May 31, 2024 • 43 mins
In the fourth episode of "The Main Street Exchange," hosts Stephen Mirabal and Micah Robinson welcome Jamie Church from the Farmington Chamber of Commerce. Jamie shares her inspiring journey from a nonprofit professional to a passionate advocate for small businesses. Learn about the vital role chambers of commerce play in community growth, Jamie's personal story of resilience, and practical advice for small business owners navigating challenges. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this episode offers valuable insights into building a supportive business community.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
All righty. Wow.
Well, we are on our fourth podcast here.
Welcome to the Main Street Exchange.
we got me Stephen Marble, mica,and our guest, Jamie Church
here from, a local chamber of commercehere in Farmington.
It's the Farmington Chamber of Commerce.
And so we're so gladthat you came to join us today.
(00:20):
And, as I was just telling youa little bit ago,
this podcast really is for this,the small business owner
that that, they're in the trenches,right there in the trenches
of doing what they can to to, do what they love
working, feeding their families andand growing their businesses.
And so I wanted to be able to really dive
(00:42):
into really the role of, of chambersand communities.
We know that they're the backboneof Main Street America.
Really, Chamber of Commerce is,and also a little bit of your back story,
because I wanted to be ableto give some clarity
and some direction to peoplewho feel like they have
certain giftings,they don't know where to place them.
(01:05):
Maybe they're altruistic, maybe it's, all these different angles that I think,
if I say somyself, embodies in Jamie Church,
just this true, genuine spirit.
for the community.
she didn't know I was going to sayall these things
that I know, but I'm blushing.
She's going.
(01:27):
But the thing is, is,
I do think that successful chambershave successful people running them. Yes.
Okay. And, I mean,I don't want to throw too many stones.
There's a lot of peopledoing some great work,
but there's also communities reallysuffering because of poor leadership.
Yeah, right.
And there's no way around that.
Because I would say the fervor thatyou bring in our community is very unique.
(01:47):
And so I want to be able
to share some of those qualitiesand characteristics that have driven you
to make such a successful chamberin Farmington.
And so let's just kind of start with, unless are there some other things
you kind of wanted to cover today, too,with, with chambers and how it works?
Yeah.
Networking obviously, but
when you talk about the benefits of thatand your experience with that
(02:09):
and some of those success storieswe'd love to hear. Sure.
some of that.
So, yeah, we'll just kind of start offand, and.
Yeah, tell us, tell us the Jami backstoryand what made you into this?
I would say an entrepreneur spiritrunning our chamber.
And so give us a little bitabout your backstory.
I will so Ibefore I became the CEO of the chamber
(02:31):
in 2019, I was on the board of directorsof the chamber.
Prior to that, I had worked for a localnonprofit agency here in Farmington.
So I had a lot of experience, 12 yearsof experience and reaching out to donors
and supporters of that nonprofit,and always had a strong sense
that I would never hesitate to ask a donorto support an agency
(02:56):
or somebody to join the chamber,because if I believe in it,
I have no problemasking other people to support it.
Yeah.
So the nonprofit I was working for,I believed in strongly,
and I believe very strongly in chambers
and my own personal storyand why I finally put my resume
out for this job at the chamberwas because my dad was a business
(03:21):
owner in Durango, Colorado,and that's where I was raised.
That's where I grewup, was in Durango, and my dad had a
I knew that, but I didn't knowthat your dad was an entrepreneur.
Yes. Okay.
So my dad had a businessand it started in our home called
Southwest Camera Repair,
which you guys will relate towith all the photos and all that stuff.
Your dad was a camera repair guys.
(03:41):
And my dad, I'm a nerd out here in the.
He started in our home and,
repairing tourists cameras because no kid,I'm not even joking about this.
They would be on the train.
The Durango Silverton train.
And there's a great shotas the train comes around the bend.
If you lean far enough out,you can get that engine,
(04:03):
but then they would drop it to a busand they'd have to stop the train
and they'd get the camera, and then they'dtaken to my dad and he would fix them.
This is a long time ago.
This is like in the 1970s.This is a long, long time ago.
Anyway, he also did film processing,which nobody does anymore.
And it's really an art. Yeah.
So he had he did video production.
(04:23):
He had a business.
And it eventually becamesomething called a Western audiovisual
in the West Building. Okay.
And I wish I could tell youthis story has a happy ending.
Oh, no, it does not.
So my dad's business was struggling, andhe was just about to lose his business.
And I was young.
I wasI was just married, actually, Steven.
(04:46):
I had just had Spencer,you know, my oldest son.
So I was all very,you know, wrapped up in having a baby.
But sadly enough, the stress of it,he actually had a heart attack
and died in his office in the Westbuilding, right there at the stress,
I think, of knowing that the business,he was going to lose it.
So at that time I said I would never, everown small business.
(05:07):
I mean, literally killing my dad.
But I had the opportunity to advocatefor small businesses, and I think that's
why I'm so passionate about the chamber,because I see that
it's not just, hey, look at our cool sign,or what can we do?
It is the people's lives they are giving,sacrificing their time, their money,
their sometimes their family time tothis is their livelihood.
(05:29):
It's much more than just a signor a brick and mortar
or a chamber membershipor anything like that.
So when I had the opportunityto take the chamber job,
I felt very passionate about it.
And that's why,
because I think if I could have been thereto advocate for my dad's business or,
you know, at that time, I don't know ifit would have made the difference or not.
I'm sure that there were a lot of factorsinvolved, but now I'm in the position
(05:53):
where I can really advocate forand support and connect small businesses.
So that's part of my storyand why I'm so passionate
about what I do in the chamberand for small business and the community.
Yeah.
And I think that's a really good segueinto the idea that if you,
businessesand entrepreneurs have formation stories.
(06:16):
Yeah, that, push them to that,
to that next spot, I mean, mineI mean, we're kind of going here, right?
Yeah, mine was my my grandfather,my grandfather.
he always pushed his grandkids,you know, he was that golden generation.
Believe in your dreams.
American exceptionalism.
That was my grandfather's life.
(06:37):
He, he was an optometrist,but he also served in World War two.
And so he came with this extra level of.
You have no clue how how privileged
you are to live in these United States,
to own a businessand to hire employees and do these things.
And of course, I'm ten years old.
(06:59):
12 years old.
Finally, the last couple yearsof his life, I was 15, 16.
You can kind of think for yourself nowand you kind of individuation is setting
in, you know, in your personalityand how you operate and stuff.
And in those last two years,I really feel I cherished his pushing,
you know, towards and at the time I didn't
(07:20):
I didn't want to be a business owner.
At the time,I just knew I had that adventurous spirit.
And so I started playing classical guitar.
And you'reSantana is the classical guitar.
That's how we connected Tanner, right?
Was, you know,
he would finger pick and I was like, yeah,oh my gosh, I know another.
And she was in my youth
group at the time and it was just likea really cool connector.
But that classical guitar,you know, he drove in me
(07:41):
the the work ethic to like practice,practice, practice, practice.
And of course I was OCD,so I practiced like six hours a day
because I wanted to be perfect.
but it was all
because of, of of that, you know,and then my other grandfather
was a business owner as well of a stringof barber shops in Las Cruces.
And so having that in my family,
(08:04):
I wanted to I think it was just in me,you know, to wanting to do that.
I know you well.
It's interestingdoing some of that to Jamie.
I think, like it's interesting because youdo you have an entrepreneurial spirit,
but the kind of the redirection of thatin your life because of that story.
Right? Right.
Like that's huge.
And wow, what an experience.
(08:25):
Like, well, that's why I get so sadwhen I see some of our chamber
members have to close their doors.
I mean, I think I take it very personally,like, could I have done more to.
And I realized thatthey have a lot of other things going on.
And we're, you know, we're the chamberand there's only so much we can do.
But then I always think, should I,you know,
should I have shared their post more?
Should I have,you know, done more right to, to help
(08:48):
and to connect them to the resourcesthat are here and that are here to support
small business?
Well,I think that's really you know, what it
one of the things that I feel likesmall business needs so much is when,
when people go into small business,they have this desire
to do something with their skillset, gifts that they've been given.
Right.
And, and, and yet oftentimes
(09:12):
they don't go in it with the mindset ofthey don't know what they don't know.
Right, right.
And or that personally,
they're going to have certain thingsthat are,
hiccups or downfalls or weaknessesthat they have to work through,
or they have to find a wayto strengthen. Right.
And I think, you know, oftentimes manypeople aren't like wonderful networkers.
(09:35):
That's not maybe their giftingor they're not great salespeople
or something like that. Right.
And, you know, soif they're if that's not naturally their,
their place, you know,I think the conversation has to be had.
Like, how do you deal with that?
You know, how do youhow do you help yourself,
(09:57):
learnsome of these things that you don't know?
How do you make the right connectionswith people?
if you're not naturally a networker,
how do you get yourself in that spaceso that you can still at least
have those opportunities to to growor even sustain, right.
Because if you're not growing
technically, you're you'rekind of you're kind of going downhill.
(10:20):
Right?The economy and prices are going up.
So so if you're not growingthat matters is on a downhill.
Well, if you're not a natural networker,
at least educate yourself onwhat's out there,
what different marketing platformsthere are at the chamber.
We have a lot of networking events,but they're at all levels,
(10:44):
so we have some big networking eventsthat can be very overwhelming
and intimidating.
If you're kind of a,
you know, an introvert,you're not used to walking up
to somebody, hi,I'm so-and-so, here's my business card.
Those can be really intimidating.
But then we have all these other
smaller onesthat are like business builder workshops
or lunch and learns or things like thatthat are a much smaller group of people.
(11:05):
And we always allow time at theseat these workshops for some networking
in the beginning, and we're talking groupsof maybe 10 or 12.
So when that's much less intimidatingthan walking into a business
after hours with 120 people. Right.
And I think to even with those,I would encourage people that if you feel
like you're on the outside looking
in, you'll be shocked at,you know, everyone's internal speak.
(11:29):
Yeah, is freaking out.
So you're you're really not alone, right?
And you are in a spacewhere everyone is willing to learn, right?
I've in fact, at the Farmington Chamber,I've never gone into a conversation
where everyone's flexing.
Socially it's it just doesn't happen.
You think it's going to happen
or you think of your worst high schoolnightmare or college nightmare
(11:53):
Steve is going to make
you like maybe it's because maybe that'sthe value of our community too.
I think.
So in San Juan County in for thosewho are watching, it's it's kind of an old
oil field town trying to transition,you know, into new spaces.
yep.
There's the good old boy side for sure.That's there.
Yeah, but it doesn'tmean it's not down to earth.
(12:15):
I mean, everyone, even even our last focuson Farmington.
Tons of people participation.
but everyone's kind of awkwardtogether, right?
You know? Right.
And you kind of slip into a conversationwith your coffee. Hi.
My name's Stephen. What's your name?
And, yeah, you're going to havea cold open some times,
but if you can't do that,maybe invite someone that you do know.
(12:38):
so, hey, can I tag along?I've been wanting to go. Sure.
And bring those people along.
it really isn't that bad.
After you go to one, then that that, you know, kind of just drops
whatever shieldsyou brought with you, right?
and then, you know,it is wild to how many connections
you can make at a simple networking event,right?
where you go and and you do that so.
(13:02):
Well,I mean, just in the sense of this, like,
if you were to start a business new today,one of the things I would recommend
you do is actually gojoin your Chamber of Commerce beforehand.
Absolutely.
Because the thing that you win with.
But you know,that is if you did that, say, six months
before you started the business,and then you just went out and you found
(13:25):
the people that you were expertsin the areas that you would need help.
So maybe you need some legal expertise.
Maybe you need some, accountingexpertise.
You need some marketing expertise.
You need some, building expertiseand and so forth.
You know, you find all these,these people, and, and then you find
some other people that aremaybe in the same arena, you know,
(13:49):
and then you, you start asking themjust a few questions,
you know, hey, what kind of budgetam I looking at for, accounting needs?
What kind of budgetam I looking at for marketing needs?
You know,can you just give me a shot from the hip?
I mean, just that alone could
make or
break your business from the beforeyou ever start it.
(14:11):
Because if you're going into itwith a mindset that has a complete naivete
to any kind of actual expensesthat you're going to have,
and most really like to be asked,I think people like their their knowledge.
Absolutely.
And I think there's a, a sense of, well,I don't want to, you know, I'm not
they're not going to wantto share their knowledge with me
(14:32):
because maybe they,you know when to keep it the total up.
You know, people like to be asked.
They like to be asked to be a mentorand they like to share their knowledge.
We all want a successful businesscommunity here.
I have yet to meet in my almost six yearsas a chamber director,
somebody that said no,I went, all the businesses fail, right?
Why would you?
(14:52):
I mean, that'swhat makes this a great place to live.
We want our childrento, you know, grow up here
and maybe go off to college somewhere,but we want them to come back
and we want or, you know, to to be here.
And so we don't want our best resource,which is our young adults
leaving the area.
We want them to stayand open businesses in here.
And so even what happenedwith the recent plausible acquisition
(15:16):
of a of a local media company,actually our competitors.
Yeah, had the resources to buya an old legacy media company.
I'll just say the newspaper
and, a newspaperthat was purchased from an outside company
and quite frankly, didn't get us,didn't get Farmington, you know,
(15:39):
now we have a local media company again,who are our competitors.
But hearing them jump into a much
needed space to restore local
newspaper that,I mean, as soon as the old newspaper
was bought out by a global company,it's just like, well, here we go again.
You know, small town just being forgotten.
(16:01):
And it was slowly turning that way.
Just spawned this whole regionally,I would even say Four corners going
awesome. Yeah.
Like, yeah,oh my gosh, we win out of that. Why?
Because we get to retain those dollarsand letting them stay here.
And better yet, we get all local
writers,local photographers, local printing.
(16:23):
Right.
All statewide here statewide at least,but still staying here in New Mexico
and staying, locallyso that like everyone wins.
Everyone wins.
If, if even if you're watching this
and you're in a small community, there'sprobably enough work for everybody.
Celebrate your local community.
(16:43):
Let let the,
you know, go support your local chamberand figure out how you can get involved.
If someone is wanting to.
because
most likely people tap inbecause there's they're struggling.
Okay.
let's say other chamber, leadership or listening.
Okay.
What are some of those big ideasthat you can say, you know what,
(17:05):
this is really going to help your chamber
be, more successful than maybe it is.
Maybe they're struggling.
Maybe they are in a hard,good old boy town and nothing is moving.
The chamber seems to be dying,and there's not a lot of fervor.
What would you.
What would you tell that person?
And maybe it was Jamie six years ago.Yeah.
(17:27):
you know, it was a new position, right?
your predecessor did a great job.
So you walked intoa really great situation
and made it even greater and betterand brought a sense of community.
and so what if someone is
watching and they're like, man,I just don't know how to make change.
What would you tell that person?
(17:48):
So first of all, make sure,I mean, all chambers for
the majority of chambersare 500 1C6 organizations for nonprofits.
We have a board of directors.
Make sure your board is behind youand make sure you have a function
tional boardas opposed to a dysfunctional board.
Your board of directors,the you've they've got to have your back
(18:09):
and support you.
They're your ambassadors out therein the community.
Make sure your board is healthy.
And if they're not theneither bring in a mediator
or a facilitatoror find a board development class.
We actually happen to have one herein Farmington called Board Basics.
Make sure your board is healthy.
What are some of those KPIs or signals?
(18:31):
Well, that you could say,okay, that's like some help.
Oh well, if they're trying to micromanage,you know, my board is oversight,
board is governance
and oversight board is not day to dayoperation of the organization.
That's my job.
That's why they hired a CEO. Yeah.
So if your board is constantly like, well,what's going on with this employee
or what's going on with that orwhat's going that that's not governance.
(18:54):
That's not oversight.
Making sure that your board is functional.
Also make sure you're not siloed.
And we have had a tradition of thatin the past year.
But I'm glad to say that, you know,I feel like we've we've
kind of overcome that.
And what I mean bythat is we have economic development.
So four corners economic development,and we have the city of Farmington
(19:16):
economic development,
and we have the Conventionand Visitors Bureau, and we have the Sbdc,
the Small Business Development Center,and we are all working together.
We are all want the same goals.
So if the Small BusinessDevelopment Center comes to me
and says, hey, we're doing this,this workshop, will you help to share it?
Absolutely.
(19:36):
We just recently did a businessAfter Hours with Four Corners
Economic Developmentbecause it strengthens everybody.
If it can showhow we're all communicating.
So it's not Jamie not wantingto share information with anybody.
I absolutely want to share informationwith everybody.
I want to see everybody succeedbecause then we all succeed.
And then I think for the chamber's that.
(20:00):
So the focus on FarmingtonCoffees is what we call them here.
They are a monthly coffee networking thing
that is open to anybody in the community,and they're free every single month.
And we move them aroundto different locations, not necessarily
chamber members.
Those have been a game changer,I think, for getting people
connected to the communitythat are new here,
(20:22):
that are trying to meet people,
that are trying to figure outwhat's going on in the community.
So, you know, it's like,I welcome anybody to these nobody.
It's always going to be free coffee.
And excuse me, I get choked up.
No, it's it'salways going to be free coffee.
So I just
coffeeas we know we've had this discussion.
(20:43):
Coffee anyway so.
But might be but you know we
that helps people feel a part of somethingand feel connected and then yeah.
So I stand up and I say I'm Jamie Church.
This is who, you know what I do.
But then it's really about everybodywho's there.
And I give people the opportunityto like, share what they've got going on.
I would say any chamber inthe United States could do those coffees,
(21:07):
and it you don't have to make themchamber specific.
Let all the businesses get thembecause they're going to go like,
wow, there's a lot going on here.
I want to get connectedwith this organization.
And that's really a good marketing ploy.
And in our worldwe call it freemium service.
And so a freemium serviceessentially gives real world added value.
So in this case, networking coffeeand a peek
(21:30):
into what chambersnetworking can do for you, right?
For free.
No obligation.
Literally nothing. You you have to.
What is that hurt?
Like if it's not a chamber memberand it doesn't and you go take something
to their business, all that doesis advocate for the community.
What's beautiful about thisand I keep coming back to it.
And I think this is really neat.
It's that that age old saying, you know,all a rising tide raises all boats, right?
(21:55):
And and that mentality is not a scarcitymentality.
It's the difference. Right? Right.
And when a business owner goes into abusiness decision in a scarcity mentality,
there's an idea that there'sonly so much work that can be done.
And so there's onlyso much of the piece of pie.
(22:15):
So I have to not like my competitoror something like that.
Right. Because of that.
Well no there's actually a lot of nichesthat you can fill
that your competitor may not,not fill right in.
You know,you mentioned our competitor earlier.
Well, we really in a lot of wayswe don't compete because
we're in different laneson the same highway, you know.
(22:36):
So yeah, we might have some crossover.
We'll work together. Yeah.
We even actually work together.
And it doesn't it doesn't hurt anythingjust about everybody.
And I use the example of you know,some of our members are in trade.
So maybe they're plumbers,electricians. Absolutely.
There's not a single plumberor an electrician
that could handle all the clientsand business in San Juan County.
(22:59):
We have to have competition.
Competition helpseverybody and makes you better.
Yeah. Makes everybody better.
Especiallyif we'll share or learn from each other.
It is part of a healthy community.
And, that's so in 2019, when I came onboard, one of the first things we did
was we relooked at our our tagline,you guys know about marketing.
We looked at our logo,we looked at our tagline and went, okay,
(23:21):
we need a revamp here.
So we our tagline became ConnectingCommerce to Community
because that is exactlysuch a good tagline.
So yes, commerce is dependent on communityand vice versa.
And so our role is to not only connectthe businesses to each other,
but the businesses, to the
nonprofit community, to our communityat large, to our our government.
(23:43):
So everybody knows what's going on.
And it helps it helps avoid some of that.
Well, this is what I doand I'm not going to share it with you.
I don't understand the point of thatbecause
it I'm only as successfulas everybody else around me.
I mean that it's all about a team.
We have a great team at the chamber.Our staff is great.
(24:04):
Our board is great, our chamber members,and it happens where we have
chamber membersthat don't renew their memberships.
I don't know why, but it does happen.
And when I ask themwhy, they'll say I just.
I was a chamber member for a year.
I just didn't get anything out of it.
And then I'll start to ask them questions.
Did you come to one of our workshops? No.
(24:26):
Did you follow our Facebook page?
No. Did you come to any of our events? No.
And so I start to say, well,I don't even know you.
So how could you know your customers?
How do we help yoube successful when. Yeah.
We don't. We've never metyou face to face.
Like buying a beerand not swimming in it, right? Yeah.
So I mean, and it's
(24:49):
it's classic.
We'll do it all the time.
You know, they get rid of the pool. Yeah.
They fill it in because they didn't.
You didn't do anything for me.
Well do you put your so many stocks right.
We always say lookwe are not a marketing agency.
That's not who we are.You are in that space. You do a great job.
That's not what we are.We are a connector.
So we're connecting youto your potential clients and customers.
(25:11):
Yeah,we're connecting you to those resources.
If you find out.
Wow, I need help with my business plan.
I'm in a I'm going to connect youwith the Sbdc to help you grow in it.
And that's another thing, right?
Like a business owner knowing
that there's people that genuinelyare in a position to help them.
Because I know, Jimmy,
if if we came to youand we were like, listen, we really need,
(25:34):
these connectionsor do you have a connection
to this companyor that company or this person?
Because we would like to gogive them a proposal.
We think we can help them.
if we take that step of asking you.
Right.
Your genuine willingnessto help is going to try to do that, right?
(25:55):
Absolutely.
And see, that's what's whata lot of business
owners, they sit in thereand kind of wallow over the fact
that that something is not workingthe way they want to.
And instead of taking just one genuinestep of of, hey, I need help.
Right, right.
You don't have a helpbecause you didn't ask for it, right?
Like, oh, go ask, ask peoplethat are genuinely willing to help
(26:18):
to give you some help because people wantand they're out there and these classes.
Oh, so I mentioned the board basics.
I mentioned the Sbdc with the businessBuilder workshops,
and these things are freeor extremely low cost.
And so when we hear about these business,you know, these new entrepreneurs
or business people, it's likego through the right process, meet with
(26:39):
with Carmen over at the SBCbecause they have a whole plan for you.
This is going to help you be successful.
And this isn't going to cost youa lot of money.
So there are so many resources out there.
But again,if they're not connected with us,
then how are they going to knowabout those?
It's hard to find information out.
We all knowthere's information everywhere.
And so sometimes people get overwhelmed.
(26:59):
But that's you know,that's what we're there to do.
And we're also there to help youlaunch your business
when you're a chamber member.
One of the other changes I madeand was in 2019
with our ribbon cuttings,we have a group of Red coat ambassadors.
They're called the Red coatsbecause they wear red coats.
And one of them, yes, great little red.
(27:20):
And one of the changes was that
when youthat you have to be a chamber member
in order for us to do a ribbon cutting,and there's a reason for that, because you
we are going to invest in you with thisribbon cutting and sharing all your things
on social media and connecting youand putting you in the business directory.
But you need to invest with us too.
(27:42):
I mean, we're our duesfor a small business
with fiveand under employees is $200 a year.
So you break that down, divide it by 12.
If you're a small business
and we do the ribbon cuttingand we share all the information,
and you're in our business directoryand you're in the loop
and you're at this eventand that event and this event
and you get, you know, a discountto the business to business Expo
(28:02):
and you find out about the Women's Summit.
I mean, just goes on and on.
And then for salespeople,there's leads and referrals,
you know, leads and referrals, groups,all these things.
So you invest with us
and then we're going to invest with youwith the ribbon cutting.
And that was one of the changes wasyou have to be a chamber member.
Yeah I think it's a no brainer. You know.
And it's some people thinkI think they're scared.
Oh it's going to be a lot of money.
(28:24):
Well talk with us. We're willing.
We want every business to be successful.
And we know a lot of startupshave a lot of expenses that they're
you know, they're hiring an accountant.
They're getting maybe,
software, you know, some kind ofaccounting software, staffing insurance.
We understand that.
So we're there to make sure everybody issuccessful and we'll work with businesses.
But we we won't know about you and I kindI know I'm I think some people think
(28:48):
I'm really annoyingas I put out I don't know any and
I don't think yeah, I think so.
But I'll,
they'll put something out there like,hey, so-and-so has this new business
and I'll respond back on social media,have them join the chamber,
have them call us. Yeah.
And I tell people all the time,
if you are a chamber member,I am your biggest advocate.
(29:11):
I'm your biggest champion.
But I'm you know, this is what we do.
We're the Chamber of Commerce.
We're a nonprofit. We advocate for you.
But you need to bea member of the chamber.
Not that we're not going to,
of course, want every business to succeed,but we we do want you to invest in us.
Yes, I will invest in you.
And I mean, my goodness, any more like,you know, $200 goes out the door.
(29:34):
Oh, so fast.
Yeah, I know our printer just went outand spent $300 on a laser
blink without $200 going out the door,and I swear, I know, you know.
So we try to keep it reasonable.
We have a tiered.We do so many events that are free.
Yeah, that we say it doesn't matterif you're a chamber and member
not come to this.
I mean, we just we try to just broadenthat connection as much as possible.
(29:56):
But we also have bills to pay.
Yeah, we have staff.
Yeah.We have things that need to get done.
And so we do have to say okay.
Yeah. Like I said, invest in us.
So so Jamie, just kind of,you know, maybe a success story
that you could share with us,
about someone who maybe made the rightchoices.
You you saw theythey did a great job of networking.
(30:19):
They, they maybe they didn't know anythingcoming in or something like that.
I'd love to hearmaybe something that you've experienced.
Story of transformation or something.
A moving a moving element.We just through the setter.
I know we, but just operationallythat that affected you in particular.
And it doesn't always have to be aboutrevenue or things like that.
(30:39):
It's just something even subjective.
I think that I'll give an example.
She's somebody that's on our boardand somebody that I have watched
with her business grow and thrive.
And so and talk about the chili pod.
So that so I kept going over there.
And this is when our chamber offices
were downtownbefore we moved up to the college.
And I kept hassling,or you should be a chamber member.
(31:01):
You should be a chamber member,you know, started like,
I'll never eat here unless you're a chamber, which was a joke with you do is you.
Yeah, exactly.
Anyway, so I was like,this become a chamber.
So finally, they did, the chili pot did.
And the reason that this particular
chamber member stands out to meis that then Covid happened.
(31:24):
And we all know
what happened with restaurantsand the downtown renovation happened.
So not only do you have Covid,you have basically all of Maine shut down
for this beautiful renovation,which I love and I'm glad we did.
Just a rough time. So learning.
So this particular business ownerwith the chili pot really
got all the education she was ableto take advantage of all the things
(31:46):
that were offered during Covidto help businesses survive and thrive.
She not only survived, she's now expanded,
but what she does that I have noticed
is she plays well with everybody.
She is at every event I go to.
She's at other people's eventssupporting them.
So our chamber banquet this year,she supports other restaurants,
(32:09):
she supports other restaurants.
She understands that the wayfor all of us to
to succeed is to succeed together.
So we did for our chamber banquet back inFebruary, a sort of a newer type of meal.
It was,I called it the Taste of Farmington.
And so we didn't just have one restaurantcatering that.
We had four different restaurantscatering our chamber banquet.
(32:32):
So we had the chili podand we had Clancy's,
and then we had a new chambermember, Pot Foods.
And we also had some food from Lowe's,Harmony minutos.
And then we had some desserts from Taraover at artifacts.
My point being is that everybody,nobody was like, well,
I want to be the only food.
They all were
(32:52):
so excited to do this together, andthey all had to submit their menus to me
so I could make sure there wasn'ta lot of double up on things.
They all loved it, and they justit just showed that
when you can like work together andhighlight these great local restaurants,
and we hope to do it again next yearand even add more restaurants in.
But that's just one example of aof a business
(33:13):
that could have shut down during Covid.
And this Main Street, you know, therenovation and the downtown renovation.
But because she is so willingto just embrace everybody's business
and share that she shares everythingI put out there, whether it's
about another restaurant or any otherchamber member, she's sharing it.
And I think that is part of whatI'm saying about this whole connection.
(33:35):
And so that's that's one example of many.
I mean, we have a lot of chamber membersthat do amazing things,
and some of our chamber membersare some of the biggest employers
in the county for like Bassand Coordinated Health, or you know, we
we are for thethe sole proprietor all the way up
to some of these bigger businesseswhere all we're trying to do
(33:56):
the same for everybody.
Well, what I love about the chili potstory, too, is I mean, they've expanded
now into a second spacethat they, you know, which is awesome.
Right?
And, it's yeah, it's beautiful.
I mean, it's what a beautiful. Yeah.
And I like thatshe got her start at our Chili
October Fest because we have a chilicook off, and she used to enter
before she had a restaurant.
She would enter and win.
(34:16):
And several people,it said you ought to open a restaurant.
Totally. American.
So I from the bottom up, like it's cooljust to hear everyone's participation.
And in her story,she hired us to do her marketing,
and then she, we craved the chiliBroadcom plug.
Yeah. check it out. But.
But she had done that during,during Covid
(34:40):
and just saw a massive throughputin getting people to her website
efficiently and effective because we buildmobile first websites, right.
You know,and so she wanted a mobile first website.
And sure enough, the traffic is justinsane just because of the ease of use.
Really.
You just need someone to make a phone callor order something online, right?
And then she's happy, right?
You know what I mean?
And so there's a lot of great restaurants,
(35:01):
and don't get me wrong,because there are a lot of great resources
and there's a lot of great restaurantsthat are chamber members.
Absolutely. Yeah.
That'sone story of somebody who really start,
because I was able to watch herfrom when she was cooking
the chili in October, all the wayto opening that first restaurant,
to expanding all these things.
So I've been able to really watchthat growth of this particular business.
(35:22):
So one thing I notedwhen you were talking earlier,
you said she got to take advantageof a lot of things
that were happeningin that Covid 2019 period.
And that's another thingI think we discounted networking.
people know
things and are connected to thingsthat you have no connection to.
Right?
(35:42):
And so every time you make a connectionto somebody else,
you have the, opportunityto learn something
that you possibly have never even beenconnected to in any way, shape or form.
and that's the cool thing
about connections is it'snot just a connection between two people,
it's a connection between that personand all of their connections
(36:05):
and all of their knowledge. Right? Right.
And so one connection is like
infinitely more valuablethan you can imagine, right?
It's exponential. You.
Yeah. It's is so exponential.
Right. So exponential.
Because Jimmy's connectionsdon't just represent her family.
They representeveryone she's ever been connected to,
(36:25):
all the historiesshe's had with every person, like
so you want to connect with peoplein so many ways because of that, right?
Right.
Like and I don't know what I don't know.
Right.
But the funny thing is, is youtalk with a person for five, ten minutes,
all of a sudden you,you find out something like, oh,
there's a programthat helps you with this.
Well I was just in need of that,you know.
(36:46):
Oh there's this great new websitethat helps you do this or this person
is looking for a job and they're an H.Rspecialist and I need an HR spot.
You know you just never know what
that value of that connectioncan be for your business.
And it's it is really unbelievablehow how great that can be.
(37:08):
That's one thing cutting right in. Right.
But I think sometimes the mentality is
that when I go over to to a thingis I'm trying to gain business
from somebody else in that chamber,that that can be a result.
Right.
But it's not the thingyou're looking for, right?
Oftentimes it can be something that'sso much more valuable to your business
because you just found somebody that helpsyou take that next step or helps
(37:31):
you meet the personthat you needed to meet, right,
so that you get the opportunitywith a bigger client or something.
You just never know.
Which is almost like, I think where we'recoming down to is the ethic of chambers.
Should be do unto others. Yes. Right.
Because I mean, if you don't lookfor what's in it for you,
that will come in time.
(37:52):
Yeah.
What can you give to others?
And I know that sounds so like cheesy or.
It's so true. So it is so true.
Especially in the chamber world.
I mean, chamber directors reallyare they all love their community.
And or if they don't,they shouldn't be a chamber director.
I mean, it is all aboutloving your community and wanting
(38:12):
wanting to see peoplethrive and connect and survive.
And I have a friend who runs the NorthHouston Chamber of Commerce
and and I know that's a totally differentdynamic than what I have here.
Oh, sure. But again, he's not running.
I mean, in these big cities,they have smaller chambers
that are really focused on an area. Right.
so he runs on his his experiencesand challenges are going to be
(38:35):
totally different than mine in a communitythe size of, you know, Farmington.
But we also, I think all chambers as wellcan extend to other chambers.
So one of the things that we try to doat least a couple times a year
with our coffeesis reach out to the Aztec chamber,
one of the other regional chambers,and say, hey, let's do a coffee and Aztec,
because I know it's calledfocus on Farmington Coffee.
(38:58):
But, you know, stuff going on there.
Let's have a coffee there.
And we've done 2 or 3 coffees in Aztec,and I need to do some in,
in Bloomfield and Kirtland.
So it's like, what are youcelebrating in your community?
And let us help you celebratethat as well.
So again, it's not like I'm not goingto share this and I'm going to be siloed.
I want every all the surroundingwe're a regional economy.
(39:18):
And I think we really found that outover the last few years.
We are very regional.
We live right on the Colorado state line.
That business is travelingall day, every day between the two states.
So we need to developthose regional relationships.
And I think one of the best ways to dothat is say, hey, we
we would love to do something in your areato help celebrate what you're doing.
(39:39):
And, you know, for the big picturewith your community.
And I think chambers hold the key to thatbecause we are so connected.
We know the businesses,
we know the elected officials, weadvocate, we go to our particular chamber,
we go to Santa Fe every yearduring the legislative session.
We're watching the issuesthat we think will affect small business,
and that's what we're focusing on.
(40:00):
And we're advocating for.
So I mean, we've got a lot going on.
But the you know, the bottom line
is we really do want thethe business community to be successful.
And we want things hereso that people will stay
and and live hereand feel that quality of life here.
Yeah.
So I mean, it's
and you mentioned the connectionand that goes back to the ribbon cuttings.
(40:21):
If you think about a ribbon cuttingand we've got 25 red coats that come in
for the ribbon cutting.
That's not 25 redcoats.
Every red coathas family, has neighbors, has people.
They work.
They come from all differentkind of businesses, right?
They have all the peoplethey're working with.
They have people they go to church with.
They might be in a civic organization.
So they go to the ribbon cutting and say,hey, I just found out about this company.
(40:44):
And they tell all these people
on the other side of that,
you need to make sure that you're,you know, doing business, right?
Because that's the we talked about thatactually, before going on.
IR reviews can be really they can eitherbuild you up or they can be disastrous.
So you know, the but the red coats, that'swhy we do those ribbon cutting.
(41:05):
Because it's, it's just that, that effectof that going out from your business
to the red coats to all of their networkand their relationships.
Yeah. So that's why we do.
That's really good.
So, whenever I wrap up episodes,I give someone the last word, just say
something that you would have told youngerJamie for your personal development.
(41:27):
What? The things that got you here.
what would you.
What would you tell thatyoung person listening that you wish you
maybe you would have heardwhen when you were younger
or maybe something you did here
and it changed your lifeand made you into the Jamie.
Then you can say, jointhe Chamber of Commerce.
You know, that's, we know that your youhave to give up a different device for the
(41:49):
you know, I think it's to,
be honest in your relationshipsand to not be afraid when you mess up.
I think, especially when we're younger,we're so afraid of
doing the wrong thingthat we almost get paralyzed.
And again,I just never thought I would be involved
in the business communitybecause I was so scared,
(42:10):
because I had seen what had happenedwith my family, with my dad's business.
And but yet I felt this driveto help support business.
And so instead of being afraidand thinking, well,
I don't know about that, that wholeimposter syndrome thing, it's like,
just be honest,reach out to the people to be a mentor.
Don't be afraid to try new things.
(42:32):
You you just never knowwhat could be happening.
You know, take on something like big
like the Women's Summit and watchand see how that can grow.
And, you know, don't don't be afraidif networking isn't your thing
and you're socially more of an introvert,don't be afraid to reach out
just on a one on one basis too,and start to build that network that way.
(42:53):
Because if you don't do that, nobody'sgoing to know who you are, what you do.
And that person could just bethe connection to to something else.
So that was more than the last word.
That was like a lot of last words.
Yeah, that was perfect.
I've been very blessed in my lifeto have some amazing role models.
My grandmother,my mother, people that believed in me.
And so I, I think I've always sort of hadthis sort of self-confidence
(43:17):
about what I do,but I have messed up almost daily and done
things wrong, said the wrong thing,maybe mis, you know, missteps.
But I think trying to be honest with thoseand learn from those mistakes and,
you know, build your team,
support your team of people around youand appreciate them.
And you've been blessed with a great.
Yeah, have a good family. Thank you.
(43:40):
Well,Jamie, thank you so much for coming in.
Yeah.
Joining us today and now we shouldwe should have a good time.
No, thanks.
Thanks for having me. It's it's fun.
I always like to talk.
And we'll see everyone next time.
Take care. Yay!
That's good. So you.
All righty. Wow.
Well, we are on our fourth podcast here.
Welcome to the Main Street Exchange.
we got me Stephen Marble, mica,and our guest, Jamie Church
here from, a local chamber of commercehere in Farmington.
It's the Farmington Chamber of Commerce.
And so we're so gladthat you came to join us today.
(00:20):
And, as I was just telling youa little bit ago,
this podcast really is for this,the small business owner
that that, they're in the trenches,right there in the trenches
of doing what they can to to, do what they love
working, feeding their families andand growing their businesses.
And so I wanted to be able to really dive
(00:42):
into really the role of, of chambersand communities.
We know that they're the backboneof Main Street America.
Really, Chamber of Commerce is,and also a little bit of your back story,
because I wanted to be ableto give some clarity
and some direction to peoplewho feel like they have
certain giftings,they don't know where to place them.
(01:05):
Maybe they're altruistic, maybe it's, all these different angles that I think,
if I say somyself, embodies in Jamie Church,
just this true, genuine spirit.
for the community.
she didn't know I was going to sayall these things
that I know, but I'm blushing.
She's going.
(01:27):
But the thing is, is,
I do think that successful chambershave successful people running them. Yes.
Okay. And, I mean,I don't want to throw too many stones.
There's a lot of peopledoing some great work,
but there's also communities reallysuffering because of poor leadership.
Yeah, right.
And there's no way around that.
Because I would say the fervor thatyou bring in our community is very unique.
(01:47):
And so I want to be able
to share some of those qualitiesand characteristics that have driven you
to make such a successful chamberin Farmington.
And so let's just kind of start with, unless are there some other things
you kind of wanted to cover today, too,with, with chambers and how it works?
Yeah.
Networking obviously, but
when you talk about the benefits of thatand your experience with that
(02:09):
and some of those success storieswe'd love to hear. Sure.
some of that.
So, yeah, we'll just kind of start offand, and.
Yeah, tell us, tell us the Jami backstoryand what made you into this?
I would say an entrepreneur spiritrunning our chamber.
And so give us a little bitabout your backstory.
I will so Ibefore I became the CEO of the chamber
(02:31):
in 2019, I was on the board of directorsof the chamber.
Prior to that, I had worked for a localnonprofit agency here in Farmington.
So I had a lot of experience, 12 yearsof experience and reaching out to donors
and supporters of that nonprofit,and always had a strong sense
that I would never hesitate to ask a donorto support an agency
(02:56):
or somebody to join the chamber,because if I believe in it,
I have no problemasking other people to support it.
Yeah.
So the nonprofit I was working for,I believed in strongly,
and I believe very strongly in chambers
and my own personal storyand why I finally put my resume
out for this job at the chamberwas because my dad was a business
(03:21):
owner in Durango, Colorado,and that's where I was raised.
That's where I grewup, was in Durango, and my dad had a
I knew that, but I didn't knowthat your dad was an entrepreneur.
Yes. Okay.
So my dad had a businessand it started in our home called
Southwest Camera Repair,
which you guys will relate towith all the photos and all that stuff.
Your dad was a camera repair guys.
(03:41):
And my dad, I'm a nerd out here in the.
He started in our home and,
repairing tourists cameras because no kid,I'm not even joking about this.
They would be on the train.
The Durango Silverton train.
And there's a great shotas the train comes around the bend.
If you lean far enough out,you can get that engine,
(04:03):
but then they would drop it to a busand they'd have to stop the train
and they'd get the camera, and then they'dtaken to my dad and he would fix them.
This is a long time ago.
This is like in the 1970s.This is a long, long time ago.
Anyway, he also did film processing,which nobody does anymore.
And it's really an art. Yeah.
So he had he did video production.
(04:23):
He had a business.
And it eventually becamesomething called a Western audiovisual
in the West Building. Okay.
And I wish I could tell youthis story has a happy ending.
Oh, no, it does not.
So my dad's business was struggling, andhe was just about to lose his business.
And I was young.
I wasI was just married, actually, Steven.
(04:46):
I had just had Spencer,you know, my oldest son.
So I was all very,you know, wrapped up in having a baby.
But sadly enough, the stress of it,he actually had a heart attack
and died in his office in the Westbuilding, right there at the stress,
I think, of knowing that the business,he was going to lose it.
So at that time I said I would never, everown small business.
(05:07):
I mean, literally killing my dad.
But I had the opportunity to advocatefor small businesses, and I think that's
why I'm so passionate about the chamber,because I see that
it's not just, hey, look at our cool sign,or what can we do?
It is the people's lives they are giving,sacrificing their time, their money,
their sometimes their family time tothis is their livelihood.
(05:29):
It's much more than just a signor a brick and mortar
or a chamber membershipor anything like that.
So when I had the opportunityto take the chamber job,
I felt very passionate about it.
And that's why,
because I think if I could have been thereto advocate for my dad's business or,
you know, at that time, I don't know ifit would have made the difference or not.
I'm sure that there were a lot of factorsinvolved, but now I'm in the position
(05:53):
where I can really advocate forand support and connect small businesses.
So that's part of my storyand why I'm so passionate
about what I do in the chamberand for small business and the community.
Yeah.
And I think that's a really good segueinto the idea that if you,
businessesand entrepreneurs have formation stories.
(06:16):
Yeah, that, push them to that,
to that next spot, I mean, mineI mean, we're kind of going here, right?
Yeah, mine was my my grandfather,my grandfather.
he always pushed his grandkids,you know, he was that golden generation.
Believe in your dreams.
American exceptionalism.
That was my grandfather's life.
(06:37):
He, he was an optometrist,but he also served in World War two.
And so he came with this extra level of.
You have no clue how how privileged
you are to live in these United States,
to own a businessand to hire employees and do these things.
And of course, I'm ten years old.
(06:59):
12 years old.
Finally, the last couple yearsof his life, I was 15, 16.
You can kind of think for yourself nowand you kind of individuation is setting
in, you know, in your personalityand how you operate and stuff.
And in those last two years,I really feel I cherished his pushing,
you know, towards and at the time I didn't
(07:20):
I didn't want to be a business owner.
At the time,I just knew I had that adventurous spirit.
And so I started playing classical guitar.
And you'reSantana is the classical guitar.
That's how we connected Tanner, right?
Was, you know,
he would finger pick and I was like, yeah,oh my gosh, I know another.
And she was in my youth
group at the time and it was just likea really cool connector.
But that classical guitar,you know, he drove in me
(07:41):
the the work ethic to like practice,practice, practice, practice.
And of course I was OCD,so I practiced like six hours a day
because I wanted to be perfect.
but it was all
because of, of of that, you know,and then my other grandfather
was a business owner as well of a stringof barber shops in Las Cruces.
And so having that in my family,
(08:04):
I wanted to I think it was just in me,you know, to wanting to do that.
I know you well.
It's interestingdoing some of that to Jamie.
I think, like it's interesting because youdo you have an entrepreneurial spirit,
but the kind of the redirection of thatin your life because of that story.
Right? Right.
Like that's huge.
And wow, what an experience.
(08:25):
Like, well, that's why I get so sadwhen I see some of our chamber
members have to close their doors.
I mean, I think I take it very personally,like, could I have done more to.
And I realized thatthey have a lot of other things going on.
And we're, you know, we're the chamberand there's only so much we can do.
But then I always think, should I,you know,
should I have shared their post more?
Should I have,you know, done more right to, to help
(08:48):
and to connect them to the resourcesthat are here and that are here to support
small business?
Well,I think that's really you know, what it
one of the things that I feel likesmall business needs so much is when,
when people go into small business,they have this desire
to do something with their skillset, gifts that they've been given.
Right.
And, and, and yet oftentimes
(09:12):
they don't go in it with the mindset ofthey don't know what they don't know.
Right, right.
And or that personally,
they're going to have certain thingsthat are,
hiccups or downfalls or weaknessesthat they have to work through,
or they have to find a wayto strengthen. Right.
And I think, you know, oftentimes manypeople aren't like wonderful networkers.
(09:35):
That's not maybe their giftingor they're not great salespeople
or something like that. Right.
And, you know, soif they're if that's not naturally their,
their place, you know,I think the conversation has to be had.
Like, how do you deal with that?
You know, how do youhow do you help yourself,
(09:57):
learnsome of these things that you don't know?
How do you make the right connectionswith people?
if you're not naturally a networker,
how do you get yourself in that spaceso that you can still at least
have those opportunities to to growor even sustain, right.
Because if you're not growing
technically, you're you'rekind of you're kind of going downhill.
(10:20):
Right?The economy and prices are going up.
So so if you're not growingthat matters is on a downhill.
Well, if you're not a natural networker,
at least educate yourself onwhat's out there,
what different marketing platformsthere are at the chamber.
We have a lot of networking events,but they're at all levels,
(10:44):
so we have some big networking eventsthat can be very overwhelming
and intimidating.
If you're kind of a,
you know, an introvert,you're not used to walking up
to somebody, hi,I'm so-and-so, here's my business card.
Those can be really intimidating.
But then we have all these other
smaller onesthat are like business builder workshops
or lunch and learns or things like thatthat are a much smaller group of people.
(11:05):
And we always allow time at theseat these workshops for some networking
in the beginning, and we're talking groupsof maybe 10 or 12.
So when that's much less intimidatingthan walking into a business
after hours with 120 people. Right.
And I think to even with those,I would encourage people that if you feel
like you're on the outside looking
in, you'll be shocked at,you know, everyone's internal speak.
(11:29):
Yeah, is freaking out.
So you're you're really not alone, right?
And you are in a spacewhere everyone is willing to learn, right?
I've in fact, at the Farmington Chamber,I've never gone into a conversation
where everyone's flexing.
Socially it's it just doesn't happen.
You think it's going to happen
or you think of your worst high schoolnightmare or college nightmare
(11:53):
Steve is going to make
you like maybe it's because maybe that'sthe value of our community too.
I think.
So in San Juan County in for thosewho are watching, it's it's kind of an old
oil field town trying to transition,you know, into new spaces.
yep.
There's the good old boy side for sure.That's there.
Yeah, but it doesn'tmean it's not down to earth.
(12:15):
I mean, everyone, even even our last focuson Farmington.
Tons of people participation.
but everyone's kind of awkwardtogether, right?
You know? Right.
And you kind of slip into a conversationwith your coffee. Hi.
My name's Stephen. What's your name?
And, yeah, you're going to havea cold open some times,
but if you can't do that,maybe invite someone that you do know.
(12:38):
so, hey, can I tag along?I've been wanting to go. Sure.
And bring those people along.
it really isn't that bad.
After you go to one, then that that, you know, kind of just drops
whatever shieldsyou brought with you, right?
and then, you know,it is wild to how many connections
you can make at a simple networking event,right?
where you go and and you do that so.
(13:02):
Well,I mean, just in the sense of this, like,
if you were to start a business new today,one of the things I would recommend
you do is actually gojoin your Chamber of Commerce beforehand.
Absolutely.
Because the thing that you win with.
But you know,that is if you did that, say, six months
before you started the business,and then you just went out and you found
(13:25):
the people that you were expertsin the areas that you would need help.
So maybe you need some legal expertise.
Maybe you need some, accountingexpertise.
You need some marketing expertise.
You need some, building expertiseand and so forth.
You know, you find all these,these people, and, and then you find
some other people that aremaybe in the same arena, you know,
(13:49):
and then you, you start asking themjust a few questions,
you know, hey, what kind of budgetam I looking at for, accounting needs?
What kind of budgetam I looking at for marketing needs?
You know,can you just give me a shot from the hip?
I mean, just that alone could
make or
break your business from the beforeyou ever start it.
(14:11):
Because if you're going into itwith a mindset that has a complete naivete
to any kind of actual expensesthat you're going to have,
and most really like to be asked,I think people like their their knowledge.
Absolutely.
And I think there's a, a sense of, well,I don't want to, you know, I'm not
they're not going to wantto share their knowledge with me
(14:32):
because maybe they,you know when to keep it the total up.
You know, people like to be asked.
They like to be asked to be a mentorand they like to share their knowledge.
We all want a successful businesscommunity here.
I have yet to meet in my almost six yearsas a chamber director,
somebody that said no,I went, all the businesses fail, right?
Why would you?
(14:52):
I mean, that'swhat makes this a great place to live.
We want our childrento, you know, grow up here
and maybe go off to college somewhere,but we want them to come back
and we want or, you know, to to be here.
And so we don't want our best resource,which is our young adults
leaving the area.
We want them to stayand open businesses in here.
And so even what happenedwith the recent plausible acquisition
(15:16):
of a of a local media company,actually our competitors.
Yeah, had the resources to buya an old legacy media company.
I'll just say the newspaper
and, a newspaperthat was purchased from an outside company
and quite frankly, didn't get us,didn't get Farmington, you know,
(15:39):
now we have a local media company again,who are our competitors.
But hearing them jump into a much
needed space to restore local
newspaper that,I mean, as soon as the old newspaper
was bought out by a global company,it's just like, well, here we go again.
You know, small town just being forgotten.
(16:01):
And it was slowly turning that way.
Just spawned this whole regionally,I would even say Four corners going
awesome. Yeah.
Like, yeah,oh my gosh, we win out of that. Why?
Because we get to retain those dollarsand letting them stay here.
And better yet, we get all local
writers,local photographers, local printing.
(16:23):
Right.
All statewide here statewide at least,but still staying here in New Mexico
and staying, locallyso that like everyone wins.
Everyone wins.
If, if even if you're watching this
and you're in a small community, there'sprobably enough work for everybody.
Celebrate your local community.
(16:43):
Let let the,
you know, go support your local chamberand figure out how you can get involved.
If someone is wanting to.
because
most likely people tap inbecause there's they're struggling.
Okay.
let's say other chamber, leadership or listening.
Okay.
What are some of those big ideasthat you can say, you know what,
(17:05):
this is really going to help your chamber
be, more successful than maybe it is.
Maybe they're struggling.
Maybe they are in a hard,good old boy town and nothing is moving.
The chamber seems to be dying,and there's not a lot of fervor.
What would you.
What would you tell that person?
And maybe it was Jamie six years ago.Yeah.
(17:27):
you know, it was a new position, right?
your predecessor did a great job.
So you walked intoa really great situation
and made it even greater and betterand brought a sense of community.
and so what if someone is
watching and they're like, man,I just don't know how to make change.
What would you tell that person?
(17:48):
So first of all, make sure,I mean, all chambers for
the majority of chambersare 500 1C6 organizations for nonprofits.
We have a board of directors.
Make sure your board is behind youand make sure you have a function
tional boardas opposed to a dysfunctional board.
Your board of directors,the you've they've got to have your back
(18:09):
and support you.
They're your ambassadors out therein the community.
Make sure your board is healthy.
And if they're not theneither bring in a mediator
or a facilitatoror find a board development class.
We actually happen to have one herein Farmington called Board Basics.
Make sure your board is healthy.
What are some of those KPIs or signals?
(18:31):
Well, that you could say,okay, that's like some help.
Oh well, if they're trying to micromanage,you know, my board is oversight,
board is governance
and oversight board is not day to dayoperation of the organization.
That's my job.
That's why they hired a CEO. Yeah.
So if your board is constantly like, well,what's going on with this employee
or what's going on with that orwhat's going that that's not governance.
(18:54):
That's not oversight.
Making sure that your board is functional.
Also make sure you're not siloed.
And we have had a tradition of thatin the past year.
But I'm glad to say that, you know,I feel like we've we've
kind of overcome that.
And what I mean bythat is we have economic development.
So four corners economic development,and we have the city of Farmington
(19:16):
economic development,
and we have the Conventionand Visitors Bureau, and we have the Sbdc,
the Small Business Development Center,and we are all working together.
We are all want the same goals.
So if the Small BusinessDevelopment Center comes to me
and says, hey, we're doing this,this workshop, will you help to share it?
Absolutely.
(19:36):
We just recently did a businessAfter Hours with Four Corners
Economic Developmentbecause it strengthens everybody.
If it can showhow we're all communicating.
So it's not Jamie not wantingto share information with anybody.
I absolutely want to share informationwith everybody.
I want to see everybody succeedbecause then we all succeed.
And then I think for the chamber's that.
(20:00):
So the focus on FarmingtonCoffees is what we call them here.
They are a monthly coffee networking thing
that is open to anybody in the community,and they're free every single month.
And we move them aroundto different locations, not necessarily
chamber members.
Those have been a game changer,I think, for getting people
connected to the communitythat are new here,
(20:22):
that are trying to meet people,
that are trying to figure outwhat's going on in the community.
So, you know, it's like,I welcome anybody to these nobody.
It's always going to be free coffee.
And excuse me, I get choked up.
No, it's it'salways going to be free coffee.
So I just
coffeeas we know we've had this discussion.
(20:43):
Coffee anyway so.
But might be but you know we
that helps people feel a part of somethingand feel connected and then yeah.
So I stand up and I say I'm Jamie Church.
This is who, you know what I do.
But then it's really about everybodywho's there.
And I give people the opportunityto like, share what they've got going on.
I would say any chamber inthe United States could do those coffees,
(21:07):
and it you don't have to make themchamber specific.
Let all the businesses get thembecause they're going to go like,
wow, there's a lot going on here.
I want to get connectedwith this organization.
And that's really a good marketing ploy.
And in our worldwe call it freemium service.
And so a freemium serviceessentially gives real world added value.
So in this case, networking coffeeand a peek
(21:30):
into what chambersnetworking can do for you, right?
For free.
No obligation.
Literally nothing. You you have to.
What is that hurt?
Like if it's not a chamber memberand it doesn't and you go take something
to their business, all that doesis advocate for the community.
What's beautiful about thisand I keep coming back to it.
And I think this is really neat.
It's that that age old saying, you know,all a rising tide raises all boats, right?
(21:55):
And and that mentality is not a scarcitymentality.
It's the difference. Right? Right.
And when a business owner goes into abusiness decision in a scarcity mentality,
there's an idea that there'sonly so much work that can be done.
And so there's onlyso much of the piece of pie.
(22:15):
So I have to not like my competitoror something like that.
Right. Because of that.
Well no there's actually a lot of nichesthat you can fill
that your competitor may not,not fill right in.
You know,you mentioned our competitor earlier.
Well, we really in a lot of wayswe don't compete because
we're in different laneson the same highway, you know.
(22:36):
So yeah, we might have some crossover.
We'll work together. Yeah.
We even actually work together.
And it doesn't it doesn't hurt anythingjust about everybody.
And I use the example of you know,some of our members are in trade.
So maybe they're plumbers,electricians. Absolutely.
There's not a single plumberor an electrician
that could handle all the clientsand business in San Juan County.
(22:59):
We have to have competition.
Competition helpseverybody and makes you better.
Yeah. Makes everybody better.
Especiallyif we'll share or learn from each other.
It is part of a healthy community.
And, that's so in 2019, when I came onboard, one of the first things we did
was we relooked at our our tagline,you guys know about marketing.
We looked at our logo,we looked at our tagline and went, okay,
(23:21):
we need a revamp here.
So we our tagline became ConnectingCommerce to Community
because that is exactlysuch a good tagline.
So yes, commerce is dependent on communityand vice versa.
And so our role is to not only connectthe businesses to each other,
but the businesses, to the
nonprofit community, to our communityat large, to our our government.
(23:43):
So everybody knows what's going on.
And it helps it helps avoid some of that.
Well, this is what I doand I'm not going to share it with you.
I don't understand the point of thatbecause
it I'm only as successfulas everybody else around me.
I mean that it's all about a team.
We have a great team at the chamber.Our staff is great.
(24:04):
Our board is great, our chamber members,and it happens where we have
chamber membersthat don't renew their memberships.
I don't know why, but it does happen.
And when I ask themwhy, they'll say I just.
I was a chamber member for a year.
I just didn't get anything out of it.
And then I'll start to ask them questions.
Did you come to one of our workshops? No.
(24:26):
Did you follow our Facebook page?
No. Did you come to any of our events? No.
And so I start to say, well,I don't even know you.
So how could you know your customers?
How do we help yoube successful when. Yeah.
We don't. We've never metyou face to face.
Like buying a beerand not swimming in it, right? Yeah.
So I mean, and it's
(24:49):
it's classic.
We'll do it all the time.
You know, they get rid of the pool. Yeah.
They fill it in because they didn't.
You didn't do anything for me.
Well do you put your so many stocks right.
We always say lookwe are not a marketing agency.
That's not who we are.You are in that space. You do a great job.
That's not what we are.We are a connector.
So we're connecting youto your potential clients and customers.
(25:11):
Yeah,we're connecting you to those resources.
If you find out.
Wow, I need help with my business plan.
I'm in a I'm going to connect youwith the Sbdc to help you grow in it.
And that's another thing, right?
Like a business owner knowing
that there's people that genuinelyare in a position to help them.
Because I know, Jimmy,
if if we came to youand we were like, listen, we really need,
(25:34):
these connectionsor do you have a connection
to this companyor that company or this person?
Because we would like to gogive them a proposal.
We think we can help them.
if we take that step of asking you.
Right.
Your genuine willingnessto help is going to try to do that, right?
(25:55):
Absolutely.
And see, that's what's whata lot of business
owners, they sit in thereand kind of wallow over the fact
that that something is not workingthe way they want to.
And instead of taking just one genuinestep of of, hey, I need help.
Right, right.
You don't have a helpbecause you didn't ask for it, right?
Like, oh, go ask, ask peoplethat are genuinely willing to help
(26:18):
to give you some help because people wantand they're out there and these classes.
Oh, so I mentioned the board basics.
I mentioned the Sbdc with the businessBuilder workshops,
and these things are freeor extremely low cost.
And so when we hear about these business,you know, these new entrepreneurs
or business people, it's likego through the right process, meet with
(26:39):
with Carmen over at the SBCbecause they have a whole plan for you.
This is going to help you be successful.
And this isn't going to cost youa lot of money.
So there are so many resources out there.
But again,if they're not connected with us,
then how are they going to knowabout those?
It's hard to find information out.
We all knowthere's information everywhere.
And so sometimes people get overwhelmed.
(26:59):
But that's you know,that's what we're there to do.
And we're also there to help youlaunch your business
when you're a chamber member.
One of the other changes I madeand was in 2019
with our ribbon cuttings,we have a group of Red coat ambassadors.
They're called the Red coatsbecause they wear red coats.
And one of them, yes, great little red.
(27:20):
And one of the changes was that
when youthat you have to be a chamber member
in order for us to do a ribbon cutting,and there's a reason for that, because you
we are going to invest in you with thisribbon cutting and sharing all your things
on social media and connecting youand putting you in the business directory.
But you need to invest with us too.
(27:42):
I mean, we're our duesfor a small business
with fiveand under employees is $200 a year.
So you break that down, divide it by 12.
If you're a small business
and we do the ribbon cuttingand we share all the information,
and you're in our business directoryand you're in the loop
and you're at this eventand that event and this event
and you get, you know, a discountto the business to business Expo
(28:02):
and you find out about the Women's Summit.
I mean, just goes on and on.
And then for salespeople,there's leads and referrals,
you know, leads and referrals, groups,all these things.
So you invest with us
and then we're going to invest with youwith the ribbon cutting.
And that was one of the changes wasyou have to be a chamber member.
Yeah I think it's a no brainer. You know.
And it's some people thinkI think they're scared.
Oh it's going to be a lot of money.
(28:24):
Well talk with us. We're willing.
We want every business to be successful.
And we know a lot of startupshave a lot of expenses that they're
you know, they're hiring an accountant.
They're getting maybe,
software, you know, some kind ofaccounting software, staffing insurance.
We understand that.
So we're there to make sure everybody issuccessful and we'll work with businesses.
But we we won't know about you and I kindI know I'm I think some people think
(28:48):
I'm really annoyingas I put out I don't know any and
I don't think yeah, I think so.
But I'll,
they'll put something out there like,hey, so-and-so has this new business
and I'll respond back on social media,have them join the chamber,
have them call us. Yeah.
And I tell people all the time,
if you are a chamber member,I am your biggest advocate.
(29:11):
I'm your biggest champion.
But I'm you know, this is what we do.
We're the Chamber of Commerce.
We're a nonprofit. We advocate for you.
But you need to bea member of the chamber.
Not that we're not going to,
of course, want every business to succeed,but we we do want you to invest in us.
Yes, I will invest in you.
And I mean, my goodness, any more like,you know, $200 goes out the door.
(29:34):
Oh, so fast.
Yeah, I know our printer just went outand spent $300 on a laser
blink without $200 going out the door,and I swear, I know, you know.
So we try to keep it reasonable.
We have a tiered.We do so many events that are free.
Yeah, that we say it doesn't matterif you're a chamber and member
not come to this.
I mean, we just we try to just broadenthat connection as much as possible.
(29:56):
But we also have bills to pay.
Yeah, we have staff.
Yeah.We have things that need to get done.
And so we do have to say okay.
Yeah. Like I said, invest in us.
So so Jamie, just kind of,you know, maybe a success story
that you could share with us,
about someone who maybe made the rightchoices.
You you saw theythey did a great job of networking.
(30:19):
They, they maybe they didn't know anythingcoming in or something like that.
I'd love to hearmaybe something that you've experienced.
Story of transformation or something.
A moving a moving element.We just through the setter.
I know we, but just operationallythat that affected you in particular.
And it doesn't always have to be aboutrevenue or things like that.
(30:39):
It's just something even subjective.
I think that I'll give an example.
She's somebody that's on our boardand somebody that I have watched
with her business grow and thrive.
And so and talk about the chili pod.
So that so I kept going over there.
And this is when our chamber offices
were downtownbefore we moved up to the college.
And I kept hassling,or you should be a chamber member.
(31:01):
You should be a chamber member,you know, started like,
I'll never eat here unless you're a chamber, which was a joke with you do is you.
Yeah, exactly.
Anyway, so I was like,this become a chamber.
So finally, they did, the chili pot did.
And the reason that this particular
chamber member stands out to meis that then Covid happened.
(31:24):
And we all know
what happened with restaurantsand the downtown renovation happened.
So not only do you have Covid,you have basically all of Maine shut down
for this beautiful renovation,which I love and I'm glad we did.
Just a rough time. So learning.
So this particular business ownerwith the chili pot really
got all the education she was ableto take advantage of all the things
(31:46):
that were offered during Covidto help businesses survive and thrive.
She not only survived, she's now expanded,
but what she does that I have noticed
is she plays well with everybody.
She is at every event I go to.
She's at other people's eventssupporting them.
So our chamber banquet this year,she supports other restaurants,
(32:09):
she supports other restaurants.
She understands that the wayfor all of us to
to succeed is to succeed together.
So we did for our chamber banquet back inFebruary, a sort of a newer type of meal.
It was,I called it the Taste of Farmington.
And so we didn't just have one restaurantcatering that.
We had four different restaurantscatering our chamber banquet.
(32:32):
So we had the chili podand we had Clancy's,
and then we had a new chambermember, Pot Foods.
And we also had some food from Lowe's,Harmony minutos.
And then we had some desserts from Taraover at artifacts.
My point being is that everybody,nobody was like, well,
I want to be the only food.
They all were
(32:52):
so excited to do this together, andthey all had to submit their menus to me
so I could make sure there wasn'ta lot of double up on things.
They all loved it, and they justit just showed that
when you can like work together andhighlight these great local restaurants,
and we hope to do it again next yearand even add more restaurants in.
But that's just one example of aof a business
(33:13):
that could have shut down during Covid.
And this Main Street, you know, therenovation and the downtown renovation.
But because she is so willingto just embrace everybody's business
and share that she shares everythingI put out there, whether it's
about another restaurant or any otherchamber member, she's sharing it.
And I think that is part of whatI'm saying about this whole connection.
(33:35):
And so that's that's one example of many.
I mean, we have a lot of chamber membersthat do amazing things,
and some of our chamber membersare some of the biggest employers
in the county for like Bassand Coordinated Health, or you know, we
we are for thethe sole proprietor all the way up
to some of these bigger businesseswhere all we're trying to do
(33:56):
the same for everybody.
Well, what I love about the chili potstory, too, is I mean, they've expanded
now into a second spacethat they, you know, which is awesome.
Right?
And, it's yeah, it's beautiful.
I mean, it's what a beautiful. Yeah.
And I like thatshe got her start at our Chili
October Fest because we have a chilicook off, and she used to enter
before she had a restaurant.
She would enter and win.
(34:16):
And several people,it said you ought to open a restaurant.
Totally. American.
So I from the bottom up, like it's cooljust to hear everyone's participation.
And in her story,she hired us to do her marketing,
and then she, we craved the chiliBroadcom plug.
Yeah. check it out. But.
But she had done that during,during Covid
(34:40):
and just saw a massive throughputin getting people to her website
efficiently and effective because we buildmobile first websites, right.
You know,and so she wanted a mobile first website.
And sure enough, the traffic is justinsane just because of the ease of use.
Really.
You just need someone to make a phone callor order something online, right?
And then she's happy, right?
You know what I mean?
And so there's a lot of great restaurants,
(35:01):
and don't get me wrong,because there are a lot of great resources
and there's a lot of great restaurantsthat are chamber members.
Absolutely. Yeah.
That'sone story of somebody who really start,
because I was able to watch herfrom when she was cooking
the chili in October, all the wayto opening that first restaurant,
to expanding all these things.
So I've been able to really watchthat growth of this particular business.
(35:22):
So one thing I notedwhen you were talking earlier,
you said she got to take advantageof a lot of things
that were happeningin that Covid 2019 period.
And that's another thingI think we discounted networking.
people know
things and are connected to thingsthat you have no connection to.
Right?
(35:42):
And so every time you make a connectionto somebody else,
you have the, opportunityto learn something
that you possibly have never even beenconnected to in any way, shape or form.
and that's the cool thing
about connections is it'snot just a connection between two people,
it's a connection between that personand all of their connections
(36:05):
and all of their knowledge. Right? Right.
And so one connection is like
infinitely more valuablethan you can imagine, right?
It's exponential. You.
Yeah. It's is so exponential.
Right. So exponential.
Because Jimmy's connectionsdon't just represent her family.
They representeveryone she's ever been connected to,
(36:25):
all the historiesshe's had with every person, like
so you want to connect with peoplein so many ways because of that, right?
Right.
Like and I don't know what I don't know.
Right.
But the funny thing is, is youtalk with a person for five, ten minutes,
all of a sudden you,you find out something like, oh,
there's a programthat helps you with this.
Well I was just in need of that,you know.
(36:46):
Oh there's this great new websitethat helps you do this or this person
is looking for a job and they're an H.Rspecialist and I need an HR spot.
You know you just never know what
that value of that connectioncan be for your business.
And it's it is really unbelievablehow how great that can be.
(37:08):
That's one thing cutting right in. Right.
But I think sometimes the mentality is
that when I go over to to a thingis I'm trying to gain business
from somebody else in that chamber,that that can be a result.
Right.
But it's not the thingyou're looking for, right?
Oftentimes it can be something that'sso much more valuable to your business
because you just found somebody that helpsyou take that next step or helps
(37:31):
you meet the personthat you needed to meet, right,
so that you get the opportunitywith a bigger client or something.
You just never know.
Which is almost like, I think where we'recoming down to is the ethic of chambers.
Should be do unto others. Yes. Right.
Because I mean, if you don't lookfor what's in it for you,
that will come in time.
(37:52):
Yeah.
What can you give to others?
And I know that sounds so like cheesy or.
It's so true. So it is so true.
Especially in the chamber world.
I mean, chamber directors reallyare they all love their community.
And or if they don't,they shouldn't be a chamber director.
I mean, it is all aboutloving your community and wanting
(38:12):
wanting to see peoplethrive and connect and survive.
And I have a friend who runs the NorthHouston Chamber of Commerce
and and I know that's a totally differentdynamic than what I have here.
Oh, sure. But again, he's not running.
I mean, in these big cities,they have smaller chambers
that are really focused on an area. Right.
so he runs on his his experiencesand challenges are going to be
(38:35):
totally different than mine in a communitythe size of, you know, Farmington.
But we also, I think all chambers as wellcan extend to other chambers.
So one of the things that we try to doat least a couple times a year
with our coffeesis reach out to the Aztec chamber,
one of the other regional chambers,and say, hey, let's do a coffee and Aztec,
because I know it's calledfocus on Farmington Coffee.
(38:58):
But, you know, stuff going on there.
Let's have a coffee there.
And we've done 2 or 3 coffees in Aztec,and I need to do some in,
in Bloomfield and Kirtland.
So it's like, what are youcelebrating in your community?
And let us help you celebratethat as well.
So again, it's not like I'm not goingto share this and I'm going to be siloed.
I want every all the surroundingwe're a regional economy.
(39:18):
And I think we really found that outover the last few years.
We are very regional.
We live right on the Colorado state line.
That business is travelingall day, every day between the two states.
So we need to developthose regional relationships.
And I think one of the best ways to dothat is say, hey, we
we would love to do something in your areato help celebrate what you're doing.
(39:39):
And, you know, for the big picturewith your community.
And I think chambers hold the key to thatbecause we are so connected.
We know the businesses,
we know the elected officials, weadvocate, we go to our particular chamber,
we go to Santa Fe every yearduring the legislative session.
We're watching the issuesthat we think will affect small business,
and that's what we're focusing on.
(40:00):
And we're advocating for.
So I mean, we've got a lot going on.
But the you know, the bottom line
is we really do want thethe business community to be successful.
And we want things hereso that people will stay
and and live hereand feel that quality of life here.
Yeah.
So I mean, it's
and you mentioned the connectionand that goes back to the ribbon cuttings.
(40:21):
If you think about a ribbon cuttingand we've got 25 red coats that come in
for the ribbon cutting.
That's not 25 redcoats.
Every red coathas family, has neighbors, has people.
They work.
They come from all differentkind of businesses, right?
They have all the peoplethey're working with.
They have people they go to church with.
They might be in a civic organization.
So they go to the ribbon cutting and say,hey, I just found out about this company.
(40:44):
And they tell all these people
on the other side of that,
you need to make sure that you're,you know, doing business, right?
Because that's the we talked about thatactually, before going on.
IR reviews can be really they can eitherbuild you up or they can be disastrous.
So you know, the but the red coats, that'swhy we do those ribbon cutting.
(41:05):
Because it's, it's just that, that effectof that going out from your business
to the red coats to all of their networkand their relationships.
Yeah. So that's why we do.
That's really good.
So, whenever I wrap up episodes,I give someone the last word, just say
something that you would have told youngerJamie for your personal development.
(41:27):
What? The things that got you here.
what would you.
What would you tell thatyoung person listening that you wish you
maybe you would have heardwhen when you were younger
or maybe something you did here
and it changed your lifeand made you into the Jamie.
Then you can say, jointhe Chamber of Commerce.
You know, that's, we know that your youhave to give up a different device for the
(41:49):
you know, I think it's to,
be honest in your relationshipsand to not be afraid when you mess up.
I think, especially when we're younger,we're so afraid of
doing the wrong thingthat we almost get paralyzed.
And again,I just never thought I would be involved
in the business communitybecause I was so scared,
(42:10):
because I had seen what had happenedwith my family, with my dad's business.
And but yet I felt this driveto help support business.
And so instead of being afraidand thinking, well,
I don't know about that, that wholeimposter syndrome thing, it's like,
just be honest,reach out to the people to be a mentor.
Don't be afraid to try new things.
(42:32):
You you just never knowwhat could be happening.
You know, take on something like big
like the Women's Summit and watchand see how that can grow.
And, you know, don't don't be afraidif networking isn't your thing
and you're socially more of an introvert,don't be afraid to reach out
just on a one on one basis too,and start to build that network that way.
(42:53):
Because if you don't do that, nobody'sgoing to know who you are, what you do.
And that person could just bethe connection to to something else.
So that was more than the last word.
That was like a lot of last words.
Yeah, that was perfect.
I've been very blessed in my lifeto have some amazing role models.
My grandmother,my mother, people that believed in me.
And so I, I think I've always sort of hadthis sort of self-confidence
(43:17):
about what I do,but I have messed up almost daily and done
things wrong, said the wrong thing,maybe mis, you know, missteps.
But I think trying to be honest with thoseand learn from those mistakes and,
you know, build your team,
support your team of people around youand appreciate them.
And you've been blessed with a great.
Yeah, have a good family. Thank you.
(43:40):
Well,Jamie, thank you so much for coming in.
Yeah.
Joining us today and now we shouldwe should have a good time.
No, thanks.
Thanks for having me. It's it's fun.
I always like to talk.
And we'll see everyone next time.
Take care. Yay!
That's good. So you.
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