Time for Change

Dear Editor,

How do you make change in an organization you have no way of holding accountable? How do you make a statement heard around the community? You resign. You stop accepting the status quo - stop doing the same things while expecting a different result. We as employees of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce can no longer accept a lack of training, negligible participation, and ignorance surrounding the daily operations of the Chamber from our Board of Directors. With this letter we hope to bring to light some of the issues affecting the Chamber and encourage the community to fight for a Chamber that represents them.

We are saying no to shifting ground beneath our feet. The Board of Directors has failed to provide clear expectations for job performance and duties, or actionable items to improve upon. This stems from structural inadequacies within the organization. For example, Board Members cannot agree on the mission of the Chamber: whether our goal is to support the business community by being a membership organization, or to organize and throw community events. They have allowed the Chamber to be directed by personal relationships and external forces. Success is unachievable when rules are unwritten and you have no guidelines to judge yourself by. This has created a toxic work environment that is detrimental to our health and the health of the organization. The history of employee turnover over the last decade is indication that this is an ongoing issue.

We are both deeply saddened at having to submit our resignations as we still have great hope for the Chamber, and truly enjoy supporting the community through our work. We now hope that you as community members will stand up for what’s best for Dayton and let the Chamber of Commerce know that change needs to be made. This is YOUR Chamber, put in place to support YOUR businesses. The responsibility to craft a Chamber of Commerce that actually benefits the community is up to you - we desperately need Board members willing to work, committee/ event chairs, businesses to become members, and volunteers to truly function to our greatest ability. The time to stand up for Dayton is now!

To let your voice be heard please consider submitting a Letter to the Editor or contacting the President of the Board of Directors, Brian St Clair at brian.stclair@columbiapulp.com.

Thank you for your time,

Melissa Bryan, Executive Director

Caitlyn Robins, Assistant Director