Tag Archives: chamber of commerce

12.21.12
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A new era

As we head into a brand-new year, the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce ushers in a new era by kicking off 2013 at our annual meeting, ‘Toast to Business.’ Hundreds
of business leaders will gather to welcome the 2013 Chairman of the Board, Mitch Glaeser, and celebrate an evening of prestigious honors and special announcements.
The Toast to Business celebration fittingly follows the Council for Economic Outreach’s
recent Value Statement, which highlighted major accomplishments over the last two years regarding the development of the Gainesville economy, recruitment and expansion of business, and the creation of over 700 jobs and nearly $7 million in capital investment in Alachua County.

Decades of work have been put into building what Gainesville is now, a talented workforce, strong education system, a vibrant startup scene, thriving arts and culture, growing businesses in growing industry sectors, and a very high quality of life. As we move forward into 2013, the foundations of an innovation-based economy are in place. Decades of work have been put into building what Gainesville is now, a talented workforce, strong education
system, a vibrant startup scene, thriving arts and culture, growing businesses in growing industry sectors, and a very high quality of life. The goal is to not only maintain and sustain
these accomplishments but to continue to build momentum and develop talent in our ever increasingly competitive global economy. Historically, chambers of commerce organizations
have been created and sustained by providing businesses with a vehicle to accomplish what no small business could accomplish alone. We will use this strength to win the global talent war.

To recognize and capitalize on the opportunities that 2013 will bring, we will lean on our economic development initiative, Innovation Gainesville, and work collaboratively to ensure that the new era will be one in which Gainesville sets a model for the nation.

10.15.12
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Gainesville Chamber President & CEO Announcement

(As released by the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce on July 27, 2012)

The Board of the Directors of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce selected Tim Giuliani as the new president and chief executive officer following a national search.  He and the Chamber’s leadership team will work closely with community, educational and business leaders to advance Innovation Gainesville and create an environment where businesses can succeed.

“The Gainesville Chamber is leading our economy forward through the Innovation Gainesville initiative led by a collaboration of committed leaders.  Today, our community gains a leader who will propel our initiatives forward and take our nationally recognized organization to the next level,” said Mike Gallagher, chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors and President and CEO of SantaFe HealthCare and its affiliates.

Gallagher said, “Tim is already highly familiar with our chamber and Gainesville, having served as our director of Membership from 2006 to 2008. During his tenure he added 200 members to our organization. We expect to see the same level of success from Tim in this new role.”

Giuliani returns to Gainesville from Tallahassee where he served as vice president of Corporate Outreach and Engagement for the Florida Chamber of Commerce since February 2008. In that role, he managed statewide outreach, fundraising and grassroots efforts for the state’s largest business advocacy organization.

The Chamber Board of Directors established a search committee led by chair-elect Mitch Glaeser following the resignation of Brent Christensen, who took a position to head the economic development efforts for the Mississippi Development Authority after leading the Gainesville Chamber for 10 years.  After reviewing information on prospective candidates compiled by The PACE Group, a national search firm, the selection committee chose Giuliani after interviewing several candidates. They made their recommendations to the Chamber Board of Directors on July 20.

“The board unanimously approved the selection of Tim and we are confident that our 5-Star chamber is bringing in the best of the best by conducting a thorough national search,” Glaeser said.

Through collaboration with the University of Florida, Santa Fe College and others, the Innovation Gainesville initiative has already begun to show strong results.  Dr. Win Phillips, senior vice president and chief operating officer at UF, and a member of the search committee said, “The University has made a long term commitment to Innovation Gainesville and the relationship between the chamber and university is strong and is good for our entire community.”

Sonia Douglas has served as interim President and CEO since the departure of Brent Christensen.  “Sonia and the rest of the leadership team have provided exemplary leadership during the transition period.  The staff is top notch and I look forward to what we can accomplish together,” said Tim Giuliani.

“I am honored and excited to be selected to lead such a distinguished organization at a time when the need for economic leadership and job creation are so vital,” Giuliani said.  “My wife and I are University of Florida alumni, we consider Gainesville home, and we are looking forward to being very involved in the Gainesville community.”

Giuliani earned his bachelor’s in economics and communication from Florida State University and his M.B.A. from the UF Warrington College of Business Administration. Giuliani and his wife, Sarah, both from St. Augustine, FL, have two sons and a daughter. He is expected to start in his position in mid-August.

02.27.12
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850 Magazine Cover

850_magazine_cover

What a surprise to be on the cover of the business magazine of Northwest Florida.  I work with such a high caliber team, anyone is worthy of the recognition.  

Having a uber-wife makes something like this possible.  A great partnership can never be over-rated.  I’m grateful and humbled by the recognition.

08.31.11
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Consider this when evaluating events

Evaluation_graphic

How you evaluate your events matters.  Some nonprofits are built to use events as a financial mean to a financial end.  However, many others use events as part of their strategy and/or to further enhance their brand.  The challenge is to make the decision, “why do we do events.”

By asking this question, you can readjust your performance matrix to be in line with the goals of your events.  This will better align your organization and get everyone on the same page, particularly if it generates a great debate about “why.”  Just remember, you can’t fix the “how,” unless you address the “why.”

This isn’t to be overlooked or done once and then put to bed.  Due to the rate of turnover in many nonprofits, many staff people inherit events that they didn’t launch.  Is your staff clear about the goals for events and is that what you are using to evaluate results?

 

02.02.11
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What to do about too many member benefits

Intuitively you know your organization is trying to do too much, yet it seems like every force of nature keeps you from cutting back on your number of products, programs and services.  It is easy to ask “why do we have so many offerings or benefits,” but very difficult to make a focused change.  For instance, view the York County Regional Chamber website, full of member benefits.  I had to point out one organization to make my point, but this list of benefits is more common than not.

Prune your benefits

Look no further than the city of Boston to get a sense of what you up against.  Have you ever wondered if they knew the concept of “city planning?”  Have you wondered who designed their roads?  The answer is very insightful.  Years and years ago, early city developers and city officials paved over cow paths to create many of the roads that still make up the streets of Boston.  I’m sure you could do some research in your organization and find interesting answers to “why did we start this offering?”

Sometimes, the answer to these challenges can be found in nature.  Taking a hard look at programs and services can be equated to pruning.  Spend 3 minutes reading the Wikipedia.org entry for pruning and you can begin to understand why this exercise is so important.  Remember Pareto’s 80/20 rule.  I believe you will find that new benefits have been added because new leadership or staff have wanted to “make their mark.”  I’m sure you’ll also agree with the observation that a board has never seen a program or service that it didn’t like.

If you want to make a significant improvement in your organization, build a case for “pruning” your programs and services.  Because of the recession, you’ve never had a better time!