Rotation #3: Marana Chamber of Commerce

I spent the day with Ed Stolmaker, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, and learned a lot about the Town of Marana and chambers in general. The Marana Chamber of Commerce's mission is to be "the voice of business that works to build economic growth and quality of life in our community". They are a 501(c)6 organization and are primarily membership-supported. Events are thrown multiple times a month for networking opportunities amongst members, as well as meetings with the Southern Arizona Chamber of Commerce Alliance, and the Arizona Chamber Executives.

Community Involvement

The Marana Chamber is connected to the Town of Marana's strategic plan through executive sessions that keep the Chamber involved with the direction the town is going in. Business/community relations is a big part of the Chamber, as they encourage businesses to give back to the community. Approximately 7% of event revenues are given back to the community. Businesses find that it is beneficial to be involved in the community not just montarily, but physically (helping with construction projects for a school, etc), because of the connections that are grown as a result of showing their presence.

Additional events thrown by the Chamber involve business exposure to the community. Every year, the Chamber awards the Community and Business Builder Award. The award rates businesses on how they give back to the community, promote other members, and their involvement with local schools. This past year, Vantage West Credit Union, Gabrielle Luoma, Cutters Point Coffee, and Rotary Club of Marana were winners of the award. Below is a youtube video from that event:

I was present for one meeting between Ed and Miranda from the Omni Tucson National Resort regarding a contract for luncheon options for monthly meetings. Every luncheon features a guest speaker. One of the biggest challenges for their events coordinator is anticipating attendance numbers. Rarely do the RSVP numbers represent the actual attendance, and this means that both the chamber at the hosting location must estimate how much should be invested toward extra accommodations.

Relationships with other chambers

The Marana Chamber of Commerce faces an interesting challenge because of the many other chambers in the region that could potentially cause confusion for potential members. An example of this would be the Northern Pima County Chamber of Commerce, which is located in Oro Valley but seemingly extends into Marana businesses since Marana is also located in the northern Pima County area. The Marana Chamber of Commerce is working to establish their own identy as a Marana-destinct location, so as to avoid some of the confusion.

Reflection

I enjoyed hearing about how the Marana Chamber of Commerce encourages businesses to be active in the community. I feel this really contributes to the town's focus on both commerce and community building. It is clear that much of the Chamber's efforts go into networking and creating a bond between business-owners and the town they work in.

Interested in becoming a member of the Marana Chamber of Commerce? Click here.
Interested in learning about their events? Click here.