A popular way for new businesses to hold a grand opening is to host a ribbon-cutting, and for decades, the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce would send a host of red-coated ambassadors to appear at its members’ events.
But starting Jan. 1, the chamber discontinued the program and released its 24 volunteer ambassadors from their service. The chamber’s board of directors plans to reshape the program and could relaunch it as soon as March, but details are not solidified, said Kevin Getch, board chair. The decision created hurt feelings from the ambassadors, but Getch said they will be able to reapply. The application process is not yet determined.
“This is a bold move, given the reliance the Chamber has had on Ambassadors at our events,” John McDonagh, president and CEO of the chamber, wrote in a letter to the ambassadors.
The changes are part of an effort to modernize the nonprofit business organization, and they include a renovation of the chamber’s office space, at 1101 Broadway, to give it more of a “creative agency” feel, said Getch. The chamber also plans to launch a new Lemonade Day program that enters classrooms and teaches financial literacy and other business skills.
In April, the chamber marks its 130th anniversary, making it one of the longest-running organizations in the county.
“Let’s use our 130th anniversary to reimagine what the chamber is going to be,” McDonagh said.
The next ribbon-cutting is set for Tuesday at the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington’s 30th anniversary celebration. It will be held without any ambassadors.
‘We just want appreciation’
Dave Jacobus had served as an ambassador since 2001, and is one of the 24 who were dismissed, a move that he said was insensitive and hurtful to the chamber’s mission. That appears to be the consensus among the former ambassadors.
Jacobus, who owns Jacobus CARSTAR auto body shop, said the ambassador program began its downfall in 2019 when Barb Holbrook left her spot as a program coordinator. The incoming coordinator, Rachel Epstein, implemented a tiered ambassador program where the more money the business paid to the chamber, the more ambassadors would come to the ribbon-cuttings. (Epstein has since left the chamber.)
The tiered system was difficult to organize because ambassadors had to learn to use an app to communicate, Jacobus said, and he and others felt like they were commodities. (The old program extended an open invitation to all ambassadors for any ribbon-cutting)
Jacobus said he suspects the chamber was trying to clear out its older members.
“It might be a good thing,” he said. “They want the old people to be out of there. They want new blood. We just want appreciation.”
McDonagh wrote in the letter to the former ambassadors “how tremendously we value the many contributions made on behalf of the Chamber over the years.”
But Jacobus said he would probably cancel his chamber membership, about $490 a year, because of the decision.
In terms of revenue, the Chamber of Commerce is seeing success. Annual revenue increased in the past decade, from $669,110 in 2010 to $991,014 in 2018, according to the company’s 990 forms submitted to the IRS.
The board of directors is holding a retreat in Kalama or at the Windy Hills Winery in Ridgefield in February, Getch said, when they will think of their vision for the future of the chamber.
