Regional Challenges and Opportunities of NKY Chamber of Commerce with President/CEO Brent Cooper
BY: Autumn Ray, Ignite Intern for Stinger Media
Florence, Kentucky – February 22, 2021 – The Rotary Club of Florence held a meeting on Monday, February 22, 2021 where Brent Cooper (@bcooperNKY), President/CEO of NKY Chamber of Commerce (@nkychamber). shared the challenges and opportunities the region has faced during the pandemic.
The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in Northern Kentucky, representing over 1,500 businesses and 200,000 employees. Brent has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and business owner. He is very active in the community (Leadership NKY 2005 & Leadership Cincinnati 2016) and currently serves on several boards including the Kentucky State Chamber of Commerce, NKU Foundation, NKY Convention Center and the Strive Partnership.
Florence is the second largest city in Northern Kentucky with 33,000 people and 2,500 businesses. The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has done surprisingly well during the pandemic, the Chamber budgeted for a 10% drop in memberships. But rather than a decline, the number of members have stayed flat with some leaving but an equal amount joining the organization.
The Chamber’s mission is to promote and support development of strong businesses, as well as a vibrant economy in the Northern Kentucky region, through leadership and advocacy this results in a better quality of life for all. During April, the Chamber held events just about every day. They had 150 to 180 participants per event after the CARES Act was passed due to the large amount of information which people were trying to understand. Mr. Cooper mentioned that the Chamber believes knowledge is power, so they are constantly sending information to their members via, emails, website, podcast, social media, and traditional media.
The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has helped others in the community during the pandemic. Businesses called to find out if they were classified as essential service and if their business could be shut down. They helped businesses survive the pandemic, unemployment insurance, legal liability protection, support of traditional horse racing legislation, taxes, infrastructure and vaccines. The Chamber has been advocating to rebuild the Brent Spence Bridge since 2014 with the hopes of construction starting in 2015 and ending in 2020. Obviously, that plan never came to fruition. In December, when the bridge was closed due to the fire it took an hour to get to the Florence Mall from Highland Heights Fort Thomas, Independence, Alexandria, Newport, etc. Since Mr. Cooper has been president of The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce the Brent Spence Bridge has been either closed or limited down to two lanes within the past 4 years.
The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has been doing their best to help businesses and the community during such trying times. They have a greater impact on the community than many realize by helping to keep many businesses open and being a central point for information.
A recording of this presentation and past meetings of the Rotary Club of Florence is available on the club’s Facebook Page:
The Rotary Club of Florence, Kentucky (serving all of Boone County) is a community service organization focusing on “service above self”. The club meets weekly on Mondays via Zoom during COVID. Guests are always welcome. To learn more about upcoming speakers and events, please visit the club’s website at www.florencerotary.org or follow their Facebook page.
Visit the Chambers website: (Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce (nkychamber.com),
Podcast: Can be found on the Chamber’s website
Twitter: (@nkychamber) (@bcooperNKY)
Facebook (NKY Chamber of Commerce) (Brent Cooper)
LinkedIn (Brent Cooper) (NKY Chamber of Commerce)
Instagram (nkychamber)
#ServiceAboveSelf #FloRo #PeopleofAction #RotaryClubofFlorance #NorthernKentuckyChamberofCommerce #NKYChamber #NorthernKentucky #Business #Florence #Pandemic #Resilience #BrentSpenceBridge #NKY
###
