When Jill Albin, director of the Richmond Area Chamber of Commerce, turned in her retirement letter to the chamber board of directors, it didn’t mean the nonprofit incorporated 40 year ago should close down.
“My retirement is not supposed to mean they close, and my plan did not precipitate the idea to close,” Albin said. “I gave them my letter in November and I offered to train someone new if they wanted me to do that.”
Yet in the months since Albin announced her retirement, the board of directors has repeatedly met to discuss what direction to go in and recently decided to cease operating in the city.
“The vote was not to close, but to disband, the chamber because of a lack of interest (from members) and opposition from the municipality,” said board member Arianna Welsh, owner of Mother Earth Natural Health in New Haven. “With the total lack of interest from the membership it was hard to carry on.”
Chamber board President Yvonne Markel, owner of Laser-Mark-It in Richmond, said she couldn’t agree more and feels bad about the decision. Despite having 130 members in the chamber, a handful of people might show up for a monthly meeting, and fewer turn up to help out at events, Markel said.
“We are all sad that this is happening,” she added. “It’s very disappointing.”
The chamber will host a meeting at 7:30 a.m. April 18 at the Richmond Community Center. All interested members are invited to attend and share their ideas about the fate of the organization.
Chamber decision a surprise
As word got out in the community that the chamber might close, it was unpleasant news to some, and a surprise and disappointment to Richmond Mayor Tim Rix.
“The chamber is a very important part of the community,” Rix said. “I’ve already heard that people are interested in picking this up and I certainly don’t want to see the door slammed shut there.”
While the chamber and the city have always been completely separate entities, Rix said he takes offense at any implication that officials didn’t support the group. He said over the years they have done everything from providing manpower from the department of public works for chamber events that needed tear downs to giving monetary help with TIFA funds, and in general, being a go-to when asked while supporting events the chamber launched in the city.
“This town has bent over backwards for years to support the chamber,” Rix said. “And I don’t know what other city has down more to support a chamber. I was a teenager putting up Christmas lights on behalf of the chamber with my dad. That’s how far this organization goes back in this community.”
The manner in which the chamber may be dissolved is also questioned by Rix, who wondered why the board didn’t let the membership and community know about the decision so that someone else could step forward to run things.
Albin, Welsh and Markel all point to the membership’s lack of interest and support over the past year as to why it didn’t seem like a formal announcement was necessary. Albin said a letter about the plan and checks refunding dues to members was to be mailed as the chamber closed.
Markel said the chamber was often criticized by members who wanted know exactly what the chamber was doing for their businesses.
“I would ask them, ‘What are you doing?'” Markel said. “They are supposed to be part of this, not just paying your dues and expecting someone to send a busload of 50 people to your business.”
“We just could not get enough people involved, but instead of coming to us and saying, ‘Why aren’t you doing this or that?’ they just didn’t show up,” Albin added. “Well, the mind reader part of my job didn’t kick in yet I guess, and we all feel really bad about this.”
Sponsorship support remained strong for chamber events, but running them with a handful of volunteers just became too much.
Markel also said the use of social media may have played a part in the direction the chamber took because it seems people, including business owners, are becoming content to get information online rather that at events and meetings.
“It’s like people don’t want that personal contact anymore,” Markel said.
Albin ready to retire
Hired at the Richmond chamber as an office assistant in 2010 before being named to lead the organization in 2012, Albin reports to a board comprising area business owners.
The chamber provided its membership with a weekly newsletter via email and distributed 9,000 map books, marking the location of businesses in the chamber.
In addition, the chamber sponsored many events in the city over the years, including an annual trick-or-treat night, a winter festival with ice sculptures, an elected officials breakfast forum and a popular scarecrow contest downtown in the fall.
Albin also introduced new events, including the Alpaca Races and Drag Queen Bingo. Most recently, she was starting to promote events at Richmond Community Schools, hosting an afternoon at the movies for local families during the winter festival.
“I think we provided a lot for our little businesses that they wouldn’t be able to do on their own,” Albin said.
She said it is also important to note that while Richmond has 228 businesses, 53 belong to the chamber of commerce, which means only a quarter of the chamber’s overall membership is in the city.
Members are businesses and organizations from the city of Richmond and Richmond, Lenox, Columbus and Casco townships, as well as other businesses that have an interest in the area.
The final Richmond Area Chamber of Commerce meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. April 18 at the Richmond Community Center, located at 36164 Festival Drive in Richmond.
Barb Pert Templeton is a freelance reporter. She can be contacted at barbperttempleton.reporter@yahoo.com.
