For over 100 years, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been the world's largest business federation, representing the business interest of more than three million businesses of all sizes.
KVNF Senior Reporter spoke with Mariah Emond, Executive Director for the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce, to talk about our local chapter that's been around since 1910. There are roughly 140 chapters in Colorado.
LISA YOUNG: Mariah, why is the Chamber of Commerce still important for businesses and communities today?
MARAIH EMOND: Well, thanks, Lisa. This is a great opportunity to think about our relevancy as chambers of commerce. We have had an extensive history of supporting businesses. As a membership-driven organization, we have the possibility and the opportunity to take care of businesses in ways that maybe other governmental or more regulated industries can't. We have opportunities as a chamber of commerce to specialize in the ways that we support businesses. Rural versus urban.
We're not like any other county. We have so many special agritourism (businesses) and things that are going on, events, people, it's really great to be part of a chamber of commerce right now that is supporting our people.
YOUNG: Tell me a little bit about the area that the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce covers and approximately how many businesses are involved here?
EMOND: So we have a growing membership of about 180 current organizations, 30% of those are non-profits. We're very excited to support non-profit work in the county that we work in.
We span the whole entirety of Delta County. We support everything that's going on in Delta all the way up to Paonia, Crawford, Hotchkiss, and Cedaredge. We do have two other Chamber partners, which are the North Fork Valley Chamber and the Grand Mesa Business Guild, which we work with and collaborate often.
YOUNG: Before we talk about the services that the Chamber provides to members and the community at large, tell us where you're located or how you actually operate your side of the business.
EMOND: Super. Well, we figure that if you need something, it's easiest if we come to you. We're a service-based organization, so if there is something that you need from the chamber, we would hope that you would call, email, or let us know. We do house in the coworking section of the Delta Library Innovation Space, which is in the same building of the library but behind.
This is a membership driven area so, just dropping by the chamber doesn't really have any value unless I'm here waiting for you. So we ask people to make appointments or I'll come to you. Just give us a call.
YOUNG: Tell us about the services that you provide. I was looking on your website and I noticed several areas that I thought would be very interesting for our local businesses.
EMOND: Our membership services are based into three categories. We connect, collaborate, and champion. And within those three categories, we're hoping that businesses find the places that they need (such as) support services, resources, advocacy, and networking.
We often find that a lot of business owners are solopreneurs, meaning they're the only ones really running and managing the day-to-day business, which can be lonely. Those businesses that don't succeed in Delta County have often said , "Wow, people just didn't know I was here until I was closing."
Our job really is to help maintain the visibility of all businesses in Delta County, to be a part of the economic development and the tourism side of helping people find those businesses when they come, visit, or they're coming to live in Delta County.
YOUNG: Let's talk about a big event that's coming up in July. As I understand it, the City of Delta and the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce are joining up to bring both the Western Sky Balloon Festival and Deltarado Days Parade over the 4th of July.
EMOND: You're right. We have had a very interesting experience in the last couple of years hosting a singular event, which we've all called Deltarado Days, which typically happened on the third weekend of July. We found that between sponsorship fatigue from our businesses, they were asked for money for multiple events over and over again, which may not be something that they were able to do, to promote and to help support these kinds of events which take a lot of money to put on.
So this year, after the advisory board had said, "You know, we're not really gaining the amount of visibility and involvement from our community, it doesn't seem that Deltarado Days is a very relevant or meaningful celebration."
So this year we're moving Deltarado Days, especially the parade, because we all know that the parade and the class reunions for Delta High alumni, is Friday, July 4th at 10 a.m.
So the chamber is still helping volunteer and support the Western Sky Balloon Festival which is is put on by the City of Delta. We think it's a wonderful festival. They've garnered a lot of support. It's super fun to go see these balloons. People love it. It just has the vibe that everybody wants to go for.
We are happy and hopeful that more people will be involved in community events to show that all of the time, effort, energy, and money that we spend putting on community events is well worth it.
YOUNG: Is there anything else that you'd like to add that I didn't ask you about or we haven't talked about regarding the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce?
EMOND: Well, I would love anybody who's interested to hear from you. If you have concerns or questions or if you're really interested in getting involved in the community as a business support or an advocate or an ambassador, we'd love to hear from you. So feel free to call, email, or contact us. Look us up online. We've got lots going on and we're happy, happy to collaborate.