Guardians of the City

Challenges for smaller chambers of commerce can pile up with limited revenue streams, stagnant membership levels, seemingly endless civic obligations and few opportunities for growth. Those issues can be magnified when a director must be replaced.

On April 21, Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce Director Kathy Kesler-Strawsma died following an illness. Now, the chamber board doesn’t quite know how it will replace its leader considered a top promoter in Dallas County, said board Vice President John Maddux. Kesler-Strawsma spent a decade and a half in the small-town chamber post.

“Myself, and our other three officers, we all have jobs, and we’ve been trying to take over with a smooth transition, but it’s kind of difficult,” said Maddux, who owns Century 21 Maddux Realty in Buffalo. “We’ve been using volunteers, but at some point, we’re probably going to have to look at hiring somebody.”

With a board decision expected in a few weeks, Maddux expects the group would hire a part-time professional for the 100-member chamber.

“They would need to be a people-person,” he said. “Part of the director’s job would be to look to new businesses or employers coming into the area.”

Many hats
Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marc Truby said the challenges for small-town chambers are varied. Truby took the reins at the Nixa chamber in fall 2012, succeeding 10-year director Sharon Whitehill Gray, who retired. As an ambassador for the community, he attends ribbon-cuttings, regular meetings and luncheons, and serves on multiple boards. Truby said he’s served on as many as six boards, but recently cut back to three to spend more time with his family.

“I’m moving and shaking all the time,” he said.

Truby said the Nixa chamber has just over 500 members, about level from the time he took over.

“The only way we can really expand our chamber is by going north, east and west,” Truby said. “There are only so many businesses in Nixa.”

Truby said he’s helped improve the chamber’s bottom line by focusing on events.

Gross revenue projections for 2015 are approaching $400,000, Truby said, up between 5 and 10 percent since he came on.

“I’d say our forte is networking, lunches and special events. That’s our big three,” Truby said.

To help inch up revenue, Truby said he’s pushed attendance at general membership luncheons – which attract 120 per month – and an annual business exhibition, Nixpo, which garnered 3,000 attendees this year.

According to the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, roughly 7,000 chambers operate nationwide, and the larger the organization, typically the more diverse its funding sources.

According to an ACCE white paper released in October 2013, chambers with less than $450,000 in annual revenue generate 48 percent of their funds from member dues. However, chambers with $2 million-$5 million in yearly revenue count 35 percent of their money from members and for those with over $5 million annually, only 27 percent of revenue is member dues. Special events, sponsorships and advertising all tend to become a bigger piece of the pie for larger chambers.

Helping hands
In his limited spare time, Truby said he’s tried to help Republic Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ron Peabody get acclimated to his job. Truby also had reached out to Peabody’s predecessor, Texas-native Kelly Kerans, who held the post less than 10 months after three-year director Julie Messick died in March 2013.

Peabody is having an impact largely through a focus on membership growth in a town that recently attracted such employers as McLane Distribution Co. Inc., Red Monkey Foods and Watson Metal Masters Inc.

The Republic chamber has more than doubled memberships since Peabody came on in February 2014, jumping to 175 members from 84 just 15 months ago.

“It’s been a little bit of hitting the streets, reintroducing the chamber to businesses that have been here for awhile, that were never a part of it or were part of it years ago,” Peabody said.

Republic’s annual operating budget is roughly $50,000, Peabody said, and the director’s wages are a little over $30,000 a year. Peabody is the only employee, but he said chamber board members are considering a new office and hiring a full-time staff member to spread the workload.

A 21-year Navy veteran, Peabody said it’s a challenge for small chambers to hire leaders because the money available typically limits the talent pool.

“Because your primary funding is from membership dues and a few small fundraisers, it’s really challenging to find the right person,” he said. “As a career, it’s very tough because of the salaries a lot of smaller chambers pay. For me, because of my time in the military, my retirement supplements a little bit of that.”

Republic Director of Planning and Development Gail Noggle worked briefly as the city’s chamber director – between the 2005 sale of her investment firm and her 2007 appointment as Republic’s economic development director. She said the organization had over 100 members during her tenure.

Noggle agreed finding the right personnel could be tough going given salary limitations.

“It was the first time since I was a kid that I wasn’t employed anywhere. I was planning on going into semiretirement, but I was approached to come on board with the Republic chamber,” Noggle said of why she took the position.

In Willard, the roughly 70-member chamber of commerce only has one paid position: its part-time secretary. Kendall Cook of Mid-Missouri Bank currently is serving his second stint as chamber president, promoting economic development through his work with the organization. He first served in 2007, and said officers rotate in three-year cycles from president-elect, to president and on to past-president.

The annual operating budget of around $15,000 supports a few local scholarships, evening networking and educational opportunities and the printing of an annual membership booklet, as well as its part-time secretary. For Cook, it’s not all about dollars and sense. Membership support and chamber service is a demonstration of community support.

“Sometimes we get referrals as a business member, but most of the time, we get our benefits like rain. It just falls for everybody,” Cook said.

“If we make the community better, the economic environment better, become more educated and better businesses ourselves, it helps everybody.”