As the year ends, we take a moment to look back at the tremendous progress and many accomplishments we’ve achieved in 2022 together. Truly, we could not look ahead to 2023 nor celebrate this past year’s successes without the incredible support of each and every one of our members. On behalf of our Chamber’s Board of Directors and staff, I want to thank all our members for their investment in the Chamber. Your support through membership not only provides your business with unique benefits but also allows the Chamber to accomplish its mission to be the voice of business through advocacy, building connections and professional development. This Annual Report provides a look at our past year and the opportunities that lie ahead for us all. We look forward to the coming year as we continue to positively impact our business community.
MEMBERSHIP
With the past few challenging years in the rear-view mirror, in 2022 we strongly focused on the foundational objectives of networking and added-value member benefits. Networking is a key desire and need for any business to grow and providing in-person opportunities to connect are central to our mission. That said, our ever-popular monthly Business After Hours had a lot of steam behind each one, averaging 70+ attendees while each host business showcased their best practices. For those that have personal affairs to tend to after work, we launched a monthly noontime opportunity that provides a lunch/learn/network three-pronged value. Beyond that, there’s room for morning networking so we just initiated a twice monthly ‘coffee connections’ hour. On the member benefits front, our membership retention is paramount to our mission. We want our new and existing members to feel engaged, so we added more benefits without increasing dues and we are executing a very popular quarterly workshop called “Making the Most of Your Membership.” It’s a great refresher class for existing members and immersion class for our newest member businesses. Indeed, this year has been our “membership growth year” – we’ve grown our offerings, our relevancy to what businesses want & need, our diversity of members, and certainly our number of member businesses making us one of the largest Chambers in the state.
ADVOCACY
The 2022 Legislative year was one of continued readjustment as government bodies tried to find ways to navigate following a time of total disruption brought on by the global pandemic. With a combination of remote and in-person access, it worked well enough, and GNCC was, once again, able to successfully advocate for our members on key business-related issues. Working with a strong coalition of businesses in every sector and across the state, we were able to defeat or neutralize a series of proposed legislation that interfered with the employer/employee relationship and mandated how employers implement safety practices. While many of these bills were Covid related, they had broad negative implications on business autonomy for now and in the future. Our strong advocacy efforts led to the defeat of a premature anti-rail bill. The Greater Nashua business community has long supported passenger rail, and eagerly awaits the results of a federal study due out in 2023. We will continue to take a responsible approach toward receiving accurate data should such anti rail bills surface in the coming year. GNCC efforts toward lower business taxes were achieved with the passage of the final reduction in the Business Profits Tax. While the Business Enterprise Tax did not change, it will be back on the docket in 2023. Lack of affordable workforce housing continues as a NH challenge and affects the entire NH business community. GNCC was active in advocating for passage of legislation that streamlines housing regulations and promotes housing initiatives. We will continue this effort and any other that impacts our GNCC membership in the coming year.
2022 EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
In addition to our monthly networking opportunities at Business After Hours, Young Professionals Socials, and Out-of-the-Box Lunches, 2022 was a very active year for our Signature events at the Greater Nashua Chamber. In February, we hosted our Legislative Kickoff reception as well as our very popular, indoor minigolf tournament. In March, we hosted the State of the City lunch with Mayor Jim Donchess. In April, as bills in the NH Legislature “crossed over,” we hosted a cocktail reception bringing together legislators and members of the business community. In May, We hosted our annual Eminence Business Awards Luncheon with the theme of “Celebrate Nashua: Past, Present & Future!” In June, we graduated our 27th Leadership Greater Nashua Class, and also held our annual State of the State breakfast featuring Governor Chris Sununu. In October, the Chamber hosted our 4-part Candidates Series. Of note, we were the only Chamber in the state to host candidates in the “big 3” races: US Senate, Congressional District 2 and Governor’s race. The Chamber’s Strategic Planning Committee finalized our goals for the next 3 years, resulting in a new mission statement. The Chamber also continued strengthening our Leadership Greater Nashua (LGN)program as the steering committee met over the summer to turn our already successful program into an even better experience. LGN has graduated over 600 community leaders since 1995, men and women who lead our businesses and Boards across the region. In September, the LGN class of 2023 began our 28th year with 25 class participants. Over the past year, the Chamber has continued to pursue key partnerships both in Nashua and statewide. These include our leadership and active participation in the NH Commerce Corridor Chamber Coalition, the newly formed Air Service Support and Enhancement Team to support air service expansion efforts of the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, and as a partner in the state’s Southern-Central Collaborative Economic Development Region. The Chamber is also active in the Arts in our community, One Greater Nashua, and with the Railway Expansion Committee and Nashua’s Economic Development Recovery Steering Committee. Finally, after many years of the Chamber acting in a leading role, we are so proud that the Nashua Center for the Arts which broke ground in 2021 is nearing completion, and is expected to open in March 2023.
Throughout the year, we coordinated our Business Education Series which covered topics such as Mental Health in the Workplace, Cancer Treatment and Prevention, Creating workforce solutions, Self Defense and more. We also hosted several Leadership Greater Nashua Alumni Association mixers so that our 600 or so graduates could reconnect. As we wrap up the year, on November 9th we celebrate our 94th Annual Gala and Citizen of the Year event– The Greatest Gala on Earth- and then round out 2022 with our Economic Outlook 2022 Luncheon in December.
The Chamber’s Strategic Planning Committee finalized our goals for the next 3 years, resulting in a new mission statement. The Chamber also continued strengthening our Leadership Greater Nashua (LGN)program as the steering committee met over the summer to turn our already successful program into an even better experience. LGN has graduated over 600 community leaders since 1995, men and women who lead our businesses and Boards across the region. In September, the LGN class of 2023 began our 28th year with 25 class participants.
OTHER INITIATIVES 2021 HIGHLIGHTS
Over the past year, the Chamber has continued to pursue key partnerships both in Nashua and statewide. These include our leadership and active participation in the NH Commerce Corridor Chamber Coalition, the newly formed Air Service Support and Enhancement Team to support air service expansion efforts of the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, and as a partner in the state’s Southern-Central Collaborative Economic Development Region. The Chamber is also active in the Arts in our community, One Greater Nashua, and with the Railway Expansion Committee and Nashua’s Economic Development Recovery Steering Committee. Finally, after many years of the Chamber acting in a leading role, we are so proud that the Nashua Center for the Arts which broke ground in 2021 is nearing completion, and is expected to open in March 2023.