The Holbrook Chamber of Commerce has some exciting plans in the works. According to Director Cindy Tafoya, beginning in March the chamber board will be trying a pilot program to adjust their meeting schedule. According to Tafoya, rather than a full meeting each month, the board will instead meet once every other month. In the months in between, there will be executive board committee meeting where executive members will focus on strategic planning.
Events, chamber activities and any board action will take place in the general meetings. “It lessens the number of times the board of directors have to come together. But since there won’t be as many meetings, for the regular membership we will be facilitating a network session beginning in March then every three months after that, with businesses to host each one.”
These meetings would be held to find out what is important to business leaders and help drive the goals of the chamber. The details on those meetings have not been finalized. Events and activity meetings will be open to the public and strategic meeting will just be for the executive board to attend.
“I am trying to balance the chambers direction coming out of this pandemic. We have been heavy on events for a while and light on business development. Even though we have worked on projects to change that, such as the recent Holbrook Revitalization and Recover Project grant, right now seems to be the most opportune time to strengthen our businesses with trainings and resource referrals for both existing and potential businesses,” stated Tafoya.
As an example of that effort, the Entrepreneur Series hosted by the chamber has wrapped up with 19 people enrolled. “I think the people that attended via zoom appreciated the information. They are really getting connected to the SBDC (Small Business Development Center). Also participating was Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA).”
With the success of the endeavor, another free training series is set to begin called Small Business Digital Academy. The ACA will provide training for six weeks, two hours each day, twice a week. This will help businesses assess their digital presence. The details on this series were not finalized as of press time but those interested are encouraged to reach out to Tafoya for more information.
In an effort to connect with surrounding communities, Tafoya has also partnered with Winslow to promote Moonshot, an entrepreneur opportunity to pitch their ideas for funding and training. That event will be held on April 8 and 9 and local entrepreneurs are encouraged to reach out to Tafoya for information on how to take part for cash prizes and scholarships, and to gain exposure for their business ideas.
Upcoming events planned include Holbrook’s annual Clean Up Day, which will be held April 23. The chamber is in need of sponsors for that event to provide supplies. Old West Fest is slated to take place October and summer drive-in movies will be held. Local businesses are being asked to sponsor the drive-in movies as each of the movies cost over $300 to acquire.
The annual Community Awards reception has been postponed to the end of March because of the recent surge in COVID. “We will host the reception either March 30 or 31 at the Elks. We will have a raffle beginning after valentines for Mother’s Day.”
There will be no Route 66 Festival this year as there is no group available to take over that event.
Tafoya also expressed her gratitude to the organizations that stepped up and planned and facilitated the numerous holiday events. “It is nearly impossible to do them all well ourselves. I am grateful that the church coalition will continue to take charge of the festival of trees. They did an amazing job this year. The Kiwanis has assumed the Light Up Holbrook and had great participation. This has allowed the chamber to focus on the Christmas Parade and the shop local for the holidays campaign through our 12 Days of Christmas.”
One event that she is hoping to have return is the Gunslinger Car Show. “I hope we can recruit someone with the experience and knowledge of putting on a car show.”
Tafoya noted that for local business owners there is a free business registry form on the chamber website. “I am encouraging all businesses to sign up their business. I’ll be working with Local First Arizona through a grant they received to create a community profile that will support tourism preparation and promotion funding. Its free to the chamber and benefits all our businesses and National Park. We should be getting started on the process in the next couple of months,” explained Tafoya.
The chamber board is also currently accepting letters of interest to fill two vacancies on the board. One was vacated by Tara Young, and the other was Jason Danch. All that is required to be considered is a letter of interest and the person must be or become a chamber member at the time of submitting the letter. The board then will make the final decision.
Currently serving on the executive board is President Daniella Day, with Home Town Lenders; Vice President Shar Gillespie, with Summit Healthcare; Secretary Cheyenne Gillespie; and Treasurer is Janet Dean, with Arizona Public Service.
For more information on what the chamber has available for local businesses, visit https://www.holbrookazchamber.org/ or their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HolbrookChamber.
