Jackie Navarro, the new community liaison for Town & Country Early Learning Centers in Middletown, was on the job just three days when she walked into the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce’s offices last month and met with the director of membership services, Cathy Duncan, in an attempt to drum up business.
“I said, ‘I want to be on that council, and that council and that council,’” Navarro said of the chamber’s industry-specific groups. “I know those are my targeted markets. If they didn’t have that, I would have to knock on every single door of every realtor, every HR department and every other business in town.”
Navarro, whose job is to get the word out about Town & Country’s two Middletown locations and its soon-to-be third location in North Branford, became involved in the chamber’s events and services right away.
In many ways, she answers the age-old question of ‘what does a business get for its chamber dues?” And her experience with the Middletown chamber is typical of the opportunities being offered by chambers across the region as they try to return value to their business members.
“We utilize every (service) that the chamber offers,” Navarro said. “I think most people who say, ‘The chamber does nothing for me,’…the chamber does a lot. What are you doing for yourself?”
At over 2,400 members, the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber organization in the state. That puts its members in a unique position of potentially accessing a great number of possible new clients, but also challenges them to pick and choose the services that will best benefit their business.
“Basically what we do is throw them the golden rings and they have to grab as many as they can,” said Duncan. “We have many, many different programs, and of course, we’re trying to appeal to everyone. Some meetings are directed towards specific kinds of businesses, so if it doesn’t affect them or it’s not something they’re interested in, they don’t have to catch that golden ring.”
Duncan makes it standard practice to ask new members who they want to meet, so she can make suggestions on ways they can get involved in their particular areas of interest right away.
Specific councils focus on human resources, real estate, the arts, transportation, and other areas. The Young Professionals Alliance, targeting members ages 21 to 45, was formed after the board of directors realized most board members were over age 50.
“The whole purpose of it is to promote leadership and volunteerism,” Duncan said.
Navarro, said the owner of Town & Country Early Learning Centers, April Tugliares, joined the chamber when she opened her first center 14 years ago, but she hasn’t been active in the chamber until recently. Navarro said her new position has allowed the business to truly hone in on areas of interest, both by industry and by geography.
Because the chamber is so large, it is broken down by regions. In Middletown, for example, there are two regions — for the downtown area and the Westfield section of town. Town & Country has centers in both sections of town.
“Anybody can go to their big breakfasts or Business After Hours events, but if you want to try to drill down into your community, I’d much rather be able to network in my own area,” Navarro said.
With some leg work, Navarro said the chamber has facilitated connections she wouldn’t be able to make otherwise. Her membership in the human resources council has been invaluable, she said.
“I have been able to get to the head decision maker of the HR department,” she said. “If I was just cold calling, I would get the gatekeeper that’s going to stop me.”
Paula Pierce, who has run Paula Walla Imports out of her Windsor home for the past 14 years, has had similar positive experiences with her chamber, the Windsor Chamber of Commerce.
Pierce said she tries to go to as many networking events offered by the chamber as possible.
“Not only would you possibly do business together but you might be able to help that person,” she said. “In the old days, you went to an event and sold your stuff, but today it’s more relationship building.”
Pierce said the Windsor chamber holds several unique events, such as an annual sidewalk sale, that help boost her business.
“They seem to have more of a community focus, and they involve the community in a way that businesses can benefit,” Pierce said.
Pierce said her investment in a $250 video service offered by the chamber was money well spent. With “Business Intro Video,” members can have the local public access television station videotape the shop and create a short video package to be aired twice a week for a year on the TV station and on its website.
“I’ve seen benefits from it,” Walla said. “Besides people recognizing me, that kind of branding is beneficial to my business.”
Jane Garibay, executive director of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce, said Pierce is doing everything right. “A chamber membership is like a gym membership,” she said. “You can join, but if you don’t work out, you’re not going to see the benefits.”
Garibay said there are some innate benefits to joining the chamber, such as having the business listed on the chamber’s website and its Facebook page.
“But you have to go to the networking events, work them and just work harder,” she said. “Many businesses are looking at themselves, getting rid of what’s not working within their infrastructure, and saying, ‘What can we do better?’”
The Windsor Chamber’s partnership with SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, allows executives to help mentor its members.
“Years ago, in better times, it was more (mentoring) start-up businesses, but what we find now is existing businesses using that service to look at themselves to see how they can do better,” Garibay said.
The Windsor Chamber’s Passport Program is another way the chamber connects businesses with the community and its potential customers. The program has customers get their “passport” stamped after visiting one of the participating restaurants. When the passport has the required number of stamps, they can turn it in for chance at a prize.
“Almost every chamber member that’s a restaurant participated this year,” Garibay said. “There is a whole page that describes the business; people love it.”
The East Hartford Chamber of Commerce, a small chamber that President Ron Pugliese said was ready to fold about two years ago, has been working vigorously to offer new services and events to attract new members.
“I think every member has to be treated different and every member has different needs,” Pugliese said. “We try to offer on a monthly basis a Business After Hours, and we try to do it in a way that highlights that particular company or business that’s hosting the event.”
Pugliese said the East Hartford Chamber, which has added about 50 new members over the past 18 months, has attracted some big-name speakers to its events, including former Gov. John Rowland, U.S. Rep. John Larson and UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.
Pugliese said the chamber is getting out there and pushing the benefits of membership. He said Ernie Hutt of Augie and Ray’s drive-in restaurant, an East Hartford institution for many years, recently became a chamber member.
“When (we asked him) why he never became a member, he said, ‘We were never asked,’” Pugliese said.
The Metro Hartford Alliance, the chamber of commerce for the City of Hartford and also the economic development leader for the region, also focuses on recruiting and retaining businesses to the area. With different levels of membership — and fees ranging from $325 to $200,000 — the alliance must meet the needs of a diverse membership base.
“If you have a business that can take advantage of the networking events and the programming, they renew,” said Nancy Wheeler, vice president for investor relations at the Metro Hartford Alliance. “It’s all about the engagement and figuring out the right place to engage.”
With a host of events attended by anywhere from 10 people to 350 people, Wheeler said there are lots of opportunities to make connections.
Brand new members have the opportunity to get their feet wet by attending “Break the Ice,” an event offered every other month. “We limit it to 25 or 30 people, and it gives new members an opportunity to come in to a smaller environment,” Wheeler said. “There are other members there that help them by saying, ‘You need to talk to this person,’ or ‘You need to go to that event.’”
Direct marketing firm Andrew Associates of Enfield, a Metro Hartford Alliance member for almost three years, has steadily increased its involvement and membership level with the alliance.
Mary McCarthy, director of business development for Andrew Associates, said she gradually attended more alliance programs and events, becoming a “regional investor.” That allowed Andrew Associates more opportunity to network and provided them with additional exposure and participation opportunities.
But McCarthy said the firm decided to aim higher.
“That worked so well so we decided to become a ‘strategic investor,’ which allowed us to begin having one to one conversations with real leaders in the metro Hartford area, directly with C-level managers,” McCarthy said.
The increased alliance involvement gave Andrew Associates President Judy Knapp the opportunity to take part in top-level economic development meetings with Hartford business leaders.
“That has given her an opportunity to really talk about our business and bring to the forefront what’s important for our business, what our challenges are, and hear from other businesses on what their challenges are,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said alliance participation led to a relationship with a Connecticut State University executive, who recently recommended Andrew Associates to a local nonprofit, which eventually became a client.
Navarro, of Town & Country Early Learning Centers, said those relationships created with the help of the chamber are critical to succeeding in business.
“If they didn’t exist, I would really be pushing a rock up a hill,” she said.