Outstanding Chamber main delivers creative market expertise to new role

Though she’s new to her placement, Deana Miller, who began her new position as the Exceptional Chamber of Commerce’s executive director on Monday, is no stranger to the place.

Miller is a Boulder native who used various many years as Superior’s arts and situations supervisor in addition to different roles across the point out, including stints as a specialized adviser with Downtown Colorado Inc. and as a Colorado imaginative industries manager with the Colorado Workplace of Economic Growth and International Trade.

“It felt like I was coming property,” she mentioned about her return to Boulder County.

“One of the motives why the chamber was fascinated in my background is since of practical experience with administration within just public corporations. That can be a truly large offer for a nonprofit” organization this kind of as the chamber, Miller, a College of Colorado Denver graduate and MBA recipient, instructed BizWest. “I’ve labored with more than 40 towns in the course of the state, so I have definitely gotten to understand who’s carrying out what and tactics to support with community enhancement.”

Considerably of her knowledge facilities on fostering community spirit by way of general public art and civic beautification endeavours.

“One of my passions is community building,” she stated. “Over the previous 20 many years or so, I have been doing work with innovative enterprises and programs with municipalities. My aim was improving upon general public space through creativeness like general public art.”

Miller, mom to triplets in kindergarten, joins the chamber just months right after Superior employed Jill Mendoza to serve as the town’s 1st financial-development manager.

Economic-growth corporations ordinarily perform to deliver firms to city, and the chamber supports these new and present businesses, “so we’re heading to perform in tandem, and I’m actually searching ahead to that,” Miller mentioned of Mendoza.

“Superior is a truly little city — just four sq. miles — but there is a ton of opportunity” to foster a flourishing business ecosystem, Miller reported.

Hospitality companies, which have struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic, could prove resilient in Exceptional due to the fact of the town’s substantial median cash flow, she mentioned.

“People are just dying for entertainment,” she mentioned.

Getting in excess of the reins of the chamber in the midst of a pandemic represents a one of a kind problem.

“My purpose from now through the conclusion of the yr is to help customers discover options in the course of this pandemic, no matter if which is helping the [workforce shortage issues], slicing some pink tape or locating monetary aid. We’re in this article to come across answers for what ails them,” Miller mentioned.

The Exceptional Chamber is rather uncommon in that less than half of its members are located within city limits. The vast majority of member organizations operate in nearby communities such as Lafayette, Louisville, Boulder and Broomfield.

Whether or not this is a very good detail or something that needs to be rectified by the chamber’s new chief continues to be to be found.

“As a new chamber director, I’m even now investigating this,” Miller claimed. “There are some men and women who are upset about it, and some who consider it is a enormous gain to bring outside bucks into our local community. The jury is however out.”

Miller is the chamber’s only entire-time staffer, assisted by a part-time events coordinator. It is doable that the team could appear to carry on an more whole-timer, potentially somebody to oversee membership relations.

“Over the next six months, we will be figuring out if there is a need for a complete-time membership coordinator,” Miller claimed. “As a membership-driven firm, we want to make positive we’re partaking customers and truly having a good impact on them.”

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