Here at the Prineville – Crook County Chamber of Commerce, our staff and Board of Directors set goals each year as to what we want to accomplish, and when looking back, we realized that in 2022 we truly met or exceeded them. As a membership organization and visitor center, most of what we do falls into the service category. We are here to serve our members, our community, and our visitors.
In 2022 we started looking at what we could do to make our offerings more accessible and far-reaching to those we serve. Many of our member services became available online. We created a process so that new businesses could sign up for membership online. When we had an event, we made online forms for registration. For our visitors, we created a way for our visiting outdoor enthusiasts to purchase our local rockhound maps online and cyclists to register their local trip on a form that let us know who they were, where they were going and when they would return. In each of these areas, we saw an increase in usage. Our online membership registration was used frequently, rockhound map sales increased by more than 65% in 2022 and we saw more cyclists than ever show up to our office as the starting point to explore the roadways in our County.
With a partnership between Meta, Rachael Gass Organizational Consulting and Coaching, and the Prineville – Crook County Chamber we were able to offer a no-cost Women In Leadership program to local businesses looking to strengthen their workforce. This program focused on helping women enhance their impact from where they sit, regardless of title or position. Topics discussed were harnessing values and strengths to the Imposter Syndrome, the language we use, managing your energy (not our time), and the “why” behind why all these things are hard. Feedback the Chamber received was that the attendees thought it was extremely successful, with one stating, “Great presentation of valuable information. I’ve already experienced self-improvement since the first class.” It is programs like these that the Chamber hopes to expand upon in 2023.
We also created a way for members to post local jobs with the creation of Prinevillejobs.com. In the past, this webpage listed all local jobs that appeared with a feed of local Google job listings. The new page gives our members the opportunity to go in and share hiring opportunities locally. This is normally a tedious and costly service that websites like LinkedIn and Indeed offer, but a free service with an annual Chamber Membership. We regularly see this page as one of the most visited on our site and the goal is to help our businesses find employees and help our community locate jobs.
We had a goal in 2022 to grow our Shop Prineville e-gift card program and did that by more than doubling the number of local businesses available for redemption. This program was set up by the Chamber to help keep local dollars spent within our community, and not online or in other towns. With 30 local restaurants, retailers, and businesses now on board, the opportunities to spend your dollars locally keep growing. In December, we ran a buy-one-get-one-free gift card program which boosted the sale of the local e-gift cards. These e-gift cards can be purchased on the Prineville Chamber website, which also includes a list of participating merchants. We continue to conduct a comprehensive outreach campaign to inform local businesses about this opportunity and inform the public on how to purchase. The cards purchased can be redeemed at any participating Prineville – Crook County business and they allow customers to print, text, or email the e-gift card. Instructions for how to purchase the card and how to become a participating merchant are online at https://prinevillechamber.com/shop-prineville.
As we start 2023, we continue to forge forward with our goals as stated below:
- Provide valued support to chamber members through the provision of direct services for business development; leadership development, education; marketing: and community promotion.
- Make the Prineville-Crook County Chamber the best business and community resource citizens look to for information, support, & leadership in the region.
- Serve as the convener and coalition builder around areas of development, economic importance, and other issues critical to our region.
- Champion business development, a vital economy and a high-value community, as foundations for quality of life in our region
- Connect to other like-minded organizations in the Central Oregon region to create a collective voice that in turn strengthens livability and vitality in Crook County.
- Make Crook County and Prineville a destination of choice in which to do business as well as to live, work, and play.
The Prineville Crook County Chamber definitely made some changes in how we operated and what we offered in 2022, but we’re also proud of what hasn’t changed in Crook County: our steadfast commitment to delivering for our members, businesses, and the community at the very highest levels, and to making sure we are there to meet your needs. We look forward to serving Prineville and Crook County in 2023.
