian Lesbian women to sit on that bench.”
According to the GSBA website, Capitol Hill has the highest concentration of small businesses in Washington State. This neighborhood is one of the city’s most economically and culturally important business districts, as well as Seattle’s historic epicenter for the LGBTQ business and residential community. Naturally, GSBA o ers a program to service that niche business community called the Capital Hill Business Alliance (CHBA), as well as associated initiatives, like Support Capitol Hill; Capitol Hill Small Business Survey; Public Safety Council (coming soon), and Shop the Hill (annual campaign to support neighborhood business during the holiday season).
Recently, GSBA added the Ready for Business initiative to address the needs of the community reeling from the economic impacts of the pandemic and the protests that impacted CHBA businesses last year.
“GSBA worked closely with our Ready for Business (RFB) founding sponsor Comcast NBCUniversal to establish this fund. This fund, created with founding partner Comcast NBCUniversal, is focused on helping small businesses survive during this period with small cash grants and wraparound services,” said Rosen.
In their rst round they awarded 65 grants to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ and women-owned businesses concentrated in and around the Capitol Hill area — doubly impacted by pandemic lockdowns and ongoing protests in response to the George Floyd murder and policing.
“We received over 400 requests for support for the rst round of RFB. We are now in our second round and have opened up statewide, with a continuing focus on BIPOC, women and LGBTQ owned small businesses,” said Rosen. “We have received an overwhelming number of applicants approaching 2,400. In response to that immense need, we have increased our fundraising goals and hope to exceed $200,000. It’s still a drop in the bucket, but it is a start, as we know that every business we help also uplifts a family and a community.”
In April 2021, Comcast increased their support with an additional $50,000.
“GSBA has moved to form a new foundation that will ensure that this work is ongoing through recovery and to ensure sustainability and growth for the most marginalized parts of our society,” said Rosen. “Economic equity and educational equity go hand in hand with our mission of attaining equality for all.”
—Cherrietta Prince, Director of IMPACT at the Ocala Metro CEP
Point of IMPACT
Attaining equality for all, including diverse owned businesses such as minority, wom-
en, veteran, disabled, and LGBTQ-owned businesses, is the nal and an essential part of the puzzle to assure economic balance in the community.
“If our mission is to be the catalyst for a prosperous community, that means the entire community,” said Sheilley. “If we are to be the voice of the business community, that means the entire business community. If we are to be a model of what a 21st century chamber should be and do, that is by default inclusive.”
Inclusivity impacts us all. The Ocala Metro CEP and Sheilley recognize that as much as the Ocala community has grown and prospered in recent years, Ocala has pockets which have not enjoyed the same level of growth.
“We think the uniting factor is business. Businesses by their nature are not male or female, black or white, gay or straight,” said Sheilley. “They are a means by which people nd ful llment, meet and have needs met, create, inspire, and accomplish.”
In March 2020, the Ocala Metro CEP launched IMPACT, a diversity & inclusion initiative, to improve everyone’s lot so that everyone receives an ROI, not only straight, white male-owned business.
“The CEP spent three years researching how best to address this inequality of opportunity and we strongly believe the answer is entrepreneurship,” said Sheilley. “Entrepreneurship is a skill and when people have the opportunity to enhance this skill, they create wealth for themselves, their families, and their neighbors.”
The Ocala Metro CEP IMPACT initiative, run by director Cherrietta Prince, seeks to provide those skills to these targeted communities through a variety of programs including FastTrac® which also serves as the City’s Diverse Small Business Certi cation program for contracting, microloan programs, individual counseling, videos, and a Construction Mentorship program aimed at growing minority-owned construction contractors and subs.
“The IMPACT Initiative was developed by the CEP to focus on businesses in local underserved communities. IMPACT initially concentrated on Marion Oaks, Silver Springs Shores and West Ocala, but has identi ed other similar communities throughout the Ocala-Metro area,” said Prince. “The FastTrac® platform was utilized as a guide and supplemental introduction to business models which assists
BY THE NUMBERS
Marion County, which Ocala Metro CEP serves, is home to 372K
RESIDENTS
he population is forecast to reach 400,000 BY 2024.
Source: Kevin Sheilley, Ocala Metro CEP
The GSBA Scholarship Fund invested $4.6
MILLION
in LGBTQ students and future leaders so far.
Source: Mark Rosen, GSBA
entrepreneurs and small businesses in establishing a solid foundation for advancing business ideas.”
“The Diverse Small Business Enterprise Program supports a system to help local entities provide a certi cation training program for vendors,” Prince continued. “FastTrac® and the Diverse Small Business Enterprise Program have been interactive in creating a successful certi cation process.”
According to Prince, many key organizations are promoting the IMPACT Initiative by underwriting support across the spectrum. They partner with di erent entities to acquire new strategies being implemented throughout the marketplace.
“Both the City and County collaborate with us to expand public sector involvement. Our goal is to be a catalyst for change in the entrepreneurial community,” said Prince. “Several banks are helping us to identify cash ow issues, o er nancial literacy training and engage in conversations to propose economic relief opportunities.”
IMPACT collaborates with The Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Development Center (SBDC), SCORE and the US Chamber of Commerce.
“We connect with major corporations to study national approaches to diversity and inclusion methods,” said Prince.
“In the future we hope to add Spanish-language programming, a supplier matching app, and neighborhood incubators in each of the targeted communities,” said Sheilley. E orts are being made with the Hispanic Business Council of Ocala to extend into the Spanish-language business community.
“We pro er that a business earns its return on investment in the CEP in one of three ways,” said Sheilley. “1) by attending or participating in a CEP event, initiative, or program they are going to meet new customers, clients, and partners and grow their business; 2) by attending or participating in a CEP event, initiative, or program they are going to learn new and/or better ways of operating and grow their bottom line; and 3) by investing in the CEP they are investing in the growth of their business and a rising tide lifts all boats.”
As of Spring 2021, the FastTrac® program has three successful alumni classes of black and Hispanic-owned businesses, as well as the very rst openly LGBTQowned business partner of the Ocala Metro CEP — Embrace Magazine. The fourth class is in process. Inclusivity impacts us all. The Ocala Metro CEP and Sheilley recognize that as much as the Ocala community has grown and prospered in recent years, Ocala has pockets which have not enjoyed the same level of growth.
TER INGTheCHAMBER
