SANDY — Three south Wasatch Front cities are launching a collaborative effort to provide greater resources to local small businesses and entrepreneurs in one of the Salt Lake Valley’s fastest growing areas.
The Sandy Area Chamber announced Tuesday a partnership with nearby Draper and Riverton to be known as the South Valley Chamber. The new regional entity will replace the Sandy Area Chamber and work in conjunction with the Draper Area Chamber of Commerce and the Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce, which serves Riverton.
The name change and partnerships represents a shift in the way the South Valley Chamber will operate going forward, said CEO and President Greg Summerhays, who held the same positions at the former Sandy Area Chamber.
“The biggest thing is that it helps pool together our resources so that we can offer more services to the business community,” he said.
Over the years, the organization has operated more like a regional chamber with 40% of its membership located outside Sandy limits, he said, adding that the name change will present new opportunities for more businesses across the south end of the Salt Lake Valley to participate in the programs offered by the chamber.
Through the chamber’s Business Institute, the organization offers several academies, including a mini-MBA program, a sales academy, a digital marketing academy and a finance academy. Created last year, the entity’s signature program is the KeyBank Business Accelerator Academy, in which business owners go through a 13-session course designed to develop a customized three-year growth plan for each participating business. During the course, the participant firm goes through a detailed review of the company’s finances, marketing, sales and management style using an award-winning curriculum proved to provide tangible growth outcomes for small businesses, according to a news release.
“By pooling our resources together, we’re going to be able to offer it to more companies,” Summerhays said.
The new partnership between Sandy, Draper and Riverton will also create economic development opportunities that could be potentially beneficial to the region, he said. Located at the Mountain America Center in the Cairns District in Sandy, the new South Valley Chamber will also actively work to develop partnerships with other surrounding cities.
“Our business landscape has changed, so as a chamber of commerce we need to adapt as well. We believe that a vital role of a chamber of commerce is to provide necessary resources to help companies grow, increase annual revenues, create jobs and get more customers,” he said.
“Networking alone cannot achieve these goals, which is why we introduced the Business Institute. Businesses all across Salt Lake County — and even beyond — have taken advantage of these services, and we are excited to bring these programs to even more businesses through these new partnerships.”
“We want to create a really strong business community before (growth) really explodes in the years to come,” he added. “By having that strong business community, it will attract more businesses to the area.”
Local civic leaders lauded the new chamber’s mission and program offerings aimed at bolstering the area’s thousands of small businesses.
“With Riverton’s strong economic trajectory, a partnership with the new South Valley Chamber will help businesses in our city continue to prosper in the years ahead,” said Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs. “This move aligns directly with (the city’s) goal of promoting a thriving business climate that supports the needs of our residents.”
The regional economy in the south end of Salt Lake County will benefit from the support of a strong regional chamber of commerce, he added.
“We are thrilled with this new partnership because it will give more businesses in our city the opportunity to benefit from the programs that are already being offered at the South Valley Chamber,” said Draper Mayor Troy Walker. “We have a great relationship with our surrounding cities and believe this partnership with the South Valley Chamber will help accelerate regional economic development.”