Leading from the Center
25 YEARS AT THE CHAMBER ALLIANCE – A LOOK BACK
By Joe Hinson, President & CEO of WCLCA
The past 25 years at the West Chester ▪ Liberty Chamber Alliance sure have gone by quickly. I started at our Chamber in 1998, nine months after Union Centre Boulevard (UCB) opened. UCB offered access to 3000 acres of undeveloped land in Union Township, which today primarily makes up their Central Business District. West Chester became the official name of the Township in June 2000. For the next 13 years, three new interchanges off I-75 joined UCB: State Route 129, Liberty Way, and Austin Boulevard. The shift in both economic and residential growth to the middle of our region was on, with West Chester and Liberty Townships leading the way.
Spanning four decades there have been many achievements and challenges along the way.
The top three achievements were:
● Fostering Collaboration – Helping the Over the Rhine Chamber of Commerce (OTR) get re-established after the riots in Over the Rhine, followed by the boycott of businesses downtown in 2001. The late Tom Besanceney, former President of the Over Rhine Chamber reached out to us, requesting our help and support to jumpstart their Chamber of Commerce, and business community. We shared our playbook - our policies and procedures on how we ran our Chamber with Tom. Over the next several years we worked collaboratively to support their initiatives. The OTR Chamber awarded us with their most prestigious award - their Star Award in 2003. Since then, we have assisted other Chambers with their various needs, shared resources and valued information, mentored support, and invited area Chambers to participate in our events. Most recently, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber participated in our Regional Business Expo in July.
● Regional Signature Events – Becoming the first Chamber of Commerce in our region to host an event recognizing amazing women for the outstanding work they did in our region - Women of Excellence (WOE) was born in 2002. We have honored close to 200 women since our event’s inception. WOE provided us with a regional presence for all our signature events. Regional Business Expo: Combining over 100 exhibitors with a culinary Taste Of event has been a formula for success, averaging over 1000 attendees each year from our region. Created The Everest Award: Honoring Leaders and Legends on the I-75 Growth Corridor in 2012. This was the first and still only event that focuses on the I-75 Growth Corridor connecting Dayton to Cincinnati/N.Kentucky. We have honored 30 Leaders and Legends over the past 10 years.
● Chamber Recognition – Recognition for a job well done by your peers, and local and state organizations are important barometers to gauge how you are doing as an organization. Some of the recognition we received over the past 25 years included the Cincinnati Business Courier’s Best Places to Work in 2004 and 2005, Ohio Chamber Executive of the Year from the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Ohio (CCEO) in 2006, Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Image Award in 2009, Silver Telly Award for the best in non-broadcast production for our I-75 Growth Corridor video in 2017, recognized as the Best Chamber of Commerce in Ohio by Ohio Business Magazine, in the augural year of the award 2020 and again in 2023, inducted in the Butler and Warren Counties Business Hall of Fame in 2022, and celebration of the 25th anniversary as President & CEO of The Chamber Alliance in 2023.
The top three challenges were:
● 9-11 – Tuesday, September 11, 2001, we held our Monthly Chamber Luncheon at Wetherington Golf & Country Club. Though at the time we were not sure if it was the right thing to do – especially after hearing that the fourth hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 93 was spotted circling over Cleveland at the time we were leaving our office for the luncheon. But after our luncheon, and days and weeks later it proved to be the best thing for all of us. Our members needed that time to console and interact with each other. How ironic that our scheduled speaker that day was self-defense expert Debbie Gardner of Survive Institute. To help enhance community relations and bring our business community together, WCLCA member, community leader, and Women of Excellence honoree, Shakila Ahmad has been our keynote speaker on several occasions since, representing the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati, located in West Chester.
● The Great Recession of 2008 – Starting in December 2007 and lasting until June 2009, we saw a sharp decline in our region’s economic activity - negatively affecting our Chamber members. In a progressive, growth area along the I-75 Growth Corridor, our housing and commercial development went from boom to gloom. In response, unprecedented fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policy was introduced by the federal government which led to the closing of several banks, including the corporate office of our landlord, Peoples Community Bank, in July 2009. This left our Chamber without an office location for an extended period.
● COVID-19 – A global pandemic that affected all of us. There are still remnants from the aftermath. We recognized that our Chamber needed to pivot early and did so on March 11, 2020. As a suburban Chamber of Commerce with less revenue resources than the metro Chambers in Ohio, we were being told that one-third of the Chambers in the U.S. would not make it through the pandemic. We needed to make sure we stayed solvent and had access to cash for the duration of the pandemic. Also, we felt that the West Chester ▪ Liberty Chamber Alliance was an essential business and should stay open to support our business community when many organizations were required to close. Additionally, during the civil unrest and protests that occurred during the summer, we took an active role leading courageous community conversations in our area. With approval from our state government and permission to be on our roads daily from our West Chester Police Department, we remained open throughout the pandemic to send out informative broadcast emails from the Small Business Administration (SBA), answer phone calls and email requests, and meet with businesspeople and community members that needed our help and advice. You know what type of organization you belong to when you need that organization the most and need it to deliver. Proudly, during that pivotal time when we were needed the most, we delivered support daily to our Chamber members, regional businesses, and the community at large.
Through it all, it has been an honor to lead the West Chester ▪ Liberty Chamber Alliance for 25 years – connecting people and possibilities. I have witnessed the unpresented growth and development of our area during four different decades. Credit belongs to the visionary leaders that saw the future in the 1980’s and ‘90’s and stayed true to their vision and made it our reality. The fact that The Chamber Alliance was able to execute on so many fronts, while navigating through our various challenges, speaks volumes about our organization’s resilience and tenacity. Supported by a Team of outstanding professionals, we not only endured, but we prevailed! Working together and experiencing such amazing outcomes is something I’ll always treasure. We still have plenty of exciting opportunities ahead for us – think, the next new interchange on I-75, Milliken Way in Liberty Township. Together we will continue to create our future!