Online Chat with Emporia Chamber of Commerce Chairman, John Newland
November 3, 2011
Online Chat with Emporia Chamber of Commerce Chairman, John Newland
Moderator: Today our online chat guest is John Newland, Chairman of the Board for the Emporia Chamber of Commerce. John is at the Emporia Gazette offices to talk about the Chamber, its programs and events and his experience as the chair. We have questions ready to go so lets get started.
moderator: What is the role of the Chamber of Commerce within the City of Emporia?
John Newland, Chaiman Emporia Chamber of Commerce: The role of the Chamber is to enhance the business environment of our community. To name a few, this includes concerning ourselves with quality of life issues for our employers to be able to attract employees, developing leaders in our community, supporting existing business through networking opportunities, providing access and information regarding legislators and legislation, offering opportunities for our members to grow their business through educational events designed to motivate and increase efficiency, and finally providing venues for our members to market to the community and each other. We have an indirect relationship with the administration of the City of Emporia as we are contracted to manage the Convention and Visitors Bureau, but their budget is separate from the budget of the Chamber. The Convention and Visitors Bureau is funded by the transient guest tax. Their main role is promoting tourism. Next year the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 115th Anniversary.
moderator: What are some of the programs and projects that the Chamber has been working on lately to fulfill this role?
John Newland, Chaiman Emporia Chamber of Commerce: Regarding educational events, we just finished hosting Bryan Dodge. He is a world renowned speaker regarding effective business practices. His message was well received. We also have hosted several lunch and learn's throughout the year for our members to increase their knowledge in a variety of areas. Personally I enjoy our business after-hours events and see them as one of the best ways to become ingrained into our community. It is a relaxing atmosphere that allows everyone to get to know each other. People do business with people they know, so they are a valuable resource. They are held on a monthly basis. Our JEDAC (Joint Economic Development Activity Committee) group is a valuable entity. At 7:00 once a month, the leaders of our community come together to share what is going on, what their concerns are, and how we can work together to move Emporia forward. We are happy with efforts such as Clean Sweep I & II that offered opportunities for the community to come together and improve the way things look. One of the focuses of the board this year and the upcoming year and probably forever will be technology and how we can attract businesses in this area as well as utilize technology to make our existing membership more profitable. The first step of that resulted in a partnership with the City, County, University, Technical College, Hospital and others regarding increasing broadband capabilities in Emporia. There are major developments in the works that I feel confident will benefit us all. We help develop leaders of our community with a program called Leadership Emporia. I am a graduate. We have a weekly session over several weeks to educate promising potential leaders about the workings of the community. The attendees also participate in activities requiring everyone to work together, taking in different points of view before making decisions. It's a great program. We sponsor the Spring Expo which is a great venue for businesses to showcase their products and services to the public. Lastly, our annual Christmas Parade is always a community favorite and will be coming up on the 29th of November. There are many more activities, but I think that's a good sample.
moderator: Chambers of Commerce have been around for a long time, how has our Chamber changed and adapted to new ideas and technologies?
John Newland, Chaiman Emporia Chamber of Commerce: As mentioned above, The Emporia Area Chamber will be celebrating its 115th Anniversary next year. We have seen a lot change during this span. We embrace technology, and are always sharpening our saw, to know and understand the latest in technology and how it can be used to promote business. Not only do we have our website: http://www.emporiakschamber.org/; you can also find us on facebook and twitter. All of these venues are great ways to communicate with our members and the public at large. We are also about half way to our fundraising goal of updating our office which will include converting our Board of Directors room in to a “smart room” . The world-wide-web did not exist as a commercial business tool when the Trusler Business Center was built in 1995. So by adding smart technology we will be able to bring in timely programming to our members, and have the room available for them to use for video conferencing and training for their employees. This should be a real asset to our members and the community at large.
moderator: Why did you decide to get involved in the Emporia Chamber of Commerce?
John Newland, Chaiman Emporia Chamber of Commerce: I felt it was important to do my part. I enjoy it. I enjoy Emporia and I want our community to thrive in the future so I can continue to enjoy all the things that I do and so my kids can do the same.
moderator: What has been your experience so far as Chairman of the Board?
John Newland, Chaiman Emporia Chamber of Commerce: It's been very enjoyable. I've learned a lot. I think I've grown as a person by being involved with the organization and learning to see so many different points of view. It's a sizable time commitment, but the staff does an excellent job of handling the workload and keeping me informed.
moderator: What goals do you have as the Chairman that you would like to see continued?
John Newland, Chaiman Emporia Chamber of Commerce: I hope to see the Capital Campaign completed and the smart room integrated into our community. Technology and the internet, in my opinion, are a wonderful thing. However, it does make the world more competitive as people have access to so many choices. I see that as a positive for our community. We live in a community where by and large, people care about each other and care about the people they do business with. I think that's a huge advantage over a lot of the world. I would love to see our businesses utilize all the things they do well and market to the world, in addition to our region. I don't see the internet as competition. I see it as opportunity. Every aspect of business can utilize this resource to become more profitable. Unfortunately, if you don't utilize it, it's that much easier for someone else to take your place.
moderator: How does someone get involved in the Chamber?
John Newland, Chaiman Emporia Chamber of Commerce: You can contact me or Jeanine McKenna or anyone at the Chamber office and we would be glad to visit with you. My work phone is 342-2562 and you can reach the Chamber at 342-1600, or you can just stop by the Chamber office at 719 Commercial.
moderator: Well that is all the time we have for our chat today. On behalf of the Emporia Gazette and its readers I would like to thank John for taking time to stop by and chat with us. To watch video of John talking with us tune into E-TV Channel 70 next week on Cable One.