🔒After years of declining membership, chambers of commerce eye post-pandemic recovery as some choose merger path

Central Connecticut’s 15 largest chambers of commerce since 2018 have recorded six consecutive years of declining membership, with the biggest collective drop-off occurring during the height of the pandemic, when many small businesses struggled to stay afloat and in-person events were largely sidelined.

Chambers nationwide have struggled with declining memberships for years, but some local leaders said they are starting to see signs of a post-pandemic recovery.

Several chamber CEOs said they hope to return to pre-pandemic membership levels over the next 12 to 18 months. For others, there is a steeper climb back, increasing the prospects of consolidation as smaller chambers look to gain scale.

Key to any recovery, industry leaders said, is offering new services, resources and events that small businesses say they want and need. Chambers of commerce are also getting an injection of new leadership, with a number of new CEOs taking over — most of them women.

“This has been a great opportunity to reevaluate what we are doing and what we can be doing better,” said Johanna Bond, president and CEO of the Middletown-based Middlesex Chamber of Commerce. “We really pivoted, listened to our members and have been delivering.”

Bond took over as CEO at the start of the year and now leads the region’s largest chamber, with 2,019 members and a $1.7 million budget. She said Middlesex added 52 new members during the first three months of this year, and hopes to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024.

In 2020, Middlesex counted 2,210 members, according to Hartford Business Journal’s Book of Lists.

The chamber is working to attract new members, Bond said, by increasing networking and marketing opportunities, keeping fees relatively low (starting at $220 annually) and landing high-profile event speakers, including Gov. Ned Lamont, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, all in the last five months.

Other area chambers have similar outlooks.

More programming

Katie D’Agostino will take over the Bristol-based Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce as president and CEO on July 1. D’Agostino, who will replace Cindy Bombard, is currently the chamber’s vice president, overseeing marketing and operations.

D’Agostino said that in the past year, the 1,600-member Central Connecticut chamber began offering members special marketing services and the chance to be featured, at no charge, on its social media pages.

That’s helped the chamber, which has a $1 million budget and six full-time employees, add 60 new members during the first quarter of this year.

“During the pandemic, we offered virtual programming and I think we were able to help businesses, especially small businesses, navigate out of COVID,” D’Agostino said. “Those businesses remembered that we were there for them and that we either grandfathered their fees (fees were raised this year from $150 to $200 annually to start, the first increase in more than five years) or offered a payment plan. Today, there is a trend where businesses are once again realizing the value of being a member of a chamber.”

D’Agostino said that, because Central Connecticut is a regional chamber, “there is strength in numbers. We are able to provide more — more educational programming for businesses to take advantage of, more influential speakers, and to be more of a voice for our members.”

One new offering, D’Agostino said, is a leadership training program. Among other things, it teaches soft skills, including public speaking in front of large crowds.

The long-term goal, D’Agostino said, is continued growth, and she’s hopeful to surpass the 2,000-member mark in January 2025.

Combining forces

According to Hartford Business Journal’s Book of Lists, 15 of Greater Hartford’s largest chambers shed 12% of their members (1,128 in total) between 2018 and 2023, collectively counting 8,370 members as of April 2023.

Many chambers saw a membership decline during the pandemic, which put a dent in their two main revenue streams: membership fees and events.

For smaller business groups, typically led by one full-time director, it’s up to the top leader to go out and recruit new members and organize events, adding to the challenges, said Millie Texidor-Maffucci, who took over as president of the 320-member Greater Manchester Chamber in January.

“I like to think we are shifting our business model, as I am getting out in the community more,” said Texidor-Maffucci, who spent most of her professional career in leadership positions at various banks. “I come from the banking world and I know how to build relationships.”

Since taking over the Manchester chamber, Texidor-Maffucci said her focus has been on recruiting new members, which means going out and visiting local businesses as part of a new “Out and About” program initiative.

Most Greater Manchester chamber members have between one and five employees, she said.

“My presence in the communities is so important,” she said. “It’s vital that businesses, especially smaller ones, get to know you on a first-hand basis.”

Her $230,000 annual budget is mostly spent on events and sponsorships, she said.

The Greater Manchester chamber, which added 15 new members during the first quarter of this year, puts on four events annually, including a golf tournament and women’s conference.

“There is a lot of buzz about people getting back out after the pandemic,” Texidor-Maffucci said. “There are many people who miss networking and collaborating with each other.”

Morgan Hilyard, who runs the 450-member Granby-Simsbury Chamber of Commerce, said another trend she’s seeing both statewide and nationally is smaller chambers merging. Three recent examples include the mergers of the Avon and Canton chambers; Granby and Simsbury chambers; and Southbury and Waterbury chambers.

The Simsbury chamber had about 300 members and Granby about 100 when they merged last year, Hilyard said. During the first three months of this year, the combined group has added 25 new members with a goal of surpassing 500 members by January 2025.

“We found out that, we really do have power in numbers,” said Hilyard on the reason for the merger. “The merger has been what we expected. There are definitely kinks that have to be worked out, as we are doing things differently now, on a somewhat larger scale.”

The combined chambers, for example, teamed up to host a successful golf tournament.

“The sky’s the limit if we buckle down and plan out an event that both towns can have pride in,” she said.