Montco Chambers join together
First initiative is PPE distribution in partnership with the county
Ten Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce chapters have formed an alliance that will let them speak with “one voice” in dealing with stakeholder groups on behalf of their members.
The idea for the Alliance of Montgomery County Chambers of Commerce developed from conversations during the coronavirus pandemic. Each of the chambers was talking with county and state leaders, and they were talking with each other.
Pam Kelly, president, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Montgomery County, during the course of monthly Zoom conference calls the groupwas holding, “the opportunity to speak with a single voice and share ways in which chambers could assist one another became more apparent,” she said.
“It’s not as if it will be a constant but the structure is in place. If something like this happens again we have some sort of process to start communicating — to rally — to do what needs to be done,” said Eileen Dautrich, president, TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce.
The mission is to provide a vehicle for open dialogue on current and emerging issues, to establish a forum for ongoing communication with elected officials, and to leverage a collective voice for business advocacy.
Kelly said the group is proposing quarterly meetings with the county, as well as meetings twice a year with state representatives and senators.
“That way we can keep an open dialog which is the most important thing,” she said, adding that each chamber can decide which issues it wants to be involved with.
“We stand a better chance of being heard if we’re speaking as a larger group,” she said.
“I think it’s a great opportunity towork together on programs and initiatives to benefit members. By having the chambers coming together and working together, our members will benefit,” said Renee Blomstrom, executive director, Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The alliance was formalized with a member agreement and officially announced toward the end of last week.
The relationship is already seeing results.
On Wednesday, Oct. 7, each chamber picked up the first shipment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), purchased by Montgomery County to be distributed by the chambers to small businesses.
Kelly said the chambers had heard of a similar effort in Chester County, and took the idea to David Zellers Jr., director of commerce for Montgomery County, to ask if Montgomery County would do the same.
The Board of Commissioners agreed, committing CARES Act funding received by the county, to fund the kits.
A total of 12,000 PPE kits have been purchased. They will be distributed free of charge to small businesses throughout the county — a partnership between the county and the chamber alliance.
“Our local chamber members’ investments, support, and expertise have enabled us to provide critical service to our region during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Valerie A. Arkoosh, chairwoman, Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, said in a press release announcing the initiative.
Each week, 1,500 kits will be distributed to the chambers, until all 12,000 kits have been distributed. The focus of the initiative is on businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
Each business can receive up to five kits, and each kit contains face masks, face shields, hand sanitizer, wipes, a thermometer and other crucial COVID-19 mitigation and protection equipment along with #MaskUpMontco window clings and COVID-19 information and guidance.
Zellers said when he opened one of the kits, “it was like Christmas morning.” He added he is very pleased with the kits.
On Wednesday, the directors from the chambers pulled their cars, vans or trucks up at the county’ s warehouse on Brower Avenue in Upper Providence, where they loaded their weekly allotment of PPE kits.
“Our focus will be on our small business members — reaching those areas where there hasn’t been an organized effort,” Dautrich said. She was picking up 200 kits for the TriCounty Area chamber.
“PPE is vital for businesses, their employees, and their customers and visitors. Providing these supplies to small businesses saves them time and money they’d otherwise use to procure PPE and allows them to do what they do best and keep their businesses going,” Zellers said.
He said he was having regular calls with the chambers, and knew they wanted to get involved.
“They talked about how to work together more closely. This new alliance of them coming together is great for our county and great for businesses,” he said.
The PPE initiative, he said, “made sense in the parameters of what the CARES Act allows us to do.”
For their part, the chambers are still working out the logistics of distributing the kits, but they say there is definitely a need.
“This is a great collaboration. It is a way to give us unity as a group,” Ryan Rosenbaum, executive director, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday. “We’re grateful to the commerce department and the people that put this (PPE initiative) together.”
The members of the Alliance of Montgomery County Chambers of Commerce are: Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, Hatfield Chamber of Commerce, Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, Norristown Chamber of Commerce, Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce, Spring-Ford Chamber of Commerce, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Montgomery County, TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce, and Upper Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce.
For more information on the Montgomery County Commerce Department, visit www.montcopa.org/Commerce.