Chamber leaders - ACCE · be heard. Groups of virtually any size can be broken down into small,...

Chamber leaders

know what

to do for their

communities, but

these challenging

times necessitate

rethinking how

they achieve their

objectives.

6 Chamber Executive Winter 2008/2009

Chamber Executive Winter 2008/2009 7

Operating effectively in the changed economy With the crisis in financial markets and challenges facing almost every

business and person across the globe, chambers of commerce,

economic developers and regional associations

are rethinking their budgets and the way they

do business. Can you change without

adopting a bunker mentality?

ThrivingSurviving

and

in 2009 and beyondeffectively in the changed economynancial markets and challenges facing almost every

on across the globe, chambers of commerce,

pers and regional associations

r budgets and the way they

ou change without

mentality?

By Carroll D. Gray, CCE


How are you handling the eco-nomic downturn? According to

a November 20, 2008, article in the Wall Street Jour-

nal, 57 percent of CEOs surveyed by the Confer-ence Board said execu-tion of business plans is their primary job; but 47 percent said “speed,

flexibility and adapting to change” is number two on

the list of concerns. Just a few weeks later, the Dow declined

another 20 percent.Savvy executives who have been

down this road before tend to view a crisis as an opportunity. St. Louis (MO) Regional Chamber and

Growth Association President and CEO Dick Fleming was

CEO of the Denver Chamber in the mid-1980s. Fleming recalls: “The Denver economy at that time was in real crisis. Jobs were vanishing, property values were down over 30 percent—all of which motivated our leadership to restructure the way we retained and recruited new business to a regional model.”

“Reframing that question caused us to decide, collectively, that we needed to build a new airport and rebuild downtown—and support bond issues to get it done.” He further observes, “We saw a real unity in purpose emerge and good things came out of that crisis.”

Now, our whole nation is feeling the effects of economic tur-bulence as painful as at any time since the 1930s. But the cham-ber’s basic mission of economic vitality is still valid. Frankly, it’s more important to achieve results in 2009 for our constituents than ever before.

FINDING NEW STRATEGIESAll chamber CEOs know what to do for our communities.

We know our mandate includes job development, public policy, redevelopment, education and training. However, these chal-lenging times necessitate rethinking how to accomplish these and other goals.

A new “how” is necessary because the usually reliable incre-mental budgetary approach of government and not-for-profits is not sustainable and chambers’ usually reliable income streams from member investment and government contracts are under greater stress. Tough economic times are revealing different needs of constituents, both public and private. Different strategies are badly needed.

“Be aggressive and collaborative,” advises Roy Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City (OK) Cham-ber of Commerce. “The community culture here favors the Chamber as the lead on good ideas.” Williams explains that he willingly accepts that role.

“Over the past twelve months, our Chamber volunteered to lead four separate referenda, from schools to transportation, totaling $1.3 billion, based on receipts from sales tax increases, which now total 8.5 percent. We made our focus the community agenda. As a result, the Chamber is central to the direction of our region,” he says.

So, with less business and government revenue, it is logical for the public and private sectors to pool resources, agree on a “short list” of things to be done, and support the implementa-tion of action plans to the hilt. No longer can chambers of commerce, local governments and school boards go it alone, bicker or block the other’s programs for various reasons. Going forward, we must work together as a team!

But teamwork requires plans and strategies for overcoming obstacles or pursuing opportunities, and these plans must be both current, on-target and pursued with uncommon resolve.

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The current set of crises can be opportunities to do important things that you’d otherwise overlook or avoid.

—Gary Harpst


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Sound familiar? You bet it does: Chamber 101. Execs, this is the time to step up, play a key leadership role, circle the wagons and align available resources to work on the economic develop-ment agenda we’re responsible for accomplishing. Since the U.S. economy is over 70 percent consumer-driven—it’s all about jobs.

ARRANGE A MEETING WITH THE KEY PLAYERSChamber executives may be masters of our craft, yet even we

know we can’t reset the community agenda alone. But we canarrange a meeting of the right people who could reset the agenda. Convening leaders is our forte, and just as a football team huddles before every play, we need to huddle with business, other key not-for-profits and local governments to assess how the national economic crisis has or will likely affect our communities.

The uncertainty of the economy is certainly ample reason to huddle. But Gary Harpst, speaker, entrepreneur and author of Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution, reminds us: “Don’t let the current set of crises go to waste! It’s an opportunity to do important things that you’d otherwise overlook or avoid.”

As economic growth is largely a business responsibility, the Chamber would be expected to set the agenda for this first meeting. The starting point is to present factual and/or revised evidence of the community job situation and get it on the table for discussion. Generate a collective sense of the ripple effect on retail and service business and on tax revenues as well as current and projected unemployment services. This will not be a feel-good discussion, but a necessary one. In fact, it is obligatory in our profession to anticipate economic change and recommend appropriate action.

Depending upon the severity of the situation and concerns of the group, the Chamber can recommend a larger meeting of business, other elected officials and civic leaders to hear a more formal assessment of the problems facing the community. Such a meeting would provide the occasion to seek alternatives for action from participants. Consider using the old Phillips 66 or “nominal group” discussion/report format to allow everyone to be heard. Groups of virtually any size can be broken down into small, structured “round table” discussions with table leaders reporting consensus ideas to the larger assemblage.

Attendees should be invited for the meeting with a jointly signed letter of invitation from your leadership with some data or relevant information attached. Keep in mind the main purpose of this meeting is to broadly inform virtually every sector of your community of the economic challenges and involve them in a

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS CHECKLIST: (estimated three to four month process from start to finish)

■ Get started. Ease anxiety about the process through meaningful one-on-one discussions with key stakeholders.

■ Chamber and government leaders convene broader group of business, community, not-for-profit execu-tives and other participants to discuss challenges and ideas about the future.

■ Re-convene within 30 days to hear reports/recommendations based upon earlier discussions.

■ Leadership group recommends strategic planning/implementation initiative.

■ Secure funding commitments from business and gov-ernment for planning and implementation process.

■ Consider retaining outside consulting assistance to oversee plan development and implementation.

■ Present draft of strategic plan to key stakeholders; edit and adopt.

■ Announce goals, objectives and leaders/champions of implementation strategies.

■ Launch expanded working groups for designated assignments with timelines for action.

■ Support and publicize working groups’ agendas and invite community input.

■ Promote and celebrate accomplishments as they occur.

■ Maintain good internal communications (to leader-ship, committees and underwriters) and external (news media and general public).

■ Schedule and promote first Summit Meeting for all groups to report on accomplishments, progress and or challenges.

■ Tweak/add to/delete from implementation plan for next work cycle in what could be a continuing process of coordinated action.


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structured discussion of the best corrective steps to be taken. In fact, this process will generate good ideas for consideration.

This type of group meeting creates buy-in from community opinion leaders and sets the foundation and public support for both public and private actions to follow. Your community can achieve unity of purpose by seeking input and counsel from a diverse group of leaders and incorporating their ideas.

MOVING FORWARDA word of caution from Eau Claire Area (WI) Chamber of

Commerce president and ACCE Emerging Cities Group Chair, Bob McCoy, CCE, on getting too far out with planning in these uncertain times. “Planning for more than three years, with a one-year program of work ‘bite,’ is our limit—and that may be too long. Flexibility is absolutely required,” he adds.

At this juncture, concentrated staff work on the various ideas and suggestions is necessary. A small task force of paid execs should meet quickly and often in order to evaluate ideas generated by the discussions. Group them by category and suggest commit-tees be appointed to lead and accomplish the work. Staff support for each committee should be provided–some by the chamber, but others by local government staff or related not-for-profits.

This information should be reduced to a brief, explicit docu-ment and circulated first to your leaders for edits, then later to all attendees and the news media for wider awareness. A subsequent meeting would be helpful in staging a show of support and an announcement of the community’s new agenda. At this stage, the leaders should announce the “Champions” (individuals who have agreed to personally accept the responsibility for leading and implementing the objectives). This public presentation of intended results is critical to sharing the load and putting action committees to work.

Going forward, it’s critical to support and monitor progress of all action committees. Some committees will complete their work before others. Quality time must be invested to ensure every objective of the plan is accomplished, whether requiring months or even years. Once again, the Chamber will get credit for success or the lack thereof.

What will have happened during this exercise is the entire com-munity is now focused on economic development and how to pro-tect and attract jobs. And, significantly, the Chamber is front and center and has provided leadership at a time of need. The Chamber can remain at the center of this process by offering to lead the fundraising, if needed.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY CHAMBER RESOURCE CENTER

The current economic crisis is no joke. Chambers need concrete ideas for helping their communities recover. ACCE has collected some excellent examples, but due to space constraints, cannot print them all. Please visit www.acce.org/economy for additional ideas.

Economic Outlook■ Publish the findings of member/local economic

outlook surveys■ Combine stats from the Schapiro Study into your

own communications (available at acce.org)

PR/Marketing Campaigns■ Obtain some positive news coverage about how your

community/region/local businesses are surviving during the tough economy

Member Communications■ Send out a member renewal letter that cites stats

from the Schapiro Study■ Write a letter to the members outlining concrete

ways your Chamber can help members succeed and thrive

Economic Summit■ Create a Council of Economic Advisors to design a

communications strategy that will encourage con-sumer confidence

■ This same entity can host an Economic Summit

Member Education■ Run a community-wide financial education event ■ Offer small businesses training in using social media

to grow revenue

Online Resources■ Offer webcasts related to surviving and thriving in

this economic downturn■ Create an online resource center with tips and tools

for members

Small Business Development■ Facilitate business-supplier RFPs■ Investigate “buy local” programs


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BE SEEN AND HEARDWhile a good start to the action phase is important, a good

ending is imperative. Be sure adequate metrics or measurements are in place to guide both the committees and the public. Phil Parker, CAE, CCE, president and CEO of the Dayton Area (OH) Chamber of Commerce, is focused on being sure his development agenda is on everyone’s mind. “We’ve reduced our mission, goals and key implementation targets to a wallet-sized, plastic card, widely distributed,” he says.

“We want everyone to know what our job is, and we insist on being held accountable. Our expected outcomes are clearly writ-ten,” Parker adds.

GO SLOW TO GO FASTThe National Civic League cautions this model of community

planning can sometimes be messy and time consuming–on the front end. Building agreement among individuals with different points of view requires more time, patience and strong listening abilities. Communities using this model, however, have found that they actually save time on the back end of the problem-solving pro-cess. Because different points of view were heard and agreements

were established in an inclusive manner up front, the implementa-tion has greater buy-in and goes more smoothly and more quickly.

This “go slow to go fast” model actually accelerates future problem-solving efforts because it helps build and enhance the community’s civic infrastructure. New awareness, relationships and networks are created in the process of working together. And that’s a lasting political benefit.

Successful communities of the future will be those that find ways in which business, government and non-profit groups work together with citizens to help a community set and reach its collec-tive goals and meet unexpected challenges.

“We should keep in mind that good plans and well supported action strategies rally broad support and give members—and your community—something to believe in,” ACCE’s Fleming concludes.

Carroll D. Gray, CCE, is president of Carroll Gray and Associates, a consultancy focusing on strategic planning in a global context. The company is a “preferred provider” in ACCE’s Consultants on Demand program. He can be contacted at [email protected] or (704) 534-8300.

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