Informational meeting scheduled to discuss potential chamber merger

IMPERIAL — Members of the local business community are being encouraged to attend an informational meeting scheduled for Feb. 18 to discuss a possible merger of five local chambers of commerce into a single entity.

During a meeting this past Tuesday, board members and staff from the chambers of Westmorland, Brawley, Imperial, El Centro and Calexico committed to moving forward in discussing the opportunity of merging to form one Imperial Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The idea of forming a regional chamber of commerce in the Imperial Valley has been discussed for nearly 10 years. However, recently the concept has been explored in more depth by a committee of Imperial Valley chamber board members: Chair Bari Smith (Westmorland Chamber), Dr. Kathleen Lang and Lee Hindman (Brawley Chamber), AJ Gaddis and Mark Gran (Imperial Chamber), Julie Velasco (Holtville Chamber), and Anne Irigoyen and Victor Nava (El Centro Chamber).

The committee has looked at regional chamber success models such as the Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce and has conducted SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analyses of several Imperial Valley chambers to explore where the opportunities are to create a stronger chamber of commerce for members.

Committee Chair Smith said although the concept of merging is only in the beginning stages, the committee is excited about the growth, resources, and advocacy a regional chamber would bring to the business community in the Imperial Valley.

The Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce was formed in 2016, initially with only a few chambers coming together, led by CEO Josh Bonner, Smith said. Since then, the organization has merged with additional chambers and consists of 10 chambers, including Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Unincorporated Riverside County and Desert Advertising Federation, as well as Cabazon Band of Mission Indians and Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

“Over the course of two different workshops with their CEO we were very impressed by their growth in revenue, sponsorship and member benefits they now offer since becoming a regional chamber,” Smith said. “GCVCC has dedicated staff for areas such as business development, events and governmental affairs, to name a few. As a regional chamber, they now hold over 250 events each year.”

Each respective chamber has until today to appoint up to two representatives that will form the Regional Chamber Committee. The committee will work together to create a (non-contractual) Imperial Valley Chamber of Commerce business model. Upon finalization of the IVCC business model, all Imperial Valley chambers of commerce, regardless of participation in the committee, will be invited to review the model and merge, Smith said.

“Our collective goal is to act in the best interest of our members,” Smith said. “Chamber members are the heart of the chamber and their input, interest and ultimately support of regionalization is the critical step to the concept of a regional chamber moving forward. We are hopeful that a regional chamber would bring greater resources and increased efficiencies to members. Even with the business community’s support, the process for (participating) chambers to merge would not happen overnight and would likely be early 2021.”

Each chamber that would be part of the regional chamber would have equal representation on the regional executive board, Smith said.

“The actual number of representatives will be decided by the regional committee,” she said, “but in previous discussions we have considered two representatives from each chamber would make up the executive board of the Imperial Valley Chamber of Commerce. In keeping the representative number equal for each chamber, it promotes balance among the region and fosters an environment where the regional chamber makes decisions that are in the best interest for the entire Imperial Valley region as opposed to a particular city.”

In addition to the executive board made up of the representatives of each chamber, Smith said

the group is also exploring the idea of creating an advisory board consisting of representatives of specific industries.

There are no plans to eliminate current staff under the merger, Smith said. “Staff may take on

new or different more focused roles including a change of title, however, all current chamber staff part of the regionalization would be offered a position in the new regional chamber with equal or higher pay,” she

said.

Next Tuesday’s informational meeting is open to the public and will take place at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Frank Wright Middle School, 885 N. Imperial Ave., Imperial.