NKY Chamber board chair Jim Parsons wants to increase participation to strengthen its influence

By Kevin Eigelbach
NKyTribune reporter

When you think of the phrase “Chamber of Commerce,” what comes to mind?

If you said, “My dad’s organization,” you’re not alone.

That’s exactly how some young people see organizations such as the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, said the new chairman of the Chamber’s board of directors, Jim Parsons.

One of his priorities as chairman will be to ensure that the Chamber is relevant to the needs of small startup companies typically founded by young adults, he said.

A way to do that is to increase membership, which fell during the years following the Great Recession, but recently started trending upward. The chamber gained about 250 members during the 12 months that ended Aug. 31, said outgoing chairman Rhonda Whitaker.

“The more members we have, the more participation we have and the more relevant we can be,” Parsons said.

Making the Chamber relevant to members’ needs can prove difficult because not all members want the same thing.

“We need to be an organization they don’t have to be a member of, but want to be members of,” he said.

Some larger companies join the Chamber to support its lobbying for business-friendly legislation from Kentucky’s General Assembly.

Some business people join for the Chamber’s educational programming about changes in tax laws, government regulation, and the local educational system.

Some owners of small business just want the chamber’s events to attract a large crowd so that they can network and find potential customers. That requires programming that’s not only educational but entertaining, Parsons said, such as the Chamber’s “Pints and Perspectives” program in January, a sold-out look at the bourbon industry held at New Riff Distilling in Newport.

Parsons understands that business people want a return on their investment for joining the Chamber, that it must offer them a strong value proposition, Whitaker said. He knows that not only must the Chamber work to defeat bad legislation, it must also let members know why that’s good for them, she said.

In addition to trying to keep the Chamber relevant for today’s business people, Parsons also plans to spend some of his yearlong term talking about the past. His term will include the 50^th anniversary of the Chamber’s founding on April 1, 1959.

The character of the Chamber’s membership has changed a lot since then, Parsons said. In 1959, most local businesses had their headquarters in Northern Kentucky and were owned locally. Now, many businesses, especially those in manufacturing, have headquarters in other parts of the country and even overseas.

It’s sometimes difficult to sell such businesses on joining a local Chamber of Commerce, Parsons said.

Though the membership looks different, the Chamber’s mission remains the same: to promote business and a strong local economy.

Through his leadership of the board, Parsons will try to keep the Chamber’s staff implementing that vision.

Having spent many years working in local governments in Northern Kentucky, Parsons knows about motivating staff to implement a policy. He served as county administrator and deputy county judge/executive in Boone County and as City Manager of Newport, among others, during his public service years.

After he left the public sector to practice law, he focused on getting projects financed through tax incentives such as the development of the former Showcase Cinemas site in Erlanger and the Ark Encounter in Williamstown.

He likes seeing such developments take shape, knowing he helped to make them happen.

“He’s seen, in the state, as an expert in tax-increment financing,” Whitaker said. “He has a real knack for and knowledge of the political process.”

The Northern Kentucky Chamber will hold its annual meeting tonight at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington.

Contact the Northern Kentucky Tribune at news@nkytrib.com