At their core, area chambers of commerce serve to represent the needs and interests of local business owners, said Lori Fickling, Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce CEO. But when faced with unprecedented stress on local economies, North Texas chamber and association leaders said they are in straits just as dire as those of their business constituents.
“We advocate for small businesses,” Fickling said. “We're here to help local businesses grow. So whether it's a small business of one or two or five or 10 people, or a major corporation, we're the connector to the community. I think the chamber is a necessary component to any successful and thriving business community. That’s what our priority is, but we’re hurting right now too.”
When Congress passed the CARES Act in March, it excluded 501(c)(6) organizations, such as chambers of commerce, from accessing loans and grants made available to most other small businesses, according to the American Society of Association Executives. A second round of funding approved April 24 is also not available to chambers.
Chris Wallace is president and CEO of the North Texas Commission, the regional public-private partnership between businesses, cities, education institutions and other local stakeholders. He said he is calling on North Texas' congressional representatives to include associations in the next stimulus bill.
"In recent discussions with our 15 members of Congress, we are encouraging them to include associations and chambers of commerce (501(c)(6) organizations in the next stimulus package," Wallace said in a statement. "The COVID-19 pandemic has also created financial hardships on chambers and associations, who, during this time, are busy navigating emergency aid resources for their own members."
Because chambers of commerce operate as businesses, each with their own staff, the Lewisville and Flower Mound chambers of commerce have been involved in local, regional and statewide efforts to advocate for relief for chambers.
Lori Walker, the CEO of the Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce, said she has been on multiple calls with state lawmakers in recent days.
“We want to make sure they hear our voice and know that it’s really important for our chambers to have some type of relief for the sake of our local economic development and our local business community,” Walker said.
Chambers of commerce are valuable to local businesses because they connect owners with the rest of the community and with resources that can help them succeed, Walker said. And even as the chamber feels the financial strain caused by the coronavirus, Walker said she remains focused on helping members through this hard time.
“We called every single member, more than 700 people,” Walker said. “We had a lot of very depressing and sad calls. In the first week, people didn't know how long they could hold on in the beginning. They were worried about having to lay people off. Now, we get past weeks three and four, and some of them have had to make those layoffs. So the emotional side of this is hard and we want to help them through it.”
Fickling said she has had similar conversations with Lewisville business owners.
“We are just feverishly trying to figure out things we can do to help our businesses because so many of them are just in a terrible situation,” Fickling said.
