Three words. One mission. Strengthening local businesses

If you’re looking for long-winded mission statements or wordy explanations of purpose, you won’t find them at the Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce.

Instead, the work of the Chamber is summed up in just three words: “Strengthening Local Business.”

“Local businesses need a voice,” said Chamber President and CEO Bryan Moore, who is now in his eighth year of leading the organization. “They need someone to help them compete, someone to help them grow. That’s who we are; that’s what we do.”

In years past, Moore explained, chambers of commerce in small communities could often be summed up with three “P’s” — parties, pageants, and parades — more social clubs than a genuine community of business owners working together.

Not so in Caldwell County, Moore said. Here the emphasis is on the three “C’s” — with the Chamber playing the role of convenor, collaborator, and champion.

Moore explains his passion for seeing the Caldwell Chamber thrive and grow to a visiting reporter on a steamy summer afternoon when the July sun is bright one moment and the sky is dark with storm clouds the next.

Inside the sunny and contemporary Chamber offices, located next to the Broyhill Civic Center just off U.S. 321, the temperature is a constant and comfortable 74 degrees.

In his knit shirt and stylish pants, Moore still sports the physique of the football player he was in high school. His closely cropped gray hair and goatee, paired with piercing blue eyes, give him an authoritative, almost military bearing.

MOORE’S BACKGROUND

As he settles at a table in the Chamber’s spacious lobby, he makes a request of the reporter. “Let’s make this more about the Chamber and less about me,” he said. The reporter agrees, but adds, “We have to let our readers know who you are also.”

Moore is a native of Norwich, a small town in Upstate New York not too far from Cooperstown, home to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

The drive to New York City from Norwich is nearly five hours and he says residents of his home community feel no more connection to the city than residents of Burke and Caldwell would feel to Atlanta.

As a young lad, Moore went on business trips with his dad whenever possible and he was fascinated by the work and the routine he witnessed in the nice hotels where he and his dad were guests.

“I knew at a very young age what I wanted to do,” Moore recalled. “And it certainly stuck because I stayed in the business for more than 30 years.”

Moore earned his degree in hotel management from the State University of New York at Cobleskill. He also completed the Walt Disney World College program, taking a semester away from Cobleskill to do so.

“That is an experience that I would not have missed and that had a profound impact on me,” Moore said. “My biggest takeaway was empathy … empathy for workers and for the people we served.”

Moore explained that he learned the hotel and hospitality industry from the ground up, working in basically every job possible. He then worked in management for hotel chains in Washington, D.C., and Charlotte.

Immediately before taking the reins with the Caldwell Chamber, Moore served as director of Marketing and Sales for the upscale Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock.

While at Chetola, Moore launched a rebranding campaign to diversify the resort’s appeal to not only transient guests but also as a site for weddings, special events, and corporate retreats.

During his time at Chetola, Moore also worked closely with not only the Caldwell Chamber, but also the chambers in Watauga and Wilkes counties, paving the way for his transition into Chamber leadership.

CALDWELL CHAMBER PRIORITIES

In applying for the Chamber’s top leadership position, Moore made a presentation to the board of directors. His message was simple: He had a strong business background. He was passionate about building the organization and making it not just relevant but essential to the county. He had a true passion for chamber work.

As noted earlier, Moore and his staff focus on a single priority — strengthening local business.

That process involves helping with the birth of new businesses.

“The Chamber can help entrepreneurs ask the right questions, guide them in the process, and put them in touch with people who have been where they are now,” Moore said.

The Chamber’s website provides a simple, step-by-step guide for things that new businesses need to do and how the Chamber can help them along the way.

The Chamber also plays a pivotal role in bringing business people together, not in a social sense, but in meetings and workshops and discussions in which authentic connections can be made and they can genuinely help each other.

The Chamber also serves as the business community’s champion — speaking up for the interests of business before local governments as well as in Raleigh.

Moore is candid about the obstacles which Caldwell County faces. The area is still recovering from the loss of many furniture and textile jobs. Tourism income is increasing in the county but needs to grow more.

Young people need more guidance in making career choices and more awareness of what professions offer the best route to stability and income sustainability over the coming decades.

“We’ve got to continue growing the awareness of the need for workforce development,” Moore said. “We’ve got to start reaching sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, and we’ve got to do a better job of sharing our success stories.”

Moore points to his own staff as an example of the need to find and keep motivated local employees.

Both Indee Swanson, director of member engagement, and Amber Clement, director of marketing and communications, are Caldwell County natives who have found a home in the Chamber.

“This staff produces the work equivalent of staffs that are twice this size and more,” Moore said. “We have to be able to provide challenging, fulfilling, and well-paid jobs for our young people if we want to keep them here.”

WORKING WITH THE PAPER

As the Caldwell Chamber moves forward, Moore is also passionate in his belief that The Paper can play a significant role in helping the county grow.

“The Paper has done an outstanding job of providing independent local news in Burke County,” he said. “And we look forward to building that kind of partnership here in Caldwell County.”

“I think The Paper will help us tell our stories, the positive stories about our businesses and the people who make them strong,” Moore continued. “The Paper can be a positive force and an important resource for this county.”