Local chambers, uptown group use power of organization to benefit their members

When it comes to businesses helping businesses, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce stands out as an invaluable resource for over 400 local shops of all types and stripes.

In Athens, an offshoot of the chamber is the Athens Uptown Business Association, which meets once a month and works to address the concerns, wants and needs of all of the uptown businesses.

In the north part of Athens County the Nelsonville Area Chamber of Commerce does its part to promote, attract and strengthen businesses in the Nelsonville area.

Athens Chamber Director Wendy Jakmas said last week that up until 2009 the Athens chamber was in charge of economic development duties as well as its current marketing and support duties. At that point, the Athens County Economic Development Council, otherwise known as Business Remixed, was formed, and the chamber has since been able to focus solely on its support and marketing duties. (See separate article in this issue on the Economic Development Council.)

"It makes being a chamber a lot nicer because you can truly advocate for your members," Jakmas said. "You can totally, 100 percent advocate. You don't have to worry about monies coming from other sources. We're totally member dues and investment driven."

Jakmas said her charge is to do everything she can to help member businesses grow and thrive and help deal with issues that come up.

"My job is to find resources for our members to help them, give them a leg up," she said.

She pointed to everything from helping out with signage to communicating with city officials to advocate for getting infrastructure fixed, such as a pothole outside of a business's parking lot.

"I'm very pleased with our relationship with the city," she said. "I think the city listens if I call. I feel really good about our rapport."

Jakmas also cited a business fair that the chamber coordinated with Business Remixed, the Ohio University Innovation Center and OU's small business center.

At this point, the Athens chamber has close to 475 members, Jakmas said. Because the chamber is membership based, she said it is also 100 percent non-partisan and is not politically active.

She said that chamber members range from the largest employer in the county, Ohio University, to at-home start-up businesses.

"We do the whole range," she said. "It runs the whole gamut. The city of Athens is a member. The city of Nelsonville is a member. The hospital. Holzer Clinic. We go from large to (small)."

She cited savings that the chamber is able to offer members by working as a group, such as $157,000 it was able to save collectively in worker's compensation fees. The chamber is also able to allow member to pool for savings on electricity and health-care costs.

A lot of businesses don't have the funds to market themselves appropriately either, Jakmas said, and the chamber has a line item in its budget to help with those efforts as well.

"We can (tell people) to look for (the chamber's) logo," she said. "Support the businesses that support you."

She pointed to another program that the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce was the first to get involved with in Ohio, called "Hunters Feed the Hungry." She said that the area has a lot of hunters, and the highly successful program was able to proved over 11,000 pounds of venison to area food programs.

"That's something good that we can do," she said.

AN OFFSHOOT OF THE CHAMBER in this area is the Athens Uptown Business Association, or AUBA. President John Wharton said last week that uptown business owners pay dues and the association tries to use that money to promote events to draw people to the uptown area.

"We just try to make people aware that there is more to the uptown area than just burgers and beer," he said.

Wharton praised the job the city of Nelsonville has done to keep its rent prices reasonable so that vacancies get filled quickly. He said that some building owners in Athens may be asking for too much in rent, considering several storefronts that have spent years empty.

"That hurts the charm of the downtown to have empty storefronts," he said.

The vacancy problem in Athens, he added, however, isn't very severe compared to a city such as Logan, which has many empty storefronts.

When AUBA meets monthly, he said, uptown business owners talk about what can be done to make the area more attractive and to generate traffic.

"We have great representation by the city at those meetings," he said. "They are very sympathetic. Our administration, they've been more than willing to be supportive of efforts to keep the downtown vital."

When it comes down to it, compared to the rest of the country, Athens distinguishes itself by having such a vibrant downtown area, he said.

"We've got 20,000 potential customers, a block away, or two blocks away," he said. "There's competition, but the university has been very supportive of trying to assist us. They don't want the downtown to be a ghost town."

Wharton said that part of the charm of Athens, and why some students choose to come here, is because of the small-town atmosphere with a vibrant downtown.

"Our biggest events that we try to coordinate are around the holiday season, which is of course a quiet time," he said. "We try to bring people uptown who otherwise might not be here."

He pointed to wagon rides, a Santa's house and other enticements to bring traffic to the area when students are out of town for the time between Thanksgiving and the New Year. AUBA also coordinates a trick or treat for children around Halloween.

"That's been very popular," he said. "Anything that we can do to help businesses be successful."

He cited AUBA's helping with parking issues, as well as trash concerns in the past.

"Any issue they feel might detract from their ability to be successful, we try to find solutions," he said.

The Nelsonville chamber does many of the same things the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce does, including group purchasing discounts, business to business networking opportunities, and generating community exposure. The chamber's annual Business Appreciation Dinner (held earlier this month at the beginning of Parade of the Hills) and the Business Recognition Dinner and Business Expo, held every spring, are two events that raise the chamber and its members' profile in the broader community.