VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) — The Venango Area Chamber of Commerce is undertaking the revival of their Advocacy Committee.

(Pictured, left to right: Be Here Program Manager Ashley Sheffer, President/CEO Susan Williams, and Executive Assistant Tessa Byham of the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce)

According to Susan Williams, President/CEO of Venango Area Chamber of Commerce, the Advocacy Committee is a part of the chamber that many people tend to miss.

“I think that often the image of our rural chambers is that we are the event hosts. We hold networking events and people look at the promotional and marketing benefits to membership, and that’s often all they see,” Williams told exploreVenango.com.

“But, there’s actually a lot that goes on kind of behind the scenes that we don’t talk as much about, and we’re hoping to get more people involved in that, working on behalf of our business community.”

Part of the goal of the Chamber of Commerce is making the region a good place to do business, which can mean working with officials and municipalities, looking at funding opportunities, and helping to remove barriers that make business more difficult, according to Williams.

She noted that in the past, they have done everything from hosting candidates who are campaigning for office to working with PennDOT to keep highways open and lobbying to reduce the chance of tolling on highways.

“I have a whole list of things that are advocacy topics. It’s not all-inclusive, but it is things we talk about around the board table and in the committee.”

These topics include, but are not limited to, healthcare, broadband internet access, solar and renewable energy, housing and blight issues, childcare, and other workforce issues, Williams explained.

“We look for topics that are impactful to our businesses here in the Venango area.”

However, the Advocacy Committee, like many others, has had difficulty meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They had been meeting around four to six times per year prior to the pandemic, but after a couple of virtual meetings, they stopped meeting entirely, Williams added.

However, the chamber is now hoping to restart those meetings and revive the committee itself, looking at opportunities to offer hybrid meetings where those who feel comfortable can attend in person, and those who would prefer can attend virtually.

“Almost every committee is interested in hybrid meetings, sometimes due to health concerns and sometimes just due to scheduling issues. Now, to a large extent, people are eliminating travel times between meetings by attending some of them virtually, and we are trying to set up our office to allow for that.”

The move to allow for both in-person and virtual meetings in a hybrid setting could even be one of the issues the Advocacy Committee would examine, Williams noted.

“We want to empower businesses to be successful in a variety of circumstances, and if you want to recruit great workers, you have to understand the changing environment and be open to it.”

One role of the chamber, Williams said, is bringing people with different ideas to the table and finding ways to have them all work together for the benefit of businesses in the region.

The newly revived Advocacy Committee will most likely meet once per month and may go beyond that in the future.

The chamber’s committee also allows for smaller business owners to be involved in a wider discussion of major issues that impact businesses.

“It’s an opportunity for individuals from any size business to be involved. We find that sometimes people from larger businesses may already take part in other associations or advocacy work, but through the Chamber, even sole proprietors or smaller businesses can get involved, too. It’s all about uniting people and bringing them together.”

Williams said that the Chamber always appreciates all of its members and everything they do to support each other through supporting the Chamber, and they also hope to bring more of their members’ voices forward in important discussions through the Advocacy Committee.

“We need to hear their voices. Sharing their knowledge and experience is important, too.”

The Advocacy Committee is open to any interested Venango Area Chamber of Commerce member. Those interested in participating are asked to contact Susan Williams at swilliams@venangochamber.org or by calling 814-676-8521.