2022 Affiliate Chamber Spotlight: Urbandale Chamber of Commerce
Chamber Name + Website
Urbandale Chamber of Commerce
Elected Leader for 2022
Christy Jones, Board Chair
Professional Staff Leader of the Chamber
Tiffany Menke, President
Number of Members
711
How Does a Business Join Your Chamber?
Joining the Urbandale Chamber is very easy and quick. You can go to our website and click on the Join the Chamber link. After populating the information and choosing your membership options, the application will get sent to our staff for approval and an invoice. You may also call or stop by the offices and Tara Knight-Ortiz, our Membership Director, can help you sign up.
What Inspired You to First Get Involved with Your Chamber?
I joined the board of directors a couple of years ago because I wanted to help shape the future of our Chamber. We have such a great organization, and I wanted to know more about how it worked and how I could help better the organization. I am proud to represent our Chamber and excited to see our growth and development happen.
What is a Signature Offering of Your Chamber?
This is a tough one to answer because we have a few that could fit this question. To narrow it down, I would say that our signature offering would be our Central Iowa Business Conference. We have been holding the conference for three years now and we are excited to bring it back on Tuesday, May 24. We will have three excellent nationally known keynote speakers, as well as many breakout sessions facilitated by our local experts bringing business, leadership and communication strategies to our attendees.
What is Your Chamber’s Biggest Accomplishment in the Past 12 Months?
Like many businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic provided us with an opportunity to re-think how we serve our members to provide the greatest impact beyond networking events. In the past 12 months, we’ve focused heavily on benefit creation, especially around employee recruitment and attraction. Out of that focus, we’ve seen traction with our 401K group benefits plan accessible to our membership, which was the first in the State of Iowa and helps with employee retention. We have completed two new programs, launching this year, to assist members in this area as well.
What Initiative/Project Are You Looking Forward to in the Upcoming Year?
I am personally looking forward to our new Leadership Series called Central Iowa Business Academy. It is a six-part educational series geared toward new and emerging leaders in our membership. Personality traits, time management and the art of negotiation are just a few of the topics offered.
What Partnership Tools/Resources Have Been Most Beneficial to Your Chamber Members?
We are loving the Small Business Hub that The Partnership created. This site is a one-stop shop that we direct our members to go to when they request additional information. We encourage all of our members to attend or watch your Top Five series webinars.
What Are Your Upcoming Events?
The Greater Des Moines Partnership is the fourth largest regional Chamber of Commerce in the nation. Learn more about Partnership Affiliate Chambers, browse the Membership Directory and read additional Affiliate Chamber spotlights.
Christy Jones
Christy Jones is a long-standing Urbandale resident, business owner and community leader. Currently, Christy is a successful business coach with the Accelerate Action Coach team. Christy is the 2022 Board Chair for the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce, and a long standing member since 2010. She will be the voice of small businesses in Urbandale and surrounding communities.