Mission-Driven Work Pays Off in St. Paul

Chamber professionals are known for wearing many hats. The St. Paul Area Chamber is using that ability to their financial benefit through WorkStream, a program that provides services and support to local municipalities and organizations that share in its mission. “We feel passionately about chambers being a vital resource in our community,” said Kim O’Brien, the chamber’s vice president of strategic initiatives. “We know we need to find new ways to do business and to earn revenue.”

The chamber had three small contracts with municipal partners focused on business recruitment and expansion, along with business attraction visits. Inspired by ACCE’s Horizon Initiative, the idea to build a brand, strategy and division to establish a new stream of revenue came together. Creating WorkStream allowed them to market the work they were already doing with partners that shared in the mission, while simultaneously earning non-dues revenue for the chamber. In the four years since WorkStream was launched the chamber now holds a dozen contracts, supports four WorksSream employees and its revenue makes up one-third of the chamber’s budget.

“In addition to supporting staff on its own, we’re also subsidizing and supporting staff to do the member work we need to for our region,” said O’Brien. She said WorkStream is a way for the chamber to bolster its vision while finding new revenue streams, expanding partnerships and serving the community in a new way.

O’Brien has three official hats – serving as vice president at the chamber, executive director for the Rice & Larpenteur Alliance and administrative manager of the Oakdale Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber doesn’t want to compete with smaller neighborhood organizations, and they can provide a chamber professional to help with the basics for mostly volunteer-run groups. Her work for the Oakdale Chamber includes updating the website, answering emails, attending events and providing support and structure for an active board.

WorkStream continues to grow as the chamber responds to regional requests for proposals. Word of mouth has brought additional clients, as well. One response to an RFP led the chamber to the Rice & Larpenteur Alliance, a group formed when three cities came together to work on a border neighborhood with a struggling commercial corridor. The chamber built a neighborhood association brand, created a board of directors with committees and continues to fundraise to support economic development and placemaking initiatives.

The chamber uses a decision tree to lead them to the opportunities that make the most sense, and all partners must share in the mission. “We believe in the value of our work,” O’Brien said. “We have to find revenue to do it.”