The Boulder Area Chamber of Commerce is making a strategic change of direction — beginning in December with a pizza dinner for its members.
The Chamber also canceled its last community event of the year, the Holiday Christmas Bazaar, due to the pandemic, which continues to grind on into fall.
The Board had responded to a July 6 letter from member and Arctic Heat owner Carey Burnside, which criticized the Chamber’s focus on community events over supporting its dues paying members.
The Chamber needs to do the events, but it also needs to focus more on its members, said Board member Carellen Nix at the Sept. 16 meeting.
Burnside had suggested that networking events were a good way for members and business owners to share information — and pointed out that many Chambers of Commerce host these types of events.
The Board decided to give it a try and settled on a pizza dinner scheduled as part of the Dec. 16 meeting at The River.
The Chamber hosts several public-oriented events a year, to include the Community-wide Garage and Yard Sale, the Farmers Market, the Classic Car Show, the Music & Arts Festival and the Holiday Christmas Bazaar.
The Chamber also approved the hiring of a part-time contractor to assist with communicating with members and the public, at an estimated cost of $3,200 a year.
And because the majority of events this year, to now include the Holiday Christmas Bazaar, had to be canceled due to COVID-19, the Chamber Board has voted to extend the 2020 membership fee through 2021.
“It’s a real positive move,” said Chamber President Bruce Binkowski. Members will be notified of this change later this year.
The Holiday Christmas Bazaar, scheduled for Nov. 21, was canceled due to the continued unpredictability of the pandemic, as the event has typically been held in the Jefferson High School gym. Three weeks into the new school year, classes went remote for a day due to a positive COVID-19 case — and that switch was made with less than a 24 hour notice.
It was for that reason the Board decided it was best to cancel the bazaar — as well as it being late in the year to begin planning the event — and look forward to 2021.
