Chamber Core Competencies < Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce

Rohnert Park Chamber Core Competencies

Mission Statement

The Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce is where business and community leaders meet to shape a better tomorrow for their community and to strengthen, enhance and protect businesses in Rohnert Park by concentrating on the businesses and community economic needs.

WE FOCUS ON BUSINESS

CREATING A STRONG LOCAL ECONOMYThe Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce promotes the local economy by encouraging Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce members and Rohnert Park residents to "Buy in Rohnert Park". "Buy in Rohnert Park" is part of the Chamber's We CARE program. CARE stands for Customers Always Receive Excellent service while shopping or being served by Chamber businesses. Rohnert Park Chamber gives out its excellent members as referrals to the community needs for products and service. The Chamber website has detailed information about local businesses in the community.

The Rohnert Park Chamber also provides many educational opportunities throughout the year such as Good Morning Rohnert Park, Focus Rohnert Park a Yearly Economic Outlook, NoonTimes and Women in Business Luncheons. To showcase local businesses, the Chamber also sponsors the annual Chamber Business Expo.　　

Economic Development This is a key function that supports the Chamber's mission of creating an environment in which businesses can prosper. The Chamber partners with the California Business Development Center (CBDC) to offer free or low cost workshops for small businesses, as well as small business counseling. The Chamber partners with the Sonoma County Tourism Program and the DoubleTree Hotel to promote the city to visitors and tourists. Over one-third of the city's operating budget is comprised of income from sales taxes, business fees and hotel room tax (TOT) paid by overnight visitors. These sources of income contribute significantly to paying for city services such as police and fire, street maintenance, recreation and other services. Under a contractual partnership with the city, the Chamber wrote the city's first economic development plan and is responsible for carrying it out.

PROMOTING THE COMMUNITY The Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce promotes the local community by:

Providing lists of community events
Providing information for visitors and people relocating to Rohnert Park
Recommending Chamber Members to residences and visitors

The Chamber's Annual Luncheon promotes local businesses with awards that are presented to the Business of the Year, among others.　

Business, Resident and Visitor Information Center Highly trained staff members provide information of all kinds to local residents and people visiting Sonoma County. The Chamber's offices are a source of free printed materials including maps, brochures, travel magazines, food and wine references, public transportation schedules, business information and resource, demographics, real estate publications, school information, entertainment and event listings. Annually visitors stop at the Chamber. The Chamber prints the official city map, which is available at the Chamber and City Hall. The Chamber also prints the annual Business Resource Directory which is distributed free to all residents. It lists all member businesses as well as demographic information and pertinent information about city departments and services.

Chamber staff takes compiling and updating demographic and business information seriously, source materials and Chamber compiled local demographic and business community information is available free at the Chamber's offices.

PROVIDING NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES　The Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce promotes networking by sponsoring monthly Business After Hours Mixers at local businesses. The mixers are an excellent opportunity to meet other Chamber members and learn about their businesses. Other special events such as the Business Expo, the Focus Rohnert Park, Good Morning Rohnert Park, NoonTimes and Women in Business also provide great opportunities for members to network with other business professionals.　

Rohnert Park Chamber also provides connectivity opportunities for those business owners who do not have the time to attend all the many networking opportunities that the Chamber offers.
　
Education
Staying current with technological developments and applications to business practices is critical to success. One of the prime directives of the Chamber is to help businesses become and stay successful. At Noon Times experts are invited to speak on a multitude of topics.
Central to the success of businesses is the quality of employees. Through partnerships with non-profit organizations, the school district and Sonoma State University, the Chamber helps businesses participate in mentoring, job shadowing and curriculum development to train future employees. Chamber members contributed advice, financial support and equipment to the Technology High School and to the creation of the future Sonoma State University Engineering Masters Degree program.

REPRESENTING BUSINESS TO GOVERNMENT
Government Affairs The Chamber is a local advocate for member businesses and lobbies on the local, regional and state level on issues and legislation that affect the business community. These roles of advocate and lobbyist are accomplished through building relationships with elected officials and educating them in the needs and positions of the local business community. The Chamber leverages its influence and effectiveness by joining forces with Marin and Sonoma County chambers on regional issues and with the California Chamber of Commerce on statewide issues.
Some of the regional issues the Chamber is involved in are transportation, housing, land use, resource conservation and education. On the local level it is participating in implementing the city's General Plan through writing ordinances, contributing to specific plan areas such as the proposed University Square and the new city center; taking a leadership role in solving the affordable housing dilemma; supporting Sonoma State University Music Center; lobbying for golf course improvements; being a spokesperson for business expansion and leading the way in bringing together University students and the business community. The Chamber participated in creating the General Plan and was instrumental in helping to pass the Urban Growth Boundary ballot measure.

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