Being a Productive Part of the Business Community Should include Public Service
You don’t have to run for the legislature, the senate, city council or even the school board to make a difference in your community. Serving on boards and commissions should be a part of how business people give back to a community that has supported and enhanced their business ventures.
The Bend Chamber of Commerce recently sent out a search for people interested in running for its board of directors. I took special note of their search as I have pointed out a shortage of women running for the board in past years. Even after the chamber made a concerted effort to appeal to potential women candidates out of 13 board members only four are presently women. And yet we know that women make up at least 50 percent of the business community. The Redmond Chamber with 18 board members has nine who are women and the Sisters Chamber shows ten members, six are women. It’s interesting that these two smaller chambers are able to attract more business women.
What this says to me is that not enough women are making an effort to volunteer for the Bend chamber board. So this is a special appeal to the hundreds of business women in the Bend area who want to (and should) get involved. If for some reason you don’t like the way the chamber does certain things, my response is that you cannot change anything unless you participate!
One of the biggest challenges facing our government is the proliferation of career politicians in a two party system. But we don’t have that problem with boards of directors: it’s not a career and you don’t have to take a political side. We need leaders from all walks of life who will represent the spirit and prosperity of our business community. If you want to be a productive citizen you should consider running for a chamber board seat.
One of the nice things about serving on a chamber board (I served eight years on the Redmond board) is that petty disagreements, turf wars and personal vendettas are not part of the environment. The main focus of chamber board members is how to make their community economically viable and how to support the businesses that choose to be a part of the chamber. You will also be pleasantly surprised as to how serving on a board with your peers can change your perspective and open your eyes to possibilities.
According to the Bend chambers notice: the annual election for the open positions will be held later this fall. The Board of Directors is seeking a diverse group of Chamber members to run for the open positions. Interested parties must be a current Chamber member and have time to devote to board responsibilities and Chamber activities. A term on the Board of Directors is for three years starting January 1.
Complete the following questions and return them, with a cover letter to the Nomination Committee Chair no later than July 31, 2012.
1. Why would you like to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Bend Chamber of Commerce?
2. What are your qualifications as a board member?
3. In your estimation, what are the four top issues facing the Bend Business community, and what are you general thoughts relative to those issues?
Send all questionnaires and information to Kyle Frick, Nomination Committee Chair: Bend Chamber of Commerce, Attn: Kyle Frick, 777 NW Wall St., Ste. 200, Bend, OR 97701, or kyle@midoregon.com.
I encourage everyone to consider at one time or another of serving on a chamber board of directors. The integrity and economic prosperity of our communities in Central Oregon depends on it. pha
