Westchester”™s two main business groups may be pulling in similar yet separate directions, notably on economic development, but the experiences of their counterparts in three neighboring counties show success through a single voice. In a fourth county, a new coalition is testing whether it can effectively address county business issues yet retain the identities of its local groups.
Dutchess County”™s two chambers of commerce will unite on Jan. 1, when the Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce merges into the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce. The merger will create a single organization that expects to represent at least 1,900 of the members of the groups ”“ about 1,500 are currently in the regional chamber and about 700 are in the southern Dutchess group.
“The two organizations both realize and recognize that the economy isn”™t what it was, and it would be smart to be consolidated. It would be stronger,” said Charles S. North, president of the regional chamber. He will hold the same title with the combined organization, which still requires approval from the state Attorney General”™s office.
Focusing on concerns of business
While the regional chamber”™s staff will grow from its current 14 employees, North said it was too early to say how many of the five southern Dutchess chamber employees will join the combined group.
“While we are still getting memberships, we also see a higher amount of memberships not renewing because companies are going out of business. It”™s best to have one organization working on that rather than two,” North said.
The Dutchess regional chamber, which operates on a $1.5 million annual budget, expects to end this year with a $40,000 shortfall due to costs associated with the merger. It hopes to fill part of that gap through a $25,000 grant it is seeking from Dutchess County”™s Industrial Development Agency. “We applied for the grant to help us with the IT expense, website expense, the expense of consolidating two organizations,” North said.
But the benefit of a louder voice on business issues outweighs the short-term cost of consolidation, North added: “We are going to be a stronger chamber, and we will be intensifying our efforts in advocacy, in legislative action, in all the services a chamber should be providing to its large and small members.”
Something changes with a merger
“When two chambers come together, something changes. Rather than compete with the other chamber in the county, if you will, you spend all your time on services to members ”“ whether that”™s advocacy, or better health insurance plans, or all kinds of stuff,” said Dr. John A. D”™Ambrosio, president of the Orange County chamber.
“It also gets you influence in the political process, because frankly, elected officials listen to numbers. The bigger your numbers are, I guess, the more they listen to you,” D”™Ambrosio added. “We”™re on a first-name basis with all of our elected leaders, including (Sen.) Chuck Schumer. Whenever we want something, we get our phone calls returned from the elected leaders.”
D”™Ambrosio said his remarks should not be interpreted as comments on Westchester, where the Business Council of Westchester and Westchester County Association on Nov. 30 announced, within hours of each other, separate panels devoted to issuing proposals to improve Westchester”™s business climate.
D”™Ambrosio heads the staff of 12 that runs the chamber, an “1,800-to-1,900-member range” organization with a $2.5 million annual budget.
The Orange County chamber meets quarterly with the county”™s dozen local chambers, to build not only countywide chamber relations with them, but strengthen ties between the local chambers as well.
“The economic circumstances have forced us to look at options that we otherwise might have taken for granted. Are we going to someday consolidate all the chambers? I don”™t know the answer to that question yet. But it would have to be good for both the local chambers and for us,” D”™Ambrosio added.
RBA advocates for business leaders
Al Samuels, president/CEO of the Rockland Business Association, said his group would like to forge such ties, but an effort to hold quarterly meetings with local chambers did not draw more than a handful of attendees. As a small county, Rockland never developed a countywide chamber, allowing a dozen or so local chambers to grow into stronger organizations.
Where RBA has fared better, Samuels said, is in advocating positions in line with his county”™s business leaders.
The association defeated an attempt to enact a hotel occupancy tax similar to those of Westchester and much of the region. RBA has also twice beaten back efforts to enact an above-minimum “living” wage, the second time by persuading enough county lawmakers not to join the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto of the measure by County Executive C. Scot Vanderhoef. RBA”™s advocacy on that and other issues has earned it awards from the Business Council of New York State, and the Small Business Commerce Association.
“I believe that legislative advocacy and public policy are the two most important endeavors for the larger countywide or city chambers or business associations,” Samuels said.
RBA has 918 members, two full-time and two part-time employees, and operates on an annual budget of about $750,000.
“Our primary function is ensuring that there is an environment in our community, and therefore in our state, where you can operate and grow a business,” he said. “You”™ve got to have that presence in your county seat and in Albany and in Washington.”
Putnam unites under coalition
Like Rockland, Putnam County also saw much of its business activity within local chambers rather than a countywide group, also due to a small population.
Last summer, seven local business groups agreed to form a coalition intended to amplify their concerns among county and local officials. The Putnam County Chambers of Commerce represents a combined roughly 900-members among the groups ”“ the Brewster, Carmel-Kent, Cold Spring Area, Greater Mahopac-Carmel and Patterson chambers of commerce; the Putnam Valley Business Association; and the Putnam County Independent Business Alliance.
The coalition will operate for a year, until next fall, with the member groups assessing whether to continue the coalition, merge altogether, or resume individual action on issues.
Seeking a buy-in, not a hostile takeover
“We did not want the perception of a hostile takeover. We really wanted buy-in from all the individual chambers,” said Jennifer Maher, chairwoman of the Putnam County Chambers. “A lot of our members enjoy some of what a small chamber does and still feels it is necessary, such as tree lightings and scholarships.”
The coalition by contrast is focusing on advocacy. One example: the umbrella group plans to organize a roundtable discussion with as many local officials as possible ”“ possibly as early as February ”“ on the need streamline local development reviews in their communities. The chambers have already circulated a letter to local officials urging them to communicate about how they will do so.
“We asked them to speed up the due diligence process. If it”™s a possible project, then say ”˜yes,”™ but if it”™s not a possibility, then say ”˜no”™ quicker (rather) than having people go to separate boards, wait two months, ”¦,” said Maher, who is also chairwoman of the board of the Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce.
Mahopac-Carmel is the largest of the local chambers within the coalition, with 510 members and an annual budget of just over $300,000. Pete Bardunias, Mahopac-Carmel”™s president and CEO and an ex-officio board member of the coalition, said Putnam”™s dearth of corporate giants pushes the burden of red tape and regulation onto smaller business than many of its neighboring counties ”“ an issue he said the Putnam County Chambers is working to address.
