Monthly Roundup - December 2023

#ChamberStrong Initiatives

• The Brooklyn Chamber granted $75,000 in checks to 12 businesses that were affected across the borough as a result of heavy rain storms that hit in September. The chamber worked with New York-Presbyterian Health System and Wells Fargo on the program.
• The Greater Sarasota Chamber convened a variety of businesses and community stakeholders to present possible solutions to a growing problem in the region – the lack of affordable housing. The event featured a series of short presentations that defined the challenge and raised potential solutions, including expediting permitting processes, adjusting impact fees, redeveloping commercial properties, changing zoning laws, creating a community land trust and more.
• The Portland Metro Chamber developed a long-term strategy to study and redress historic economic inequities among Portland’s Black citizens. This work culminated in creating and seed funding a new, wholly independent organization, the Black Business Association of Oregon (BBAO). Last month, BBAO launched the Black Prosperity Dashboard to inform decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public as they consider changes to public systems, policies, and practices to support more broadly shared economic prosperity.
• The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and the Cheyenne Board of Realtors released a housing study, identifying the strengths and challenges for housing in the Cheyenne community. The study found that, while Cheyenne developers have been building at an aggressive rate, more units will be needed in the future. 
• The Greater Albuquerque Chamber released its 2023-2024 Plan of Action, which identified downtown transformation, public safety and education as the top issues the chamber will work to address in the year ahead.
• The Columbia Chamber took its annual leadership visit to Madison, Wisconsin to learn how city leaders dealt with similar homelessness challenges as Columbia is facing now.  
• The Kentucky Chamber released its 2024 legislative agenda, detailing its priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Top issues include building a more competitive tax climate, increasing workforce availability, growing the state’s signature industries and more.
• Aspire Johnson County announced that supporting quality early childhood education and supporting creative workforce incentives would be the organization’s top priorities for the 2024 legislative session.
• The Cuyahoga Falls Chamber launched the Gateway, a new coworking and networking space offering designated cubicles, executive offices, a kitchenette, meeting locations, a conference room and more.