.png?width=1200&height=630&name=Untitled%20design%20(39).png)
In this episode, host Matt Appenzeller sits down with SOCA’s own Chamber Relationship Manager, Will Roberts, to explore the realities of supporting chambers of commerce across Ohio.
Will shares firsthand insights on what chambers are getting right—and where they’re facing common challenges. From adopting new tech and measuring impact to leadership turnover and recruiting the next generation, this conversation highlights what separates chambers that simply stay relevant from those creating measurable community impact.
Listen Here:
Transcript:
Matt Appenzeller:
Matt, hello and welcome to the Chamber On! podcast, the go-to podcast for small employers and local Chambers of Commerce in Ohio. I'm your host. Matt Appenzeller, President and CEO of the Southern Ohio Chamber Alliance, more commonly known as SOCA. We are an alliance of 130 Chambers of Commerce in Ohio, and today we actually have a very special episode, because we're bringing in our chamber relationship manager, Will Roberts, who has interrupted his time on the road to be with us today. So Will, thanks for being on the Chamber On! podcast.
Will Roberts:
Absolutely, thanks for having me, Matt. And you know, it's great to have the mayor in studio.
Matt:
That's right. Will is more commonly known as the mayor of everywhere, and we like to joke in the office that it takes him three minutes to say hello to anyone. So. So anyway, will you have a an extensive chamber background. So you're, like, the perfect person for this, this role that we've put you in here.
Will:
I have never been called perfect in my life.
Matt:
Well, okay, well, we'll start here then. So we'll start here. So why don't you tell us a little bit about your your chamber background, and sort of how you ended up here?
WIll:
Sure, sure you. I've, well, like you, Matt, we've been doing this for a couple of a couple of days now. So for my journey, it was a unique journey, I'd have to say, you know, I stumbled into my position when I came into the chamber world. Back in 2007 you started rolling into this. I met up with my predecessor at the time, Mr. Don Keyball, and Mike Ryan over in Vandalia. That's right, I was working with the brown publishing at the time, and just I stumbled in, I was helping them with their business expo. Boy, talk about a blast of the past. There's just not too many great expos happening these days, but I assisted them with their business expo. And for whatever reason, both Dawn and Mike said this guy could help us out. And Dawn was getting ready to retire
Matt:
See, they saw the mayor in you right away.
Will:
That probably what it was, you know, you know. And actually that was one of what I went to. That Expo is also one of the first times I got to meet up with Dan Edwards, you know, of course, a big name here in the Dayton area and but yeah, that's when the journey started. I walked in, helped with the expo. About a month later, I was sitting down with Mike and Don and kind of doing soft interviewing, and the next thing I know, they're calling me and say, Hey, what do you think about coming over and running the chamber? So that's what I did, jumped in. Had no clue, not a clue, what I was doing when I walked in the door, which I think is really the case with most executives. When they walk in the door, they just how it happened.
Matt:
Have no clue, yeah, so you got to start from somewhere. So, yeah. So what would you say? You know, were your your best accomplishments during your tenure there? So how long were you there at Vandalia?
Will:
Well, just under 15 years. Okay, yeah, I was just a couple months short of 15 years before you and Mickey put the hook in me. We did to pull me into soccer. But, you know, I mean, before, I guess I jump into what I did there. I guess it's important to share that. You know, I was in my tenure at the Vandalia Butler chamber for what, 13 and a half of those 14 and a half years I was on the board for Soca, so I don't know, maybe I was born to be in this position now, that's right. And also had a great opportunity as well to serve with one of our state organizations. At the time, C CEO, as a board member there, it's now CPO, the Chamber professionals of Ohio. But, you know, so that's kind of what got it rolling. But, gosh, accomplishments in Vandalia. How much time do we have?
Matt:
Let's just say, like the top two.
Will:
Okay, because, you know, as as I mentioned, you know, when you walk in the door, you really don't have an understanding of of what you're getting into. And boy, I had no understanding of
Matt:
what I was that first year for everyone's like, it's drinking water out of a fire hose.
Will:
It is. It's amazing. But yes, so I walked in and you know, the first thing you do is you try to get, you know, familiar with your surroundings, your office, get things rolling. And, you know, in our profession, and as our boards of directors will tell us all the time, how much money do we have? What can we do to get rolling? So, you know, you start looking at the financial sheet, we had nothing. There was no money. As a matter of fact, we were holding paychecks when I first. Locked in there. Yeah, so that that was kind of scary. It was kind of scary. But you know, if I was to label a top two accomplishments by the time I left, not only were we operating successfully and financially sound at the time, but we had also secured an additional savings for for rainy day, so to speak, with the chamber, should something like 2020, ever happened?
Matt:
So, so, so I'm gonna, like, you know, diverge here a little bit. So you actually did, like, the best thing that a chamber exec can do like I've said this many you've heard me say this many times, like we're not, you know, people like to say, hey, as a chamber director, I'm a civic entrepreneur. Well, you know, that's that's a interesting title, but you're not really an entrepreneur, because an entrepreneur can build up their business and eventually sell it to somebody. The best that we can ever do as chamber directors is build a good organization and hand it off to somebody else. So you did the best thing.
Will:
Wow, yeah, build it up and have it ready to move on to someone who can take it to the next level. That's right, that's that's what we're shooting for now. Hopefully they're seeing that in Vandalia with Nick running the controls now, and I know he's, he's got a good foundation underneath him, so that's good, but yeah, so that was, you know, that was obviously the biggest accomplishment. You know, there's probably one element that I'm more proud of, even than that, and to to be fiscally sound when you leave someplace, you know, that's, I think that's everybody's hope and dream. But in our world of being the chambers of commerce, as we do, I think the element that I'm most proud of is currently still running as one of the most attended, well recognized women's networks in the northern Miami Valley. Anyhow, that's it's our wings organization that's women in networking growing stronger. When that event started back in 2008 It was the summer 2008 we met at the old airport hotel, which is no longer even sitting on the grounds of the airport now, but we went from that facility with about 12 ladies to now they regularly meet with 40, 5060, ladies every month at a different location, around the Vandalia Butler township area. And in October, they do a real special event for women. They they do a fundraising event that brings in money that they give to a a women's nonprofit organization to help them. I know many years it was with pink ribbon good, and now they're offering things for breast wishes, which is a Vandalia Butler township organization, to help support women in their journeys through life. So very proud of that group and what they do now. That's awesome. I don't know that I could be more proud than than that particular group.
Matt:
That's awesome. So, I mean, as you know, in your role as a chamber exec, you kind of have this quasi business and community role, and it gets into your blood. You know, we've you and I have been doing this about the same amount of time, so I would ask you, like, what do you like most about chamber work and now in your work. Now, what do you like most about working with chambers?
Will:
Wow. Chambers are great. It's in it's in your blood. You know, I'm gonna date myself here. You know, back in my younger days, 40 ish, 45 years ago, okay? I yo. All right, I'm getting up there a little bit now, but you know, one of my first jobs was at McDonald's, and they used to say, Well, if you're, if you're a true McDonald's employee, you get catch up in your veins. Okay? But now, you know, in this chamber industry, it's, it's something that just it, it consumes you, it gets into you, and you can see it all over. It doesn't matter. You know, yesterday I was in Lima I could be in South Point, Ohio. I could be up in Napoleon, Ohio. Doesn't matter where I am. You see this unique characteristic within the the executives of the chambers what they're doing within their communities, they they just have a true passion about trying to make things successful.
Matt:
That is absolutely right. You and I have you know, we've been doing this long time, and we've done it ourselves. We've and we we personally know people who are doing it now, and we've known a lot of. People who have moved on, but they just absolutely put their hearts and souls into their job, 100% into their communities, maybe 120% that's it's pretty amazing. It's very admirable. It's a very it's a very noble thing to do, absolutely. You really think about it. So, so, okay, so now that you're on the road, visiting chambers, right? So we have 130 chambers. We got your car and said, Will don't come back, right? Don't, don't ever come to the office. You know, what is it? There's probably no typical week. But what does a week look like for you? How many chambers are you hitting?
Will:
Well, I would say on average, it's probably somewhere between eight to 10 chambers that I'm visiting within a week. You know, there's a there's a core of chambers that I have the pleasure of visiting with every week for different reasons. But you know, on average, eight to 10 that I'm having that personal one on one conversation with but beyond that. You know, there's the dozens of email correspondences, you know, Zoom meetings. Thank goodness for zoom. Yeah, everybody's live and thankfully, yeah and yeah, so beyond that. But you know, even if it was a slow week, I'd still be in front of, you know, a few chambers, but on on a crazy week, and let's not look at like conferences, that doesn't count. But if we're in a crazy week, it could be 2025, that is plus chambers. Yeah, that is amazing.
Matt:
So, so you're out there in the field, tell me, in your opinion, just generally speaking, like, what, what are Chambers of Commerce getting right and what are they getting challenged with right now?
Will:
Well, chambers, they're taxed with a lot of things, you know, right? And you know each community, you know every chamber has a common goal, right? And that is to be that support link, that driving force for their business community. That's what the chamber is there to do. But, you know, there's a lot of weight that falls on the shoulders of the chamber executives, and then some of that comes naturally, just by the individual drive of that person. Part of it becomes from their goal setting process between the time that they're sitting down with their boards and figuring out, what is it that we want to do? Where do we want to drive this vessel? Where is it going to best help our community? So you can see just the different pressures that come in from all of that. You know, they're they're looking to hit. You know, I mentioned before, you know, the financial needs. It's, it's a you're running a business, right? You are, as a chamber executive, you're running a business. So you've got to, you've got to make sure you've got your finger on that pulse, making sure that you're being fiscally responsible, not only to the office and any staff, but to the members of that chamber. You know, they're there for a reason. They want to learn as well, you know, and it's really more I think about just keeping a focus, keeping a focus, about
Will:
what, staying on mission. You mean, on
Matt:
Mesh, yes, what is the goal? Where? What is your what is your focus for that year or that month? Or could be anything within that scope of what the chamber means for each community.
Matt:
I think you're exactly right. I mean, I think everybody starts out each year, you know what their plan or their goal, or whatever, and and then an event happens in the in the community or or in their chamber, and, and it causes them to start focusing on, you know, solving that problem, or whatever that is. And then you, as you just said, I mean, I think you lose focus, and it you have to be real careful about mission drift that can occur at that time, absolutely, you know.
Will:
And it's, you know, I hadn't really thought about this until you just mentioned, you know, the focus and the event and how it can change what is happening that day, not even that week or that month. That day. It takes me back to, you know, the Dayton area here, when we had the Memorial Day tornadoes hit the Miami Valley, and, gosh, I think it was 15 tornadoes across the region that hit and everywhere, it became an immediate need for service. And I know in. Vandalia, that's what we did. We had members the Dayton Memorial Park Cemetery, just, it was devastated. Trees down, tore up, just, you know, tombstones, it was impassable. You couldn't get through so unexpectedly, you know, we came in the next day, and we're forming a team of people to come in and come in and support that business, right? Let's help them get back on their feet so they can do what they do. And you have days like that in the chamber, you know? You have a focus. We had other responsibilities going on. It was Memorial Day, so in a lot of chambers going into summer, that's a busy, busy time. But you know what? All of that got pushed aside because that's right, we had needs that needed to be met in the community.
Matt:
It's all hands on deck, right? 100% so talk to us a little bit about, you know, like, what's I mean, it's easy for me to say, you know, this is what our footprint is. But you're out there visiting all these chambers. So like, explain to everyone, to our listeners out there, you know, where do you actually go? Like, where are the places you actually go?
Will:
Well, I mentioned a couple of this. You know, Napoleon Ohio is right, if anybody's up at
Matt:
been near, totally down. So southern Ohio chamber,
Will:
not so southern part of the southern Ohio. It's absolutely so, yeah, up there near Toledo, right? You know, I've been down in south point, the lowest tip of Ohio and and that's a southern as you can write, right?
Matt:
Where's the nearest place to south point that people would know that an average listener would,
Will:
Well, I would say, Portsmouth, yeah, and it's, it's at least a half hour south of there. Yeah, South Point is a half hour, maybe 45 minutes south of Portsmouth. Okay, so I didn't realize that you could go that far south of Portsmouth until I've actually made the trip. I was like, Well, okay, then, but unique area of the state as well. I love it down there. But, you know, I also go out to, gosh, I might as well be in West Virginia. Been out to Martin's ferry. Yeah, literally, I'm on the river right on it is the coal belt, industrial belt area of the state, if you will. Well, it's different than the landscape is completely different out there, than what it is here in the Miami Valley and over to to New Paris. You know, actually when I go to New Paris, I actually have to take interstate 70 into Indiana and turn back around and come up route 40 to get to where I'm going there. So, I mean, it's covering the whole state, and it's, it's like that, wherever I go, I'm all over the place. So part of the reason
Matt:
I asked that is that, I mean, you get to see, and I used to do, you know, part of what you do is like, you get to see, there's, there are different varieties of you can't say that every community is different, but all that's almost true. I mean, there are so many different varieties of I guess subculture is what you would what I would call it, you know, I guess across the state,
Will:
Community spirit, yeah, you know, it's every community, every chamber and every community has their own feel, yeah. And you can see it from when you cross a community line. You know, a lot of cities will take on even the color characteristics of their school district and and it's funny sometimes when you see, you know, a great one between Troy and pick one, yeah, you know, you know, or, and I'm sure that there's some great ones down in Cincinnati, OH, north northeast Ohio, or wherever. It's just, you know, you have those rivalries between the communities and and the chambers they get in to support their businesses in that same manner. So it's yes, they do. It's fun and unique to really see all the uniqueness amongst these chambers. Yes, they do.
Matt:
But despite all this like, despite all the like, the differences and whatnot, you know, we at SOCA, have, you know, we've identified that, that we see the same four challenges over and over, right? So these chambers, we call them, the four critical challenges, right? So it's it's difficulty implementing technology, it's the lack of industry standard metrics. Now those two things are really across our entire industry. That's not just the entire profession, not just Ohio, yeah, they certainly are. But then the other ones are can be more localized. So then, as you see it all the time, you see leadership turnover and then complacency. So So let's talk a little bit about about some of these, right? So we. See a lot of turnover at these chambers. What is the, what is the impact, in your opinion, on that chamber and on that community, when they continue to have turnover in leadership roles?
Will:
Well, there's, there's a lot of unique things that can happen in those scenarios, and I've seen it as dramatic as a chamber losing a long term executive, and they've struggled then to fill that position. They meaning the board of directors, and a lot of boards will get in and try to manage things, but you know, those individuals have their own jobs too. They don't, they don't, they don't focus in on that. And a lot of times it becomes eye opening for those boards of directors to say, Oh, I did not realize all that went into running this ship. And, you know, unfortunately, what happens in those, in those worst case scenarios, it's almost as if they're having to start over. Yeah, you know, they they have, they've lost all the momentum. I don't like to say it, but in some cases, the credibility that comes with it. Because if you've had a long term individual in a position and, you know, they they've just taken everything with them, it's great a vacuum. It's a vacuum. Yeah, people kind of, in a way, feel lost as they're going through it. So you know that, and that, you know, fortunately, we don't see that a lot, but that's kind of the worst case scenario in a situation. Gosh, let's look at what just happened in Westerville. Wow. Janet Tresor Davis, 35 years his name was 30, 33 and it could have been centuries. Janet was absolutely awesome. But you know, they one, she has a great team in that office that helped to keep the flow. But two, they had the foresight to do the search for her replacement. And wow, did they not hit a home run, bringing in Matt Lori, who actually had started his journey, if I'm not mistaken, in the chamber industry, with Janet, that's right, that's right, went over to Worthington Rayn a chamber, and then came back home. That's right. And that's about as smooth a transition as you'll ever see. And Matt's a great guy. He's been doing great things over in Worthington for a number of years, and now he gets to bring that experience back to Westerville and try to fill those shoes as as you and I know Janet. She's a tiny person, she but she is huge, unreal to try and go in and step
Matt:
in to fill this forgotten more about chamber work than most people,
Will:
Right, right? So, I mean, you, but you get to see that, you know, in I feel blessed that I get to be out there doing that, but it's, it's tough when you have a vacancy concern.
Matt:
So you got to have a succession plan, oh, yeah, and you got to pick the right person 100%
Will:
You know, a lot of times chambers pick up on just somebody that turned in an application. Those scenarios don't generally turn out. Well, I agree. They don't. Other chambers and their boards will spend time. They'll they'll do their due diligence, and they'll research, and they'll find a person with with some sort of experience that fits the role, whether it's nonprofit business experience, something that builds a connection and relates to their community. That's a big piece as well, you know. So what like you and I when we started in the chamber industry, it was our first days walking into a chamber saying, What the heck are we doing here? But you can find people with business experience, nonprofit experience, that know what they're doing and can take that bull by the horns, you know, and really make it continue.
Matt:
That first year is really tough because you're just trying to get your sea legs underneath you. But then the second year, I mean, it's, you know, you've got the calendar tends to be the same most of the time, right? So, so you know, you're familiar with it. So let's talk a little bit about complacency, like what I've seen is, is what you know we talked about this earlier, where you know the chamber well, you remember who used to be over it. CCE, BJ, BJ, weiburg, right? So? BJ, weibs, wow. He used to say that, hey, you know, you're the Chamber of Commerce, you're not, you're not the chamber of charity, you're not the chamber of community, and you're not the chamber of civics, right? So, you see, he would always, you know, tell us to, let's, let's stay focused on that. But what I see from the complacency is as well, is that sometimes the chamber just feels like it doesn't have any true role in the community. What do you see when you're out there? Yeah, you know
Will:
Well I think you go back to that old adage of, if you've seen one chamber, you've seen one chamber, right? You know, the chambers will a lot of times mirror what it is that's happening within their community, which makes sense, right? That's the business makeup, especially if you're in a community with a lot of small business, you know, if you've got those areas with with a true downtown and a true spirit within those downtowns, you know, you'll pick up that scenario. But, you know, on the complacency side of things, you can see, you can see when people get into a rut, you know, they go in, and it's very easy to do. I know it happened to me. It probably happened with you. Regardless of what you're trying to do in your four walls, you can put up those binders.
Matt:
Here's where I think it stems from. And this is just me, right? But I've done a lot of writing about this, and as you know, I'm, you know, going to be publishing a book later. But I think it comes from the mindset that if you focus on just being relevant in your community, that's a pretty low bar, okay, right? And so, I mean, that's subjective. It's totally subjective, right? So if you, if you change your focus on, instead of just being wanting to be relevant to wanting to make an impact, well, you can measure impact. What did we do? Right? You can, you can measure it in terms of, you know, dollars and cents. You can measure it in terms of, you know, the number in some sort of workforce development project or economic development project, but that's where I think it stems from. So anyway, that's just me.
Will:
Well, now you're, you're right. You know, you get into, again, I go back to the blinders. You get in. And a lot of chamber executives will feel the pressures of what's coming in from their boards of directors. A lot of times the boards will get caught up in let me see your bottom line. Okay, and it's really beyond that. What can you do? You know, I mentioned the Memorial Day tornadoes. In this scenario, it's what can you do within your community that's going to make that positive impact, not to just be there, not to just be relevant. But how are you going to be impactful within your community, to make difference, to make change, to promote growth. You know, you talked about workforce development, you talk about political advocacy, you talk about just, you know, growth in general, to what is happening within those communities. And a lot of times, I think we have allowed ourselves to be complacent in what we do with our industry. We've allowed different workforce people to take responsibilities out of our hands. I agree with that, you know, and you know who's to blame for that, that that falls on each of us in the industry, and we have to find a way to drive we are that driving force. That's why people come to the chambers. They want to have that connection. So we need to be that impactful connection, not just there to make sure the lights are on.
Matt:
I agree. I agree. So first of all, I'm going to ask you two things. So this has been a really good conversation. Well, what I'd really like to do is, let's have you back on a on a future episode of the Chamber On podcast, and we'll, we'll start talking about, you know, some of the things that we're doing with regard to data analytics and scorecards and whatnot. And then we'll go into some more detail, because we could have an entire show, some fun stuff.
Will:
Well, I mean, I think go even looking back at the the four critical challenges that I think you introduced that three years ago, yeah, four years ago. And, you know, we just touched the surface of that. We can spend a whole episode talking about this.
Matt:
Let's do that. Let's, let's schedule another time to get together and do that. So I. Um, I just have two more questions. Like, you know, we both touched on, like, basically, for the good of the profession. So, like, what? What do chambers need to be doing to get more young people working in the Chamber of Commerce profession?
Will:
Wow, yeah, that, you know, that has real I think that's an ongoing challenge. I think it was a challenge when we stepped into our roles, yeah, you know, and when we stepped into our roles, those individuals that were in the seats ahead of us would certainly not have looked at things the same way that we look at them. And today's executives are not going to be looking at things the same as what your tomorrow's executives are going to 10, 20 years, right? It's going to be entirely different.
So one, you have to open up the opportunities. You can't go in blind to these things. You have to be engaging. You have to meet people on their levels and provide interest in where they come to the table. If they don't find relevance, if they don't find a reason, they're not going to be there, they're not going to come. You know, I we've heard it over the last decade about, you know, the switch to millennials and Gen Z's and even alpha as as far as you know, the groups are coming in. You know us as Xers, yeah, you know we're, we're starting to, we're starting to be that older group, you know, so we have to open our eyes, we have to open our minds, find ways to engage That's right, and and we have to reach out That's right. We have to reach out. We We have to find that commonality that makes it welcoming, provides understanding. And you know what? In some cases, it still needs to be fun, yeah?
Matt:
Makes it a good place to work, and fun and engaging, right? Yeah. So, so we're going to bring you back, and we're going to talk about some more of this stuff. Really good. We might have to bring maybe our friend Mike Throne in, and we, all three of us, can kind of talk about, oh yeah, wow.
Will:
We could. We could go on for a long time. Maybe we can invite some of the, some of our old time friends. That would be good.
Matt:
We'll get them on the podcast. But I do have one other question for you. Oh boy, here we go. Right. Okay, every, every guest of of the chamber on podcast has to answer this question. So will Roberts, who is the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Is it The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin?
Will:
Oh, Matt, oh, my goodness. First, can we change that out of the top three? This needs to be like a David Letterman top 10 List, maybe even top 20. We've had this conversation. Okay, you know, anyhow, all right, your top three, if I'm going with your top three, and I'm going to be honest with myself here and those that may be listening in is that I have never been a fan of the stones. I can appreciate what they do, just that they're not me. You know the Beatles? The Beatles are the Beatles. It would be very difficult to be anyone stronger than who the Beatles are. That being said, I'm with your top three. I'm selecting Zeppelin Jim. We have a zeppelin vote. Jim, okay,
Will:
Okay, going in there, and now my answer, okay, goes to the band with the greatest guitar player of all time, Mr. Eddie Van Halen. Okay. And, of course, the namesake Van Halen.
Matt:
Good choice. Very good choice. I know my brother went to go see them at Hara Arena, Hara, like 1979 or something like that. Wow. I was too young to go to anything like that. But all right, so Will Roberts, thanks for being on the Chamber On podcast. This is a very engaging discussion. We need to have more discussions like this, where we are, I guess talking more about the profession itself, right?
Will:
I agree, and you know, I would invite other chamber executives to share our thoughts and ideas with you myself, Mickey, whomever they feel most comfortable communicating with, and allow us to get their information in. Out on the airwaves as well, because as a collective group, that's where we're the best.
Matt:
I agree. We need to do story to storytelling from from this platform. So I love it. So will. Thanks a lot for being here. We're looking forward to the next episode. So everyone have a great week, month, day and everyone chamber on thanks for having me. You.