Quad Cities Business News

Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, & Dewey/Humboldt

You are here: Home / Archives for Sedona Chamber of Commerce

Sedona Chamber of Commerce

Imagining a World Beyond the Pandemic

By Leave a Comment

To survive now and in the future, businesses must create an operational environment that can flex to future challenges.

Events like the COVID-19 pandemic can turn the world upside down. The immediate impact of this turmoil creates sometimes insurmountable challenges to small businesses. But it is nearly impossible to predict the long-term effects on those small businesses that have somehow managed to survive the initial blow.

Small businesses may have a narrower margin with which to withstand the upheaval of a global pandemic, or an economic downturn, but these businesses do possess one advantage over the large enterprise. If a “mom and pop” or small business recognizes the need to engender agility, there are fewer team members to convince and it is easier to turn the ship quickly. That does not mean that a business can avoid the commitment to continuous improvement. There is still a need to look at how things are done, and to comprehensively analyze what customers wanted last year, versus what they want this year.

Understanding trends, patterns and changes, and responding to those changes, is crucial to success. During the pandemic, local businesses struggled with issues involving in-person buyers vs. online presence. A tour company could no longer count on visitors to the area, and the very immediate issue was how to generate revenue. A retail store owner could not count on an influx of shoppers walking through the door.

During this time of change, the wise business owner tried to reimagine his products and services and find ways to connect with customers online and to create a flexible business environment that could carry him through the uncertain times and be agile enough to survive what might come next. To survive now and in the future, businesses must create an operational environment that can flex to future challenges. Managers must cut expenses and have a detailed understanding of what products and services to keep, what to change when business falls off, and how to prepare for continuous improvement and business reinvention.

Books and workshops can help, but the business owner must truly engage and change the management approach, the way team members are trained, how involved the team is in the day-to-day operation, and how team members can contribute to and adapt to change. Every aspect of the business – from location to hiring and training, to business investments, to product and service choices, to the competitive landscape, the efficiency of ordering, supply networks and day-to-day operations – must reflect a culture of team involvement, fact-based decisions and solid analysis of how to prepare for, and adapt to, change.

While small businesses may need support and advice to enable this kind of change and to create a foundation for agility, most cannot afford the expense of a business consultant. That’s where SCORE comes in. SCORE provides free counseling to small businesses. SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives) was founded in 1964, and it is a non-profit arm of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Today, the SCORE team is comprised of active and retired business professionals who volunteer their time to provide free and confidential business advice to start-up businesses, businesses wishing to expand and small businesses facing the challenges of the COVID-19 economy and trying to prepare for the future.

These services are available to all small businesses, and SCORE provides subject matter experts and mentors who focus on all types of issues, challenges and business problems and opportunities. If you wish to explore these services, you can contact the team at 928-778-7438, via NorthernArizona.SCORE.org, or on social media at facebook.com/SCORENorthernArizona. QCBN

By Susan Obijiski

Susan Obijiski is a business consultant and Certified SCORE Mentor. Obijiski has more than 40 years of experience as a business executive and manager, and has worked in retail, in the arts, and for large and small corporations in software development, product development, quality management and other disciplines. She serves on the Sedona Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and has served as board chair for Simmons Graduate School of Management. She manages content for software companies creating articles, white papers, web content, blogs and technical content and has published four novels.

Big Sky Country’s Candace Carr Strauss Hired as President/CEO of Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau

By Leave a Comment

The Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau announced today that Candace Carr Strauss, the Chief Executive Officer of the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce & Visit Big Sky, in Big Sky, Montana, has accepted the position of President/Chief Executive Officer. Her hiring to lead Arizona’s first sustainable tourism destination comes after a two-month national search following the departure of Jennifer Wesselhoff, who left for a similar role in Park City, Utah. Strauss’s first day on the job will be February 22, 2021.

“Candace brings an outstanding combination of executive experience, business relations, and a profound understanding of the delicate balance between a thriving visitor economy and resident quality of life,” said Sedona Chamber & Tourism Bureau Board of Directors Chairman Lonnie Lillie. “The Board was deeply impressed with her leadership ability, vision and commitment to community engagement. She is ready to lead as we adapt to the evolving COVID landscape while prioritizing focus on a balanced, sustainable future.”

“I am honored and very excited to lead one of America’s premiere Chambers of Commerce and destination management organizations,” Strauss said. “People around the world know Sedona as a place of unparalleled natural and spiritual beauty as well as a forward-looking community focused on environmental sustainability and inclusive tourism management.”

Strauss has led the Big Sky Chamber & Visit Big Sky, located in an area growing exponentially in popularity as a ski destination and a gateway community to Yellowstone National Park, since 2017. As CEO, she initiated a community-wide 10-year strategic plan and successfully advocated for a local Resort Tax hike to fund vital wastewater infrastructure upgrades. She helped start and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Big Sky Community Housing Trust addressing affordable workforce housing, and was instrumental in securing a $10.3 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to transform the community’s major arterial state highway, augment public transit and boost pedestrian and wildlife safety in the area.

“These issues resonate with many of Sedona’s priorities,” Lillie said. “Candace’s work in support of public-school funding and local leadership development will also be an asset.”

“Sedonans are passionate people and I look forward to working with the Board, City Council, Chamber staff, business partners, community organizations and my fellow residents,” Strauss said. “I plan to invite residents to join me for “Walk and Talk” hikes along Sedona’s trails so we can get to know each other, with appropriate COVID precautions, of course.”

Strauss’s professional background includes positions with Wonderful Copenhagen, the destination marketing and management organization for Denmark’s Capital region, and the Houston Symphony, where she was Director of Corporate Relations. She served for six years as Director of Development for the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University in Bozeman and was Director of Marketing and Development with the Billings Symphony Orchestra & Chorale.

Her career in the tourism industry began at Destination DC, the destination marketing organization for the nation’s capital following the events of 9/11, with stints at the Washington Redskins NFL franchise, now known as the Washington Football Team, and Feld Entertainment, producers of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and Disney on Ice. She presently serves as an at-large Director of the U.S. Travel Association Board, Vice-Chair of the Montana Association of Chamber Executives, and was recently elected to the Montana Infrastructure Coalition Board of Directors.

Strauss holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Miami University of Ohio with minors in European Studies and Spanish. Her academic pursuits also include undergraduate Spanish courses at Arizona State University and a year abroad in Barcelona, Spain, with Portland State University.