- [Voiceover] Live from your public media studios, WVIA presents, Keystone Edition Business, a public affairs program that goes beyond the headlines to address issues in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.

This is Keystone Edition Business, and now, moderator, Kris Jones.

- Hello, I'm Kris Jones.

How much do you know about what your local chamber of commerce really does?

You might think they're there to help businesses and you're right, but in reality, they do so much more.

From young professionals, to long established businesses, the chambers can help so many people with their professional journeys in so many ways.

If you have questions about how to get involved with the chamber, email us at keystone@wvia.org.

Tag us on social with the #keystonebusiness.

But first WVIA's Paul Lazar, takes a look at what the Chamber of Commerce is all about.

- [Paul] Most, if not all, communities have a chamber of commerce.

The most basic role of any chamber is to further small business' interests, but they do so much more from providing volunteer opportunities, to workforce development programs, and a variety of networking opportunities.

Members can get to know each other and even collaborate on ideas or projects.

From an entrepreneurial perspective, joining the chamber can help increase your business' visibility and credibility in the community.

Many chambers also feature a job board, which helps connect employers with potential employees, as well as project partners.

For Keystone Edition Business, I'm Paul Lazar.

- Now let's meet our panel of experts here to answer your questions on what the Chambers of Commerce can do for you.

Lindsay Griffin, is the President of the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce.

This is her first year as president, but she's been involved as vice-president for years.

Kristine Augustine, joins us as the Vice-President of the Scranton Chamber of Commerce.

Jason Fink, is the President of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, and he's joining us tonight via Zoom.

Welcome guests.

Lindsay, congratulations on taking the helm of the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Congrats.

- [Lindsay] Thank you so much.

Very excited, so, - Yes, the community is really excited.

Oh, so tell us more about your chamber.

- Yeah.

Our chamber has, you know, over the past few years really reinvented itself much like the other chambers that are here today and who we partner with.

But we really have, you know, wanted to take that leadership role in our community of being that force that you could come to for resources, whether you're an entrepreneur, a student looking to get involved, you know, a business that was in need of assistance, whether you're starting up or whether you've been around, you know, for quite some time, we really wanted to be that group that you could come to for any of those resources, and for that help and assistance.

And really again, to get that community involvement, we've noticed, you know, one of our biggest pushes has been with our young leaders, really making sure our youth are becoming involved in the community.

And we noticed that when the community is involved and they're sitting at the table together, that's when we're starting to see momentum and changes happen.

So we're really here to be that connecting force within your community.

- [Kris] That's outstanding.

- [Kristine] Yeah.

- Kristine, tell us more about your chamber.

- So the Scranton Chamber has been in existence for a really long time.

We've, we've been around for 150 years.

We have about 1,400 members and we're a nice regional partner with Lindsay and a lot of the other chambers in the local community.

We have about 1,400 members.

A lot of our members also are very small businesses and we really like to focus on making sure that those small businesses are supported.

Our primary mission is just to attract, sustain, and grow businesses in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

- Excellent.

We're gonna dive into both chambers and talk about the member benefits and a whole range of other things.

But before we get there, Jason, welcome back to Keystone Edition Business.

Always nice to have one of our favorite guests come back.

Tell us more about the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

- You know, appreciate the opportunity to be back with you.

The Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce has been fortunate to be able to be what we refer to as a full-service Chamber of Commerce.

We operate not only chamber services, but also are the travel and tourism agency for Lycoming County.

And in addition, we're also the industrial development corporation operating the industrial properties corporation here in Lycoming County.

So it gives us the ability to really get a better understanding of what all the needs are for business here in Lycoming County.

From small businesses, those mom and pops that we work with regularly, all the way through to larger businesses.

And it's nice to be able to see how all this plays off of one another, because you know, you look at it, while the Visitor's Bureau, we're trying to attract people to come here and spend their vacation time with us.

A lot of those same assets are what we use to be able to attract business and industry to come here to establish their operations.

So it's a really great mix of being able to have all these types of businesses under one roof.

- Very, very cool.

Lindsay, we're gonna come back to you here in studio.

Let's peel back the onion a bit on member benefits, right?

You guys are all member-sustaining organizations.

So what are some of those key benefits that your existing members enjoy and that perspective members might enjoy if they joined?

- Absolutely.

And we really do encourage any business to really just reach out and connect with us because I think that while our chamber members get, you know, a wide variety of membership benefits, also, it's really great to just start to have that conversation with us.

With our chamber membership, something that we really looked at a few years ago, was making sure that we were making levels of, you know, interest, how you can participate.

So with that, not only are you getting connected into our network, which is really one of the most beneficial things.

Again, when we see that community connection, when you know about other businesses in the area, resources, opportunities for growth, connecting with potential workforce, that is really one of the biggest benefits, it's that networking component, that ability to connect within your business community, and your community as a whole.

And something that, I think Jason touched on, was really the fact that, you know, we're all very much now focused on all pieces of quality of life.

So, it's, while you know, business community is our focus, there's so many other things that play into that as well.

So not only as a chamber member do you have access to that wide network that we have, but also the events that we have, the networks, the committees, again, the ability to sit at that table, getting your word out there is a huge thing.

I think a lot of us struggle with, you know, especially now during the pandemic, businesses are really just trying to stay afloat.

Getting your message out there, what's happening?

How can we support you?

How can the community still interact with your business?

So I think all those opportunities are really the basis of what it's built upon.

And from there, like I said, there's just options for you to really participate further.

If that's of interest, the job board postings that we have, volunteer opportunities, ability to connect with our economic development programs.

One of the largest, I'd say, that all of us really excelled that all the chambers was, you know, initially when, you know, COVID hit, we wanted to provide you with a lot of those things, and grants, and different opportunities to keep your business, you know, not only obviously surviving, but now at the point that we can help you to really thrive in the future.

So you're getting connected into this world of all the great resources we get access to every day, so that we can help you in the best way possible.

- Great, great.

So I'm hearing a great place to facilitate relationships.

Also, you guys seem to be a facilitator of opportunities that might exist for, in all kinds of weather and climate for businesses, Kristine, in Scranton, - [Kristine] Mm-hmm.

- You know, what are some of the things that you guys are focusing on to really give your members value?

So what are some of those highlights around member benefits?

- I think communication is critical.

So we place a really high emphasis on communicating with our members, making sure that we have that direct one-on-one contact with them, identifying what their needs are, and then trying to craft programs surrounding those various needs.

Like Lindsay said, I think the one key thing that you can take away from this is that chambers are facilitators.

We know the different dots within the community and how to connect people to them, the resources that are available, the different programs that you might be able to tap into, and all of those connections that we can make through some of those networking opportunities.

- [Kris] Terrific.

Jason, some of the highlights around your membership, benefits.

- You know, playing off of what they've all shared with you about it.

We're very similar in being able to make sure that we have the ability to know where resources are, being able to get people connected to what they need, whether it be advertising, promotion, networking, or being able to tap into financial assistance that they need to be able to grow operations, or to establish a business.

You know, those are the key things that I think, you know, whether it be locally, regionally, or even at state level, being able to tap them into those programs and services that will be able to help meet their needs as they look to either establish their operations or grow those operations.

- Excellent.

Lindsay, coming back to you, you know, let's talk about COVID, you know, it has been such a challenge for businesses in so many respects.

What are some of the things at the Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce that you guys have provided to your members to support them during this tough time?

- Yeah.

I mean, I think that, you know, COVID really shifted the dynamic of our entire world and I don't think that's, you know, a surprise to anyone watching today.

But I think what it did for us is really moved us forward in a lot of ways.

And especially, I'd say how we're operating, you know, as a chamber and how we're operating, frankly, as a region.

I think that that's one of the first things that we all did is we said, "How can we all come together and just help anyone and everyone that needs it?"

Because we had to do that.

We had to help people that needed healthcare resources.

We had to help businesses that said, "I immediately need funding to be able to stay afloat right now.

What do I do?

What phase am I in when we were in that place of, 'how do I, you know, start to reoperate my workplace when we get back and getting supplies?'"

I mean, it was just really, again, that's really where I think that we had to stand up and say, "We are gonna be this force within the community."

And we had to take that role.

So, one of the main things we did is we built a regional website, which everyone on the, you know, on our session today was a part of, we all came together collectively, there were 22 of us that said we're gonna help anyone and everyone in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

So, one of the coolest things that came out of that is those partnerships are continuing.

And I think, you know, you'll see today all of our strengths 'cause I think we all offer that, but COVID really excelled us forward in that way.

And for us, it obviously brought a new life to our benefits that we were, obviously now offering a lot of virtual options.

We were letting you connect with us in those ways, letting you connect with the community.

A lot of obviously, you know, social media usage that I think is gonna, and Zoom, that's gonna continue on for quite some time.

But we figured out how to really adapt and pivot, and still drive forward our mission if not, I'd say, much stronger.

And we really were able to help our members to, like I said, I think one of the things is knowing how they were just doing their job of trying to keep the doors open, how to get their messaging out there.

And that was one of the biggest pivots that we've made.

And I think we'll continue to make as the way that we interact with our businesses, the way that, again, like Kristine said, looking at their needs, we're still in an ever-changing environment, and we'll continue to be, I think, for a very long time.

We're reinventing what it looks like every day and we're doing that alongside of what the needs are in the business community.

- Super, super responsive and impressive.

Tell us a little bit about the Spark Program, which is a new program that you guys just announced a couple of weeks ago to help businesses interested in relocating to downtown Wilkes-Barre.

- Yeah.

And this was a great partnership with the city of Wilkes-Barre.

From their CARES Act funding, you know, they had reached out and really said, "We want to start to see, you know, this business growth again in our community, as we rebuild."

I think it's an incredible opportunity to reimagine our community in a way that we may have not saw possible.

And now we're really looking at what that means.

So we have, we were given funding, which is really exciting to be able to launch the program called Spark.

And so Spark is for any business that's interested in opening in the Wilkes-Barre city area, simply can, you know, apply right on our website.

We walk you through that process and it helps businesses with rent or mortgage assistance for up to one year.

And that really gives businesses a really solid chance along with the resources, because I will say that one of the things that comes with it is access to all these networks I'm talking about.

So we're making sure that you have everything you need free of charge to be able to be successful as you open your business.

So, Spark is something we're very excited about, and we have a lot of great locations in our city, and we're really hopeful that, you know, as we move into this next phase of what our community looks like that, and we already do, we have a great amount of interest in this program.

And I think it's a great thing to see.

We know entrepreneurs are going to be one of the things that are really borne out of this pandemic and we're seeing that firsthand.

And now we have not only these resources, but we also have financial, you know, a backing to that now that we can help you to be successful, so, - [Kris] Yeah, - we're very excited about the launch of Spark.

- That's great.

And it really speaks to Mayor Brown's leadership in the city - [Lindsay] Absolutely.

- of Wilkes-Barre - [Lindsay] He's wonderful.

- Yep.

Kristine, let's take a look at what you guys are doing in Scranton for COVID and to support the businesses.

- So COVID really opened our eyes to, again, how we communicate with our members.

So we put a really, really strong focus on that one-on-one communication, making sure that we had as much information as possible because there were, people were inundated with different pieces of information from different groups.

So we made sure that we had all of our information centralized in one place, and we will continue to do that as long as COVID is with us.

We really focused on helping small businesses during COVID.

We administered a number of grant programs, which gave us an incredible opportunity to reach out to small businesses, to learn what they needed, and how we could help them.

We also have launched a small loan program for small businesses to help them recover.

Or even expand their operations as we transition into this next phase of COVID.

We also learned that we need to put a huge focus on workforce development opportunities and helping businesses connect with those workers that can help them move into the next phase.

- Yeah, that's great.

And I know Mayor Cognetti, he's also doing a great job in the city of Scranton.

Jason, tell us about the Williamsport area and some of the programs you may have had there to help out your members.

- You know, it was interesting.

I think we all were kind of caught off guard back in March of 2020 when it's all hit us.

One of the first things that we did was, as I refer to it is, "we dug through the couch cushions", and we tried to find whatever money that we had here in the organization to be able to feed into area businesses, those small businesses that were sitting there saying, "I need assistance in making rent payments, or covering food costs", whatever they needed assistance with.

We were fortunate enough to be able to come up with a program to kick that off before all the federal funding even came into play.

And then fortunately, we were able to do a second round in partnering with the county commissioners.

And I will tip my hat to the county commissioners.

They've been a great partner with us on a number of things, but in particular, as we were working through COVID, being able to assist us on some of those programs.

You know, not only on the small business side of it, but we also saw some larger businesses that unfortunately got pinched during the pandemic.

Those out there may have recalled hearing about Shop-Vac, announcing their closure, which really surprised us.

We were fortunate enough that we were able to work to assist in getting a new buyer.

And they're back in growth mode on that.

You know, a lot of our programs were available to any business.

For those businesses that weren't members of the chamber, such as Shop-Vac, for example, it gave them an opportunity to get a sense of what our organization is capable of doing.

And now the nice thing is, they got a taste of it, and we've seen a number of new members joined from it as well.

- So you guys are home to the little league baseball if I'm not mistaken.

And I believe one of the new projects that you guys are working on, and I'd love for you to briefly tell us a little bit more about it, has to do with the Visitor's Bureau and a baseball/softball complex.

Tell us a little bit more about that.

- Yes, very excited about this project.

It's a project that we had started actually prior to COVID.

We got setback a little bit with it, but we're reinitiating the efforts and are hoping to break ground this year on what would be a 28-acre baseball/softball complex.

It would be all FieldTurf.

It's about a $17-million commitment by our organization.

We've already acquired the land.

The nice thing is it's a brownfield property rate in the heart of the city of Williamsport, right along 180, adjacent to Penn college that will provide six little league baseball/softball fields.

And then one collegiate baseball field that both Penn College and Lycoming College will be able to enjoy.

In addition to that, we were looking at Williamsport Area School District, having that available for their softball program to utilize.

And then from the tourism side of it, sports tourism is big.

Obviously, we have a brand that is known worldwide, and this will give those who want to experience Williamsport and baseball or softball, that opportunity to be able to come and do that here, starting next year.

- So exciting and I'm glad you had a platform tonight to share with to our viewers about that exciting project.

So, coming back here in studio, let's talk briefly about entrepreneurship and some of the things that your chambers are doing.

So, Lindsay, let's start with you.

Just highlight some of the things that you guys are thinking about in 2022 and beyond to support, sort of, entrepreneurship, more businesses being created within your region.

- Sure.

And really with that, I mean, I think with Spark launching, really propelled us also our system, Wilkes-Barre Connect, which is a free system anyone from the community can access.

That's up and running.

It's been throughout the pandemic.

I think really that was more assisting really with those initial pandemic-related questions and assistance during that time.

But Connect is there for businesses to reach out to, again, this is a free program.

Anyone can, you know, connect with us, whether you're in an idea phase, whatever phase of business development you're in as an entrepreneur.

Come in through the system and again, we get you connected into our wonderful world of Connect partners who are really the best and brightest in the area of helping to, you know, grow your business.

And so through that process, we can really help connect you.

So whether you're your initial phase of working with maybe our small business development center, business planning, getting that idea into fruition, into maybe you're looking for funding.

Now, you're looking to go through our pitch program, which is our version of Shark Tank, which is getting entrepreneurs to that next level and working with partners like yourself at the accelerator.

So it's really getting into that network of the amazing entrepreneurial community we have here in NEPA.

I think it's something that we don't talk about enough, but all of us have these outstanding programs to really grow entrepreneurs.

And again, when you're getting into these networks, you're having this entire community of resources at your fingertips.

So that system has been in place and we're, you know, working to continue growing Connect and its programs.

There are several, you know, highlights we do throughout the year.

We have a Spotlight program which highlights local entrepreneurs.

Honor, which is our Veteran Entrepreneurial Program.

We have our one-on-one series, which are educational videos.

And then Pitch of course, that I already spoke about.

And Intern, which is really our, again, connection in that workforce community of getting our students and our younger, our youth involved with the careers that are right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

So again, we know that the entrepreneurial spirit and what's grown out of the pandemic is gonna be like nothing we've ever seen.

For us in the entrepreneurial community, it's very exciting because I think it's gonna bring us a lot of new ideas and businesses.

And we're already seeing that here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

So I think all of those things put together, make this the perfect place for you to open your business, launch that idea.

And, you know, we encourage you to, again, reach out to any of us.

We all have great programs in whatever city you're located in, so, - Excuse me, and for our viewers, you could go to wva.org and we have links to each of the chamber websites to learn more about any of the programs, any of the benefits, and to get signed up if you're not signed up.

Kristine, let's talk about entrepreneurship in the Scranton area.

What are some of the things you guys are doing?

- So we have a number of different programs that we offer small businesses in Scranton.

We also have an entrepreneurship program, it's called IGNITE.

We just recently relaunched it at the end of 2021.

And IGNITE is borne out of our desire to again, grow small businesses in Scranton.

We have two incubator facilities, one in Scranton and one in Archbald.

And both of those house a number of small businesses from the very, very, very basic startup businesses, to those that are expanding.

And through our IGNITE program, we encourage the development of additional small businesses and supporting them through one-on-one counseling.

We have a number of small business financing programs that they can tap into, but really the basis of it is connecting them again with those networks of experts, our small business development center, partners, attorneys, accountants, everyone is there to help these businesses grow and thrive in our region.

- Excellent.

Jason, how about out in Williamsport, the Lycoming area?

- You know, it's fortunate enough for us.

You know, we've got a very strong network here, partnership with the Small Business Development Center, out at center of county, state college, the university there, in addition to that, just down the road is Bucknell University and their SBDC.

So we have the ability to connect them that way.

One attractive thing for us here is we have a local economic development foundation, called the Lycoming Economic Development Foundation that we partnership regularly, on projects.

They have the ability to do loans on the small scale, up to a half-million dollars.

And in certain circumstances, they will go up to a million dollars for projects.

So being able to connect them to those types of resources, because financing is always a challenge for small businesses to be able to access.

And the nice thing is we have those resources.

The chamber itself also has its own micro-loan program.

We will do projects for financing between $5,000 up to $50,000.

And it's really a great network to be able to get small businesses connected into those resources.

- Excellent.

To conclude the show, we have a couple of minutes left.

Let's talk about regional collaboration.

Often the chambers get a rap for being parochial, but having some familiarity, but also in getting to know you two, and Jason, you better, you guys really believe in this idea of regional collaboration.

So Lindsay, can you tell us a little bit more about some of the things you've been doing with the other chambers to be able to serve your members better?

- Sure.

I think that our strength is really, in all of us partnering together, as you can tell today, even from when all of us spoke, we all have so many different things that really we specialize in and that we can help connect with.

So we, again, through the pandemic, had really come together and now what's furthering into that is our regional collaborations.

And a lot of that is starting with some of our events and our initiatives that we're working towards together.

We do the regional Empower Women's Conference with Kristine and her amazing team at the Scranton Chamber, developed that years ago.

But now we're over 500 women strong that we bring together every spring.

We're now gonna collaborate on our Young Professionals Awards, a very important thing, I think, really highlighting and supporting our young people again, as they come up into, you know, our industry here in the area.

So, that'll be a regional event you'll see this year, as well as our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, which are gonna be regional collaboration.

So, so many of the resources that you'll see us do, whether it's Facebooks or, you know, different Zoom sessions, we're us, again, putting all these resources in one place, putting it out there collectively.

And again, in a lot of the loan programs and things that you heard about today, we were really trying to bring all those things into one place to make it as easy as we can for those people that needed it to connect with it.

And that's, I think where our future is going, that we're, we all have such great assets of what we're really great at and making sure that we're doing the best thing for the people in the area and, you know, connecting the businesses with the right parties.

So the regionalization, I think, is really something that we're all really excited about and focused on and looking forward to a strong future with that.

- And a really nice thing is that when we did the prep calls for this, the familiarity that all three of you had with one another, and you were sharing stories of how you were collaborating both in, in dark times, like the pandemic, as well as just good times.

I'd like to thank our panelists for participating and thank you for joining us.

For more information on this topic and how to get involved with your chamber of commerce, please visit wva.org/keystonebusiness.

And remember you can rewatch this episode on-demand anytime online or on the WVIA app.

For Keystone Edition, I'm Kris Jones.

Thank you for watching.

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