2023 was a strong year for the Chamber, because of our entrepreneurial and engaged business community. One mission of the Chamber is to keep members and community informed of community happenings, business-impacting events, and resources to support business growth.

Our weekly roundups, named Friday Focus, had a 60% open rate, up 4% over last year and 20% over the industry average. The newsletter includes custom content for local business leaders, training opportunities, member discounts, jobs updates, advocacy and legislative content, and amplification of member events.

The Chamber also utilizes both Facebook and Instagram to share member information with the community at-large. We found that 30% of our audience comes from Estes Park, indicating that our information is noticed outside our area, including Denver, Loveland, Longmont and Fort Collins. We reached over 24,000 accounts year to date with 136 pieces of content. Engagement is up nearly 60% year over year.

We welcomed 41 new Chamber members this year and held more than 20 ribbon cuttings, more than twice as many as last year. We also shared more than 50 members businesses spotlight videos on social media, and we’ll continue to share more of these great spotlights that we have captured in the new year.

Another goal of the Chamber is to offer Business Education and Resources. We offered complimentary workshops this year on state-initiated topics such as Family Medical Leave & Insurance (FAMLI) and Colorado Secure Savings. We brought in a Human Resources expert from HRX and held a session on compliance of new Colorado Labor Laws for 2024. The Chamber distributed valuable resources from our regional partners, including the Larimer County United Way, Small Business Development Center, NoCo Works and more. We also hosted a roundtable discussion on commercial insurance with Senator Marchman and Representative Amabile over the summer and a small group discussion with Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young.

The Chamber took an advocacy role, visiting Denver during the legislative session, meeting Senator Marchman, Representative Amabile and Secretary of State Jena Griswold. The Chamber opposed HB23-1118: Fair workweek bill and we can expect to hear more about this topic again in 2024. We supported the ballot initiative 6E which now raises funds for workforce housing and local childcare, that will have positive impact on our community. The Chamber also shared information covering pros and cons of various bills during the 2023 session when no position was needed but we wanted to keep everyone informed, and we’ll continue to do so in 2024.

We held over 35 events including our Business After Hours, our monthly evening networking events, Coffee Connections our morning networking events, Estes Next our up-and-coming workforce training and networking seminars, Food for Thought dinner seminars. We also hosted our signature events: Chamber Cup Golf Tournament, Community Gumbo Dinner, Bowling Tournament, the foundation’s Coolest Dog Contest, and the Annual Gala. We added our Women of Impact recognition in March, a Mini Golf tournament in the fall and most recently a Sip & Shop event focused on local vendors, and we’ll be looking forward to expanding these events in 2024. Our Gala this year included our first Annual Chamber Awards with the following recipients recognized:

Business Person of the Year: Harriette Woodard, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation

Business of the Year: Snow Peaks Winery

Chamber Hero: Brian Hauser, The Bull Pin

Chair Award: Kent Smith, Signs & Wishes

As we close our 2023, we are already working on our 2024 programming and more ways to connect business and community. We are always looking for new ideas for education workshops, new partners to work with and welcome suggestions from members and non-members alike. If you have any ideas, please reach out to executive director Colleen DePasquale at director@esteschamber.org.