Marion Chamber members share ideas for change

With declining membership and other budget cuts, members of the Marion Chamber of Commerce offered suggestions and ideas about its future direction May 20 at the Community Center.

Don Noller, chamber president, reviewed what the local organization does for its members and asked everyone to think about how they would like the group to proceed.

He said the board has considered widening the scope of the organization into more of a countywide endeavor.

One member said many of the businesses represented at Friday?s luncheon are members of both the Hillsboro and Marion chambers.

?The two boards need to get together and find time to work on something beneficial for each, and other cities in Marion County,? Noller said. ?But May was a difficult month for setting up a meeting.?

Different ideas

Doug Kjellin, Marion city administrator, said he has been thinking about a few angles regarding the chamber?s direction.

Kjellin said when he took over the city?s economic development position, the chamber had an event downtown with stores having extended hours.

?I am not sure how retail sales were that day,? he said, ?but I did know there were a lot of people eating at restaurants and most did not belong to the chamber.

?This is not fair,? Kjellin said, ?but how do we make it fair??

One idea, he said, is for the chamber to be more of a cultural mandate for business people. Not wanting to step on toes, Kjellin said he questioned if the chamber model is outdated.

Assessing a fee

Kjellin said Margo Yates, executive director of the chamber, is involved in four or five different entities.

?What is the structure we need to do so we can take the pressure off Margo?? he asked. ?Is it more volunteerism or is it mandated that the city say if you are a business in Marion, you pay an annual $25 permit fee??

After collecting that money, the funds would be used for the chamber, but everyone would share proportionally for the events and products that Yates? office puts out, Kjellin said.

?I don?t know how to make the burden for the success of Marion businesses so that it is not borne by the top 10 to 15 percent of the businesses,? he said.

?There is no perfect theory on this,? he said. ?I am just wanting to come up with ideas to make things as fair as possible.?

Brendan Kraus, another member, asked Noller what the chamber is doing to get new members.

Gene Winkler, former city council and chamber member, said a lot of businesses and restaurants have been asked several times to join and they don?t.

As for Kjellin?s idea about a fee, Winkler said, ?I think you have to make them want to join, but I don?t know what the secret of that is. Maybe rather than have a list of chamber members, we have a list of non-chamber members.?

Financial situation

Yates was asked if a significant amount of members have left the chamber.

?We have lost a few thousand dollars,? she said.

The cost to join the Marion chamber is $200 a year. Until this year, the city budgeted $10,000 for the organization. In 2011, the council approved a $3,000 cut.

Chamber member Todd Heitschmidt said even after a golf tournament last year and some other fundraising events, the chamber is still short of money.

?A lot of convention and visitor bureaus have bed taxes,? he said, ?but we only have one hotel here, which is not enough to generate much.?

?Maybe we need to raise the chamber dues,? Heitschmidt said, ?but I know Margo is against that idea.?

He also said some potential members say they don?t need to join because the city is already putting in money for them with their contribution.

?I don?t buy that argument either,? Heitschmidt said.

Instant benefit

Yates said one of the easiest ways for a business to get exposure is by taking advantage of the ?Welcome Bag? program for new residents, visitors and promotions.

?Welcome bags,? Yates said, ?are stocked at area lakes during the spring and summer with an average of 50 bags per week distributed at Marion Reservoir alone.?

Yates said this is an inexpensive way of getting a business? name out to potential customers.

Action needed

Another idea was to have ?ambassadors? representing the chamber.

?Send someone to the city council to report,? Kjellin said. ?Margo wears too many hats.?

By having someone other than Yates attend, Kjellin said, the council will not be confused as to which group she is representing.

?A lot of it is education,? Noller said. ?We try to convey interaction between the city and chamber, but there has been some issues getting everyone on board.?

Yates said she would encourage business owners to come to the meetings and see what the chamber does, and that it is a viable group.

The biggest fundraising event that is completely the chamber?s responsibility is Art in the Park, bringing some 20,000 or more visitors to Marion each year.

?These things don?t just happen (without the chamber),? she said.

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