Recent collaboration on Wine Trail helps build partnership
Published in the March 4 – 17, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Mark Turner
Mark Turner, CEO/President of Gilroy Chamber of Commerce
The Gilroy and Morgan Hill Chambers of Commerce share a lot in common. Both work to create strong local economies, promote their communities, develop networking opportunities and represent the interests of their local businesses with government. Like many organizations such as ours, we rely heavily on volunteers to work together to carry out the goals and objectives described above. It requires a collaborative effort of the board of directors, staff, committees and volunteers to successfully accomplish the desired outcomes that create a strong and successful business community. Successful business communities make for successful cities. Even though Gilroy and Morgan Hill are both unique in their style and personality, there is still a lot in common and through collaborative efforts between our Chambers of Commerce, more can be accomplished for our region.
Benefits of collaboration
We’re better together. There is much to be gained by working together for the benefit of South County. The aphorism “a rising tide lifts all boats,” which originated from a regional Chamber of Commerce in New England and was often used by President John F. Kennedy, tells what can happen when we work together for the common good. If Morgan Hill “rises” due to good economic planning and development, Gilroy also benefits — and vice versa. While we each work to do the right thing for our own communities, we continue to be aware of how it affects the whole region.
One area where we’ve seen the benefit of collaboration between Morgan Hill and Gilroy is the development of the South County Wine Trail. The combined efforts of various organizations such as the Morgan Hill Chamber; the Gilroy Welcome Center, a strategic partner of the Gilroy Chamber; the Association of Wineries of Santa Clara County; the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill and the County of Santa Clara, helped bring greater awareness to our region’s first-class wineries. Wayfinding signs have been posted helping to drive more traffic to South County wineries. Other local businesses in the area stand to benefit from greater tourism traffic as well. The tide is rising.
South County efforts
The Morgan Hill and Gilroy chambers continue to find ways to collaborate and create a regional mindset. Working to support and encourage one another, John Horner, the Morgan Hill Chamber president and CEO, and I often meet to discuss events, issues and opportunities. John’s development of “Rock the Mock,” a program helping high school students to prepare for job interviews, has proven a successful model for the Gilroy Chamber’s own “Rock the Mock” effort. John has provided all the information needed for our implementation of the program in the Gilroy high schools.
The Gilroy Chamber hosts an annual Legislative Summit with federal, state, county and city officials attending and providing updates on issues that affect our region. Morgan Hill’s mayor is always invited to be a part of the presentation. Business owners and operators along with chamber members from both communities and concerned citizens alike attend the summit to learn about the regional issues.
John and I both represent our chambers as we serve on the United Way South County Committee along with our respective mayors and other community leaders. The committee meets every month to develop plans to promote reading, assist the less fortunate and deal with homeless issues.
At various times throughout the year, the executive teams of both chambers meet to discuss government affairs, calendar of events, economic development and opportunities to develop greater networking between local businesses. In September of last year, the Morgan Hill Chamber hosted a combined after-hours mixer at Guglielmo Winery where more than 300 attendees enjoyed an evening of networking. Chamber members from Gilroy to Santa Clara participated. Likewise, the Gilroy Chamber hosted a December after-hours mixer inviting the Morgan Hill Chamber to partake.
More collaboration
The Gilroy and Morgan Hill chambers both belong to the Silicon Valley Coalition of Chambers which include 14 other Chambers of Commerce in Santa Clara County. The coalition meets every other month and represents more than 10,000 businesses in Santa Clara County. The coalition is a unified voice for county, regional, state and federal legislative issues.
I was honored to emcee the 2015 Morgan Hill Chamber’s “Celebrate Morgan Hill” awards dinner Feb. 20. Like Gilroy, Morgan Hill’s citizens, workers and business owners take pride in their community, and rightfully so. There’s so much to celebrate. I’m confident more efforts will be made to collaboratively create a, “regional rising tide,” as both chambers see each other as partner organizations instead of competitors.
Mark Turner is the president and CEO of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce. He wrote this column for Morgan Hill Life.
