Are the chambers of commerce still relevant?

Day shower or thunderstorm. Welcome to New Hampshire. Business I am Fred Kocher. We live in the era of the global company, the digital online network, digital resources and professionals. ASSOCIATIONS. So how can local chambers of commerce remain relevant and viable for their local members and their communities? Here are some of the ways revealed in a February survey. Managers of the Chamber of Commerce in the United States and Canada have intensified efforts with local savings. Advocacy for policies and candidates for the office, a diversification of income sources, the emphasis on digital transformation. This comes from Growth Zone Software, which conducted their 11th annual survey in the room just in February. With me to tell us how they remain relevant and viable are the presidents of two of the 45 local and regional chambers of commerce in the New Hampshire. Donna Morris, president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Grand Derry Londonderry and former president of the Salem Chamber. And Tim Sink, president of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce. At least for the next few months. Because Tim retires after 33 years, which saw the downtown Concord transformed. Welcome to both of you. THANK YOU. Fred. Delighted to have you here. You are the two of the most experienced heads of the state. So I must think that your rooms do most, if not all, articles that we have just set up this survey in order to remain viable and develop your subscription, especially during this unpredictable year. Donna. Yes indeed. I think relevance starts with how much you put it, and it starts at the local level. YEAH. So I think it's true throughout. Kim, and that? I MEAN. Times change, the hours change and you have to change with them to be relevant. ABSOLUTELY. We are rooms are information compensation houses for communities. And it is a really important role that we play. But you had mentioned the plea and the chambers of commerce are boots on the ground in the local community. Most rooms are involved in one way or another. At the state level, but we can really have an impact on the local level with our local governments. There have been mergers of chambers of commerce in New Hampshire in the past two decades. Keene and Peterborough come to my mind. The central chamber of the New Hampshire has been formed in many lakes in regional rooms. What caused these mergers and is there a possible in the future? I think there are. What causes them is usually that you need a critical mass to have a room. No membership, no mission. These rooms therefore merge because they are relatively small communities. And it makes sense from an economic point of view. But there are challenges. And I'm there, you mentioned 33 years. I have been there for a long time to watch some mergers take place. And they don't always succeed. There is generally a community that has the impression of being excluded. Sometimes, and it's quite common in these mergers. Donna, you have Derry London Derry, but this is the case from the start, right? YEAH. We represent eight communities. But I think what is more important than fusion with another room is sometimes looking at what you could associate with. For example, we have the same governor. So, instead of having the governor in a room and then the room next to it, you associate yourself with this type of event. Salem and Derry Londonderry did it a lot, especially with the presidential candidates. It was always very fun when they came to the region. You need this threshold, but there is something in a local room where you have this link with the community. You can sometimes the mergers that you can spread a little too thin, and people do not feel this sense of the community that really comes with the room. What is the local problem on the front burner for your room? NOW? Is Derry Londonderry a accommodation? Is it child care? Is it the workforce? Are they prices? YES. All these. YES. All. And they are obviously intertwined. I think the prices are probably the greatest thing right now, because it is spreading to so many different industries. Derry Londonderry has a very strong brewery, local brewery, microbraw companies and the cost of aluminum will really hit some. But you think of all the construction opportunities along the I-93 with the expansion of the foray and the more than 100, nearly 600 acres of development land. With the uncertainty of what the cost of wood or steel or copper will be, many of these projects await. They are waiting, wait to see before continuing this type of investment in economic development. EVEN. Same question. Well, I would say that until recently, the accommodation was probably the biggest problem in our community, but a lot of work was done at the municipal level, just within the limits of the City of Concord. We have something like 25 or 2700 units that are underway at the moment. We are therefore 700, 20, 700. So we make progress. We make a bump there. Prices. There is a lot of concerns about it. But the problem has really not dropped. And I obtained mixed reactions from some of our members. We also have a brewery that suffers from aluminum rates. But we have automobile dealers. And we saw these increased sales in anticipation of the cost increase. Tim, president of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, and Donna Morris, president of the Derry Londonderry Greer Derry, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. THANK YOU. OF COURSE. If you have missed part of this briefing on the Chambers of Commerce in the New Hampshire, you can G

Business NH: Are chambers of commerce still relevant to businesses and communities in the digital era of online resources and global companies?

Tim Sink, of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce and Donna Morris, president of the Grand Derry / Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, sit with Fred Kocher to discuss the relevance and the role that a chamber of commerce plays in a digital era of online networking and business.

Update: 9:11 a.m. May 4, 2025

Fred Kocher, Host of Business NH

Tim Sink, of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce and Donna Morris, president of the Grand Derry / Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, sit with Fred Kocher to discuss the relevance and the role that a chamber of commerce plays in a digital era of online networking and business.

Tim Sink, of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce and Donna Morris, president of the Grand Derry / Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, sit with Fred Kocher to discuss the relevance and the role that a chamber of commerce plays in a digital era of online networking and business.