​Message from the 2020 Board Chair 

​" The Chamber exists  to support businesses in good times and bad. And, when the bad times became even worse in 2020 , the Chamber was even more present!"

​Bill Vensel,  2020 Chair of the Board 

A LETTER FROM THE 2020 CHAIR OF THE BOARD 






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 As hard as we work to champion economic prosperity, foster a pro-business climate, and improve our region's quality of life, the Chamber is not immune to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 storm. While COVID-19 threatened to damage many businesses and entire sectors, we have managed to survive the disaster, and the Chamber spirit always shines. We are committed to helping our community rebuild faster than anywhere else and become more robust than before.
 
The Chamber exists to support businesses in good times and in bad. And, when the bad times became even worse in 2020, the Chamber was even more present. The key to our success, as with most businesses, was the speed at which our organization shifted priorities and strategies to make rapid changes. ​
 
Despite the COVID-19 storm, The Chamber learned, adapted, and achieved some significant accomplishments in support of our mission, which is to champion economic prosperity, foster a pro-business climate, and improve our region's quality of life.
 
THANK YOU, MEMBERS! The Chamber would like to extend a special thank you to our members, including our community investors who continued their support so the Chamber could deal with the business community's immediate needs and enabled us to continue our mission-critical work.
 
The support of our community investors or Chairman Circle members cannot be understated. The Chairman Circle level of giving goes beyond receiving something back from the Chamber but demonstrates a company's commitment to the business and economic prosperity of our community.
 
We know we have a lot to do in 2021, but we also know that we're poised to come back stronger and faster than other Arizona regions. That's because of you, our members, and investors. Please take a few moments to read the highlights of 2020.
 
Thank you for making the N.W. Valley a great place to live, work and do business.

Bill Vensel 
2020 Chair of the Board 
​Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce 

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2020 ANNUAL REPORT
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Taking Care of Politics, So You Can Take Care of Business 
​​​One of the most valuable and often overlooked functions of a chamber is advocating for the business community.  The Chamber ​works to represent the collective voice of the business community. Whether it's setting legislative goals, working with our lobbyist, sending out Action Alerts, or keeping voters informed through our forums, the goal is ensuring an environment where business can prosper. 

• ​The Chamber supported 23 bills that were favorable to small businesses and the economic growth of our region.  

 

• We lobbied for

1. Lower business taxes
2. Supporting small business tax credits
3. Transportation projects in our region
4.  Workforce development bills (education & C.T.E. funding)
5.  Expansion of telemedicine
6.  Bills that would ease rules and regulations on small businesses.
7. Federal officials for COVID emergency relief funding and liability protections for small businesses.    

 

• NEW! The Chamber releases its first-ever annual legislative scorecard on how our state elected officials voted on critical business issues. This scorecard evaluates the votes of each senator and representative relative to our published pro-business legislative agenda!  
• NEW! Chamber altered its 50+ year tradition and endorsed candidates.  We endorsed candidates that achieved a scorecard rating of 90%+ for supporting pro-business legislation.    
• NEW! The Legislative Action Center was launched in the fall of 2020!  We made the voice of the business community even louder by making it easier for local businesses to contact elected officials about issues that matter to them.  Our three Action Alerts resulted  in 479 companies and individuals  directly contacting elected officials!   Why is this important? Because your voice and opinions are powerful!  Your elected officials are there  to represent your concerns.  It is up to you to voice concerns and to make your voice heard at all levels of government!  We just made it easier for you to do so! 
• NEW! The Chamber adopted a Local Legislative Agenda for the first time that makes it clear what our business community expects from our elected officials. We emphasize the core principles of free enterprise, and that removing obstacles to job creation, economic growth, and burdensome regulations and taxes is paramount. 

 
Convening and Informing Businesses
Before the pandemic began, we took every opportunity to meet in person, and then COVID hit! But that did not stop the Chamber. We took a renewed strategy and pivoted with surprising results!

• We conducted 5 Convener Events delivering critical information and resources about current issues and opportunities facing businesses. Our signature Convener events dealt with COVD-19, Fireside Chats with Police Chiefs/Captains (immediately following the riots), Marijuana in the Workplace, the State of the Cities & Towns, and a special address from a U.S. Congresswoman to our local business community.
•  Our 5 convener events attracted over 300 businesses both in-person and on-line.
•  NEW! Because we are always learning and adapting, the Chamber began broadcasting our Convener events on Facebook and YouTube, allowing more businesses to engage and learn about what was going on. The results were astonishing! Our convener videos were viewed almost 28,000 times on Facebook and YouTube, surpassing all previous records!      

 
 Helping Small Business Cope with COVID

•  NEW! Over 50 Free Memberships were provided to struggling businesses devastated by COVID.

•   Due to COVID hardships, 89 businesses were forced to let their membership lapse, but the Chamber maintained their active status at no cost.
• NEW! As our communities shutdown amid COVID, we created a new low-priced home-based membership. Many small businesses did not have an internet presence and desperately needed a low-cost, easy-to-implement, fully functional website.  The Chamber Traffic Catcher System was the answer and provided a mobile-ready website, SEO optimization, e-store front, appointment  system, and more.  

 
 Connecting and Communicating with the Business Community   

• Our stakeholders include individuals and companies with a vested interest in the work of the Chamber. Chamber stakeholders include members, non-members, event registrants, and constituents. Our stakeholders grew by 40% to 6,912 subscribers.
•  The Chamber website became a vital resource for COVID resources and more. The Chamber's homepage was visited over 68,836 times, and our calendar of events was visited 49,727 times!  
• The Chamber increased its communication with all stakeholders regarding business news, Action Alerts, economic development news, webinar announcements for a total of 341,072 touches.

 
Connecting with Residents & Building Stronger Communities

• Candidate Forums: As an organization whose mission is to advocate for business and economic development, the Chamber has a keen interest in knowing what is happening in government. But it goes deeper. The Chamber is made up of citizens who live and work in the area. This is home; our members want to know who their elected officials are and where they stand on issues that affect us all. Our 5 candidate forums were viewed 15,000 times by residents! 
•  ​Shop Local is an economic development and community building program. While our deals came to a stop because of COVID, our buy local messages continued to educate residents on the importance and benefits of supporting local businesses and civic engagement. We had over 250,000 touch points with residents in our region!
•  Directing local internet searches to our members has always been an essential benefit of joining  the Chamber. Last year the Chamber's proprietary SEO services that come free with every membership helped our business get found 1,235,882 times ​on local internet searchers.
•  NEW! The Community Chamber of Commerce  a  501 (c) (3) public charity is formed. It allows residents and businesses to make 100% tax-deductible contributions to help support the Chamber's general education programs and non-lobbying activities.   

Partnerships & Collaborations
The Chamber works with a variety of partners to help meet mutual goals in supporting the Chamber's mission, which is to champion economic prosperity, foster a pro-business climate, and improve the quality of life in our region. 
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• Harnessing the Power of the Unified Voice of the Business Community

​The Surprise Regional Chamber Commerce collaborates and shares resources and information with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Chamber Executives Association, and the West Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance.   

• NEW! Be Kind Campaign

During COVID, we recognized the need to stay connected and that every kind person can make us a stronger community. The Be Kind initiative was a collaborative effort among El Mirage, Surprise, and Youngtown in partnership with the Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce.
 

• NEW! SCORE Earns Chamber Seal of Approval:  Mentors, Free Businesses Counselling, Webinars, and More  

SCORE is the first organization to earn the Chamber's Recommended Seal of Approval for meeting our standards for quality, content, and integrity, with no affiliation to a commercial product or service. The Chamber Seal of Approval recognizes excellence,  allows the Chamber to collaborate not duplicate services already being provided in the marketplace.  SCORE is the premier source of free, confidential small business advice, not only in our region but the nation!  SCORE offers mentors, free business advice, hundreds of live and recorded webinars annually, including interactive and in-person courses in the NW Valley. 

• Workforce Development: Growing our Next Generation of Business Leaders, Entrepreneurs, and Workforce

The Chamber is unique in connecting the business community with the educational assets in our community that form the foundation of economic development. The Chamber of Commerce has a promotional partnership to support the Career and Technical Education Internship program at Dysart Unified School District.  This partnership is a strategic investment in our youth and serves to connect education to workforce development.


2020 Surveys, Findings and Reports 
The Chamber collects valuable data that can supplement existing surveys in the marketplace and help gain a local perspective on both consumer and business perceptions and opinions.
  
Shop Local Survey
Shop local and buy local campaigns are a business retention and expansion (B.R.E.) program. The program encourages and educates residents to shop and buy from local merchants. Knowing what motivates people to support local businesses provides valuable marketing information to help understand a person's motivation to support local businesses.   
#1 Reason Consumers Buy Local:  Support the local tax base, which in turn supports fire, police, and recreational services 
 
P.P.P. Funding Report
The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to avert mass layoffs during the Covid-19 pandemic. 
Key Findings:

• Close to 1,500 small businesses received P.P.P. loans in the six cities that make up the Chamber's service territory.
• But the vast majority of loans, approximately 86%, are valued under $150,000.
• The amount of cash infused into our local economy was over $154 million!
• Based on application data, the loans help to retain 6,879 workers in our region.  
• Approximately 42 businesses were non-profits (2.8% of the recipients)

​Annual Chamber Business Survey
As we work to secure the N.W. Valley's future it is crucial that the Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce understands what issues and programs are most important to businesses. The Survey was first launched in 2018 and is conducted every year. 

Top Five Most Valued Chamber Activities/Programs (in rank order):

1. Encouraging residents to shop and buy locally.
2. Convening business leaders and community stakeholders.
3. Educating tourists and residents about local assets.
4. Improving the overall business conditions/climate (Advocacy).
5. Helping to boost internet traffic to local businesses.

 
Other Surveys

• COVID Survey of Residents  
• COVID Survey of  Businesses #2
• How Are You Supporting Local Businesses