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Chamber To Go Regional |
By
Leah M. Kosin
Observer Staff Writer |
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The
Herndon Dulles Chamber of
Commerce proposed Tuesday to
change its name to the Dulles
Regional Chamber of Commerce,
with offices operating as the
Herndon Chamber of Commerce and
Chantilly-Centreville chamber.
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Members will vote on the name
change at a special meeting Aug.
24. |
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During the chamber's annual
luncheon, incoming chairman
Justin Exner, who replaced Pat
Williams, said the proposed
change was based on feedback the
chamber received from
businesses. Research showed that
businesses desired more focus on
local relations but also would
like to see more interaction at
the regional level, Exner said.
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"We
started off by talking to the
membership and getting some
input from them," Exner said.
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He
said creating the Dulles
Regional chamber would provide
the services members want, while
maintaining the historical
presence of the Herndon chamber
and allowing local service to
Chantilly and Centreville
businesses. |
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Along with the unveiling of a
new logo featuring an artistic
rendering of Dulles
International Airport, Exner
also presented the chamber's new
slogan, "Great Connections." |
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"As
a chamber we looked at the
fundamental desire of our
members which was to connect
with other people," he said.
"'Great Connections' was
obviously the most creative
thing because of its link to
Dulles." |
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Exner said the strategic
planning for the change began in
July 2004, and the working group
that developed the details was
put in place a little over six
months ago. |
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Chamber President Eileen Curtis
said the new name and slogan are
a welcomed change because they
will help to blend Herndon and
the Chantilly-Centreville area
where the chamber does business.
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The
chamber incorporated the name
"Dulles" into its name about
five years ago when it began
serving Chantilly and
Centreville. But Curtis said
experience has shown that it is
difficult for people to attend
programs outside of their
community because of traffic and
time limitations. |
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"Every community has its own
challenges and we were faced
with one that was frankly
geographic," she said. "Once we
recognized that it was affecting
the ability of our members to
attend events, we said, ‘OK,
let's see what we can to do to
make local networking better.'"
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Curtis said members of the new
Dulles Regional chamber will be
able to network locally and
regionally. |
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"It
gives us the opportunity now,
with the structure that we're
putting in place, to solidify
some of the best practices of
the things that we've been doing
already," said chamber board
member Danny Vargas. "We've been
acting locally both in the
Herndon area as well as in the
Chantilly-Centreville area and
we've been acting regionally in
many ways. What it does is gives
us the opportunity to actually
put it in place in a more clear
fashion for everyone involved." |
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Tom
McCammon, a Herndon native and
community volunteer, said he was
concerned that the chamber's
longtime focus on the Town of
Herndon would fade if the
organization made its focus more
regional than local. |
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But
Curtis said the chamber is
committed to retaining its base
in Herndon, while expanding its
ability to advocate on behalf of
business at the state and
national level. She pointed out
that the return of the Herndon
Chamber of Commerce will enhance
the chamber's focus on the town,
and all of its local programs
will continue. |
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"I
think it's important to look at
reality and the reality is that
we're sitting in a remarkable
area of growth," Curtis said.
"The Chantilly and Centreville
areas have been underserved
until we were invited to become
a chamber for that community.
But nothing's going away. We are
just trying to bring two
communities together and we
figured the name change was a
better move to reinvent the
entity." |
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Exner emphasized that the
chamber is only proposing a
change of a name, and that it
will continue serving businesses
in Herndon, Chantilly and
Centreville as it has in the
past. |
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"What we had in mind, was to
make sure that we did everything
we could to best serve the
numbers and the business
communities in the different
geographies that we serve,"
Vargas said. "Don't think of it
as taking anything away from
Herndon. Think of it as adding
to the Herndon business
community, adding a stronger
chamber of commerce that will be
able to handle the advocacy
issues in a much stronger way. I
think it's going to be adding to
Herndon, not taking anything
away." |
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The
chamber now has offices in
Herndon's Town Hall and a small
Centreville-Chantilly office.
Curtis said both offices will
stay where they are for now. |
