New Chamber leadership breathes life into dying organization

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By the middle of 2006, Maricopa’s Chamber of Commerce found itself in a compromising position. It existed for three years and their growth stagnated around 80 members.

It didn’t offer much for its members other than a name for an organization to which people paid fees and got little in return.

“We weren’t a real organization before,” said current Chamber Board Vice President Mark Molus. “We were a group of volunteers who didn’t have time to do much. Almost anything we would have done then would have helped.”

And it did.

The board was able to get financial support from the city to hire a full-time representative for the Chamber. In addition, Maricopa provides an office location for them near city hall.

“At that point,” said Molus, “we had a location and a point of contact. All we needed was the face.”

On Oct. 16, the board added their final piece of the puzzle: The new executive director, Terri Kingery.

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Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Terri Kingery talks with local business owners about the Chamber.

Kingery stormed into Maricopa with a big list of to-dos. During her first five months, she managed to double membership; a feat that took the previous leadership three years.

“People didn’t realize how viable the Chamber was,” said Kingery. “But they see it now.”

And now that she is close to her annual recruitment goal, and guided by a more progressive leadership, Kingery is finding ways to build value for members.

“I believe in promoting goodwill,” she said. “If I’m going to talk the talk, I need to walk the walk by supporting small businesses and shopping locally.”

But “walking the walk” is not all she does. Kingery has created discount programs so members can save money on group health, life and dental insurance through Humana; discounts on office supplies and furniture, and more.

“Right now I’m working on a deal with Verizon to get discounts and fee waivers on cellular service and phones for businesses,” she said.

Chamber Board President Courtny Tyler said Kingery has been a valuable asset to the Chamber so far making it easier for them to look ahead and set new goals.

“We want to double the benefits and focus on growth,” she said.

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Brooklyn Boys Pizzeria & Restaurant recently joined the Chamber of Commerce. They will hold a grand opening event Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The celebration will include food tasting, face painting, dancing demonstrations and martial arts demonstrations.

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HairFocus is located on Honeycutt Road and another new member of the Chamber.

Members who have joined the Chamber since Kingery started include:

Ace Hardware – Maricopa
Advanced Foot & Ankle
Advisors Mortgage
Alliance Health Center
America’s Best Karate
American Family Insurance
Anytime Fitness
Assured Security Document Destruction
Bank of America N.A.
Bill Wasowicz
Brent Murphree
Brooklyn Boys Pizzeria & Restaurant
Cactus Valley Pools
Carl Hedwall
Casa Grande Rent a Can
Central Arizona College
Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology
Century 21 – All Star
Cexi LLC
Chase Bank
Club del Sol Tanning
Comfort Keepers
Community of Hope Church
Data Doctors
Dave Ahles. PLLC
Desert Canyon Properties
Do It Right Now Business Services, PLLC
Don Rietz
DVD and Game Depot
Entrees Made Easy
Farm Bureau Financial Services
Fitzgibbons Law Office
Frontier Homebuilders, LLC
Fulton & Associates
Gifts, Games & Gadgets, Inc.
Green Kidz R Us
Hacienda Builders
HairFocus, LLC
Humana
James A Chaston CPA
Joes PC Solutions
Kingdom Chiropractic
Legacy Montessori School
Lizard Heights Glass
Long Realty Alliance
Maricopa Dance Academy
Maricopa Health & Wellness Center
Maricopa Hearing Center
Maricopabiz.com
MES Diamondbacks PTO
Mi Casita Mexican Restaurant
Mountain View Community Church
Mt. Moriah Community
National Property Inspections
NeoPrint
New Hope Montessori
Oasis Life Church
Penascos Mexican Restaurant
Pinal Energy, LLC
Pure Hues Hair Salon
Ramsey’s American Grill
REPAC Consortium
Selections Shutters
Shelley Johnson
Smile Lines Family Dentistry
Stormin’ Norman Pest Control
Studio Charme
Sunstate Equipment Co.
Tail Waggers Pet Sitting
The Bagnall Company
The Shops at Maricopa Village
Trafelet Accounting Group, LLC
Verizon Wireless
Wells Fargo Bank – Mortgage Services
Wendy Webb
Wist Office Products

For more information about the Chamber, visit www.maricopachamber.com.