Town Hall Series
B
etween October 10 and October 25, the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce held five
Town Hall Meetings to hear from different sectors of the community including, 1) Community
Stakeholders, 2) Chamber Members, 3) Chamber Members that had let their memberships expire, 4)
with Non-English speaking community members in a Platicas - Sunday Afternoon Coffee/Merienda
Setting, and with 5) Community Members/General Public who had never been chamber members.
Two basic questions were asked to attendees, “What the chamber was doing well?” and, “What the
chamber could do better?” For the Town Hall Meetings with non-members, the chamber’s mis-
sion and what it does was explained. President/CEO Cleofas Rodriguez, Jr. also explained that the
meetings were an effort to reach out to the community to get feedback as the chamber prepared to
work on a strategic plan and wanted to know how best to serve the community. The chamber staff
and volunteers attended the meetings to listen and record notes.
Based on notes and recording, the feedback from attendees can be grouped into the topics re-
lating to small business members, nonprofit members, and communication methods used by the
chamber and suggestions made by those present.
Many comments focused on small business needs, including the perception that the chamber
needs to rally more around small businesses by connecting them to opportunities with larger busi-
nesses. Additionally, the need to communicate how government helps small businesses, and the
idea that the chamber should be more involved in startup businesses. Comments included, “What
is the value for small businesses? ”What is the small business vision?” “What is the Chamber doing
to connect small businesses with the big businesses?” “Can we bring experts in to talk with small
businesses?”
Regarding feedback on nonprofit members, it was noted that nonprofits are still a business, but are
set up differently for tax purposes. Nonprofit members and their businesses feel excluded, and
don’t see the benefits and value of chamber membership. Another comment noted that was that
there was no nonprofit organization membership representation on the chamber board.
Feedback regarding the Chamber’s events, practices and communication procedures included the
following themes: that membership should partner with active workforce development board, that
members should be reminded of the benefits of networking, that the chamber had too many events;
that events should be tailored to meet business’ needs; there was a need to hear more member
business success stories, members need to see value added for their membership investment;
consider having a Chamber University, newsletter, and/or mobile app. Specific comments included
"So many events, can we separate/highlight Chamber events from others?” Suggestions included
recording or going live on Facebook with events, looking at Google settings and getting a Chamber
App, using surveys with good questions as an electronic E-Town Hall to send to personal emails to
continue to get feedback, and sending out business anniversary mail to member companies.
For the Town Hall Meetings with Non-English Speakers and Community members not familiar with
the UCCCC, the sessions were informative and those in attendance were provided with helpful
information regarding the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce.
Feedback gained from all of the Town Halls will set the foundation for a strategic plan and guide our
work moving forward. Thank you to all who participated in this initiative to gain insight on the Unit-
ed Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce and attended these important meetings.
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BUSINESS MATTERS
NOVEMBER 2017