Orange County Chamber of Commerce refocuses after pandemic troubles
speaks at the ribbon wcutting for the chamber”™s Newburgh satellite office on Dec. 14.
According to Heather Bell-Meyer, president and CEO of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, about 80% of Orange County”™s business activity is thanks to small businesses.
“That’s very unique to this county,” she said. “And so our membership with the Orange County Chamber of Commerce is actually 60% small businesses ”” qualified small businesses, with less than 25 employees. And then the next highest percentage of membership has less than 50 employees.”
Orange’s industries also make it unique; it is a highly tourism-focused area, and has also found success as the setting for many warehouses.
The chamber has been an essential resource for these businesses and nonprofits, no matter the size, for many years, but especially so during the pandemic, one of the hardest times for small businesses in recent memory. It helps create and support businesses, makes connections and introductions, provides referrals and recommendations and hosts networking events, along with providing visibility and exclusive member-to-member discounts.
With just under a thousand members currently, the chamber has been on an upward path of growth since February. Bell-Meyer took over as leader of the organization in January, and the organization has since been seeking new ways to better serve its members.
Now, the chamber is relocating its main office from 40 Matthews St. in Goshen to a new location in Maybrook.
“Just like everyone else in the pandemic, it hit the chamber just as hard as it hit everyone else,” Bell-Meyer said. “You know, we had downsides ”” our staff was downsized. We also went through leadership changes, through staying operational (and staying) fiscally responsible. It was a decision that was very hard for both myself and the board of directors to come to, but the space that we had was too big for us. It was a move that was going to be beneficial to both the chamber and our members.”
Although the chamber”™s footprint will be downsized somewhat, Bell-Meyer says that the new building makes the organization more visible and accessible to its membership and the community, located on a main thoroughfare in Maybrook. It will open officially in May of 2022.
Along with its centralized location, and perhaps most excitingly, the Maybrook office will also allow the chamber to offer office space to members who need a place to work and run their small businesses. Bell-Meyer knew from her own experience as a small-business owner how valuable this kind of space would be, as an asset to offer to members.
“I know a lot of home-based businesses that would really like to be able to have an office to meet with people versus meeting them, say, at a coffee shop,” she said. “Somewhere where they can say, ”˜This is my desk, this is my office and this is somewhere where I can go to everyday versus going down to my basement or up to a spare room in my office.”™ It”™s that feeling of leaving your house, for those who can’t afford the overhead of an office ”¦ it’s an opportunity to give a small business that chance to say, ”˜I have an office.”™”
The office spaces are not free, but the fees include all utilities and chamber membership, at one set rate that is available either for a short-term, six-month lease or a longer-term one-year lease. Several businesses, mostly home-based, have already expressed interest in the spaces, Bell-Meyer said.
Along with the new office, the chamber is expanding to a new satellite location at 380 Broadway in the city of Newburgh. The chamber held the grand opening for the space on Tuesday, Dec. 14.
“One part of my vision was that we needed to spread out throughout the county ”” we didn’t need to have just one office,” Bell-Meyer said.
The Newburgh office was donated by William A. Smith & Son Inc., an insurance agency in the city that has been an Orange County Chamber of Commerce member since 1945. Jack Smith, owner and president, credited the chamber as an invaluable source for the agency to grow, network with other businesses and stay involved and informed through the years.
Bell-Meyer will begin regular hours there every Monday, and will be available to meet by appointment only.
“It gives me the opportunity to be actually out in the city of Newburgh, meeting members, meeting potential members, having the meetings that I need to have, but also to have people come in and actually meet with me there as well.”
The chamber is continuing its “Reopening Orange County” effort along with its regular programming and services, and Bell-Meyer reported several more initiatives in the works for next year as well.
“Next year is going to have a lot of exciting opportunities coming down the pipeline,” she said.