The strategy of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce remains consistent each year. Prescott Chamber CEO Dave Maurer, now entering his twelfth year in that role, says the board has three main goals. They are: 1) helping to make Prescott business-friendly; 2) supporting efforts to improve the Prescott Municipal Airport; and 3) being involved in elections for the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, Arizona Legislative District #1, and Arizona Congressional District #4.
“Things don’t change a whole lot year over year,” Maurer said, because the Chamber annually confronts many ongoing challenges affecting businesses’ ebb and flow. “That said, each chairman and each board member come in with certain ideas and certain advance planning. Most years, we have reacted to issues that have come up and were not known as major concerns earlier… There are always surprises through the year, some good and some bad.”
Who would have predicted, for example, voters’ rejection of bolstering the underfunded Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) or passing the Prescott Unified School District’s bond override, he mused.
Maurer says the Chamber plans to work with the City of Prescott to streamline the process for new businesses that may be coming to Prescott, as well as local companies wanting to expand. “The goal is to evaluate the development process at City Hall. What does a new business go through before opening for business? We need something to improve the process. We just don’t know what just yet.”
Enhancing the airport is important to the community, Maurer said. “We want to support efforts to improve the airport because it is an important part of our economic future. Issues such as extending the runway, attracting additional airlines, building a modern terminal and expanding businesses near the airport are all important to the future of the area… Everybody wants those things. It takes a lot of work to get it done. We want to be one of the players in this process.”
For its elections initiative, the Chamber board has not yet developed the specifics, but in the past has conducted “meet and greet” sessions for the candidates and issued voter guides.
Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley have joined forces with more than 30 other state Chambers of Commerce in support of a mutual legislative agenda. “It’s a way to have our voice heard at the Capitol without being at the Capitol,” Maurer explained. New on that agenda this year, he added, is “meaningful reform for PSPRS.” When the legislature is in session, the participating Chambers can dial in and get status reports from the Phoenix and Arizona chambers.
Additionally, there are the activities that “we almost take for granted because we do them every day and every week,” he noted, referencing the Visitor’s Center. New opportunities in recent years have been social media and the web, topics for an upcoming seminar.
“We are able to track better than ever where our traffic is coming from, who is viewing our site,” he shared. “A big percentage of people using our site are from the Phoenix area looking for tourism information. As a response to that, we have added to the Home Page a direct link to bookings.com… Most [local] hotels and motels belong.”
The economy has remained the number one story in his 11 years at the Prescott Chamber, according to Maurer. “The recession and all that accompanied it led to drops in the number of members. And yet, despite that, we didn’t really cut any programs. In fact, we added programs as a way to get members engaged in the Chamber. I did not lose any staff members. At the same time, we were not able to do everything we would have liked to have done.”
He anticipates “another year of improvement in both programs and community activities. For our members, it will be another form of continuing improvement to their own businesses helped by the Chamber… I have heard a number of people say that we are not back yet. The economy is better. Businesses are doing better, but it’s still a slow, slippery slope getting back up where we once were.” QCBN
By Sue Marceau, QCBN