The mission of the Grand Junction Area Chamber is to promote economic growth and represent business.
To achieve this, we operate under the following guiding principles:
• A Healthy Business Climate Creates a Sustainable Community
• Representing and Advocating for Business is a Member Expectation
• Professional Connections & Networking Opportunities Build Business
• Quality of Life is Integral to our Economic Vitality
To be successful we will use as a roadmap the 2022 Business Plan with these goals
Goal 1: Provide Resources to the Business Community That Result in Stronger Businesses and a Stronger Economy
If we are not moving forward, we are moving backward.
The Chamber is committed to being a leader and strong partner in expanded Economic Development and Workforce Development efforts through increase business contacts, targeted assistance for our business community, and continued partnerships with GJEP, The Business Incubator Center, and our other ED Partners in the area.
We must also continue to offer resources to assist businesses with overcoming barriers to attracting potential employees such as lack of childcare, lack of transit options, housing costs, healthcare costs, and creating innovative and attractive benefits outside of wages.
A continued focus must also remain on our partnerships with the Mesa County Workforce Center, School District 51, and Colorado Mesa University to engage more businesses to participate in work-based experiences like Career Wise apprenticeships, job shadow opportunities and internships for students along with upskilling resources for the existing workforce.
Lastly, we must continue to future entrepreneurship in middle and high school students via the Young Entrepreneurs’ Academy, offer timely education resources and webinars needed for businesses to comply with regulations and maximize the effectiveness of their operations, and refer businesses to each other and the public in order to promote a strong culture of shopping locally.
Goal 2: Advocate for a more favorable business climate at the local, state, and federal level through active engagement in legislative and regulatory processes.
As we have heard before, if you aren’t at the table – you are on the menu!
Engaging more local business leaders earlier in advocacy efforts and ensuring we are proactive in drafting proposed public policy is a priority for our Chamber as it has been in recent years.
By utilizing our Governmental Affairs Committee to develop proposed legislation and take positions on legislation and rulemaking on behalf of our local business community, we hope to engage our members earlier in the legislative process so they will individually weigh in on public policy issues and influence outcomes that impact their businesses (i.e. text messaging, letters to the editor and talking points for public comment on bills and proposed rules).
By facilitating more interaction between current and future elected leaders and businesses through activities such as the Legislative Trip to the Capitol, the State of the Valley event and roundtable meetings we can strengthen our relationships while having our voice be heard.
Lastly, it’s vital that we continue to communicate the “why” of the Chamber’s positions on various pieces of legislation and ballot issues to many audiences including members, others in the business community, state government officials, local government officials, and the public at large.
Goal 3: Expand Membership Engagement
Without YOU, we can’t do what we do!
Businesses choose to invest in our Chamber for a variety of reasons and it is vital that we continue to be aware of the diversity of our membership.
Through increased direct personal contact by our Board, Staff, and Volunteers, we will strive to strengthen the meaningful relations created by our business peer network through networking opportunities, economic and demographic data, and abundant opportunities for engagement.
A renewed focus on outreach to underrepresented business owners/managers through diverse messaging will also help us offer insights to a broader business community, allowing us to become more innovative and inclusive.
Goal 4: Champion a Stronger Community by Strengthening Businesses That Will Enhance a Community’s Quality of Life
We are all connected.
Our Chamber understands that a strong community is dependent on strong businesses and increased business involvement in the planning for our future.
To demonstrate that, our Chamber will remain an active business voice in the efforts of the Mesa County Health Leadership Consortium to address population health and costs of healthcare. We will also be a business voice in address the community needs including affordable/attainable housing. Supporting efforts to move forward as a community with needed investments in community infrastructure are also critical to accomplishing this goal.
Lastly, ensuring the pipeline of future business leaders for our community is something our Chamber has worked diligently on for almost 30 years. Making sure we are investing in this “human capital” through our Mesa County Leadership Program will allow us to keep the line of business-minded community leaders strong.
Goal 5: Focused Chamber Narrative
We have a story, let’s be sure to share it!
As you all know with your own business, it can be easy to get caught up in the work and you forget to stop and talk about all the good things you do!
Our Chamber is committed to ensuring we are constantly working to inform the many diverse groups in our valley of the efforts, resources, and opportunities available. We must clearly communicate the Chamber’s strength and values both internally and externally to businesses and their employees by creating content business leaders can share with their staff and employees. Making sure we showcase the Chamber’s diversity of membership, industry type, business size, political persuasion, and decision making by having members tell their own stories will help spread the message.
These efforts will hopefully lead to a better informed community, an improved reputation, and an increase in member investment.