“Helping Business Succeed” is The Chamber’s mission, and its purpose is to inspire and develop growth in the economy of Medford and Jackson County. The Chamber seeks to be the catalyst for business growth, a convener of community and business leaders, and the champion of the region it calls home. The Chamber has a 105-year history in Medford of wanting to make sure the community is thriving and currently has around 1,100 members.
In an effort to help business succeed, The Chamber is committed to four strategic objectives: PROMOTE, CREATE, CONNECT, and REPRESENT.
The Chamber’s umbrella organization, Travel Medford, PROMOTES the area and all there is to do here: outdoor adventure, wineries, sports, arts & culture. Travel Medford encourages people to come here and spend money here at local businesses, thus “Helping our Businesses Succeed.”
The Chamber works with governmental agency partners to develop processes of cooperation between agencies and the business community to CREATE and foster a positive and responsible climate for economic development. They seek to find out what the business community needs, as evidenced by their recent survey of downtown property and business owners on the Main Street Cycle Track.
Chamber members can serve on action teams, which are committees that focus energy on certain areas like transportation, land use and housing, natural resources, travel and tourism, and legislation.
The Chamber has been instrumental creating economic growth by promoting, just to cite a few examples, the building of hospitals, the RCC / SOU Building, and Rogue X. They have been promoting a hotel north of Pear Blossom Park, and the Medford Urban Renewal Agency board recently approved an agreement that sets the stage to move forward with this 123-room hotel. The Chamber is currently advocating for a Conference Center and suggesting that it be built in Downtown Medford.
The Chamber provides opportunities for businesspeople to CONNECT. They Provide networking opportunities to members for their improved visibility, involvement and representation in the community. The monthly Chamber Forum lunches draw around 280 people to the Rogue Valley Country Club to network and hear speakers on timely topics.
The Young Professionals Network invites people in the 21-40 age bracket to meet each month at a different venue to exchange ideas and develop connections.
Greeters attracts about 80 people who meet at a different business every month to network. Each person gets 30 seconds to promote their business.
The Chamber Leadership Class is a great way to learn about our area and to meet other businesspeople. They have “Class” once per month for eight months, visiting businesses involved in a different aspect of our economy each month. For example, when the aspect was travel and tourism some of the places they visited were OSF, the Welcome Center, and several wineries.
The Chamber employs a team of ambassadors who represent The Chamber and your business at various events, including ribbon cuttings and open houses and holds the Excellence in Business Awards dinner each year that is attended by hundreds of people.
The Chamber REPRESENTS business issues through lobbying. This includes a 30-member Legislative Action Team (LAT), ChamberPAC (Political Action Committee), Chamber Day at the Capital and more. The Chamber has a full-time lobbyist tracking 4,000 – 6,000 bills that are introduced over the course of a legislative session. Additionally, The Chamber conducts a monthly video conference with the Southern Oregon legislative delegation, at Legislative Hotline, where your business can leverage the relationships built and maintained by The Chamber to gain access to your state legislative delegation.
Eli Matthews is President & CEO and invites anybody to join The Chamber. “We are the Business Ecosystem. We are stronger together. We are the voice of the business community for advocacy. We work through our elected officials to make sure businesses can thrive. We are constantly fighting for business,” said Eli.
As for Downtown, Eli says, “We need to create the environment that will cause businesses to want to come here. The new hotel and the potential conference center will help do that.”
