Chamber Serves as Strong Ally in Restoring Economic Vitality
business, chamber of commerce, economic development,
One of the strongest allies area citizens have in their efforts to restore this region’s economic vitality is the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce.
With unflagging determination, the chamber has waged the fight for far longer than the current nationwide economic downturn. And while the local battle isn’t over, there is progress.
With major changes here in recent years in the textile and furniture industries, retraining workers continues to be a top priority.
“Workforce development is the No. 1 thing on our members’ minds,” says Amanda Witt, Martinsville-Henry County Chamber president. “We have such a huge dislocated worker population. And there are jobs available, but a skills gap is there. So we’re going to be working really hard and very closely with the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board to make sure we take care of those issues for our existing businesses but also for those businesses economic development officials are working to bring here. A skilled workforce is incomparable. We have to have that.”
Jay Edelen, chamber board chairman for 2008-09, agrees about the importance of workforce development but also has focused during his term on how businesses can use e-commerce in today’s world. Edelen, a Martinsville native, works in his family business, J.G. Edelen Co., which has provided hardware components to the furniture industry since 1923. In 2003, Edelen launched www.coolknobsandpulls.com, an online portion of the business.
“Needless to say, it’s been a very difficult year, not only in Martinsville but across the United States,” he says. “As we say around here, we were doing recessions before recessions were cool. This is nothing new to us, but it does add another level of urgency for us to help our local economy rebound.”
The chamber’s 2009 successes include the biggest-ever Fast Track trade show, held in March, which allows area businesses a chance to network with each other and local citizens. During summer 2009, the chamber initiated a youth employment program, giving 100 or so young people work experience with chamber member businesses. The annual Leadership Development Program graduated 35 participants following a 10-week course offering opportunities to learn from “the best and brightest leaders in Martinsville and Henry County,” Witt says.
The chamber also staged a successful supervisor-training course focused on distribution and customer service, rather than manufacturing and textiles. In addition, the chamber, with 630 members, keeps in close touch with state and national legislators.
“We have been dealing with this for 10 years,” Witt says. “We have a very skilled, very dedicated workforce. It’s just that the jobs they were trained for are no longer here or are going away. So it’s really about retraining them and getting them the skills for those high-growth, high-demand occupations that, hopefully, will be here.”
Story by Anne Gillem
