It’s a new year with a new board of directors at the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff Powell. Photo Courtesy of the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce website.

Jeff Powell, who has been active with the chamber for the past few years, will serve as the chairman of the board for 2017 and will work closely with Brenda Snell, recently named the chamber’s president and CEO.

“We had our retreat on Jan. 7 and the energy of the board is just phenomenal,” Powell said.

The other members of the board include Jayne Kendrick as treasurer, David Ballweg as secretary and supporting board members Darlene Montague, David Bennett as chairman pro-tem, Keith Buchhalter, Kathy Lee, Kathy Poindexter, Phil Crapo and Richard Gutierrez with Noel Smith staying on as past chairman, a move the chamber hopes will improve future transitions in board members and leadership. Michelle West will continue as the administrative assistant for the chamber office, working with other volunteers to contribute to the chamber’s mission: “To sustain, encourage, benefit and increase business within Mesquite and the surrounding communities.

“It was always difficult having a chairman for a year and electing a new one, essentially starting over every time. Doing this should resolve a lot of those issues and keep the momentum that the chamber has built continual,” Snell said. Being dubbed as a ‘successor-planning’ feature, time should be used more efficiently by the board as the main officers change.

Brenda Snell. Photo Courtesy of the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce website.

Snell will continue her duties of day to day operations, management, branding and reports to the board. “She will be the face of the chamber,” Powell said.

For the next year, Powell said the main focus of the chamber will be to increase membership and work closer with the current members. “There are 1,700 business licenses in Mesquite, and we have about 250 members. There’s lots of growth potential there and we will be doing all we can to work on that.”

With Montague at the helm of the membership committee, Powell said they will be working on four key parts of the relationship the chamber has with its members: retention, growth, engagement and outreach. “Each facet of that is vital to our operation as a successful chamber,” Powell said.

The increase of membership would mean the chamber could reinvest in items that are needed such as new office equipment.

“There is a lot of growth potential this year,” Powell said. “We have a lot of work to do, but we are ready to do it and continue to push business onward and upward in Mesquite.”

Powell and Snell are counting on the momentum of the achievements by the chamber in 2016 to continue in 2017 to do that. Those accomplishments included taking on the vendor village for Mesquite Days in May; building relationships with the LVCVA, LVGEA and other organizations in Southern Utah and Southern Nevada; hosting successful events such as the annual book sale that benefits Mesquite Reads, their annual golf tournament and multiple educational or informational seminars or forums that were focused on business; being a founding member of Mesquite Works; and staying involved with monthly meetings for the City of Mesquite, Mesquite Regional Business and Mesquite Works.

The Mesquite Chamber also participated in community events throughout the year, such as the Sun City Business Expo, Mesquite Night Out, Shreek-Reeka, Welcome Back Snowbirds event, the Governor’s Conference on Business and many more. Snell and Powell agree they intend to keep participating to ensure that the chamber is always visible and accessible. “We are here to help all businesses, not just our members,” Snell said. “By being a business advocate and helping businesses connect, we can build on the improving economic climate in Mesquite and help the city as a whole grow.”

In looking for new members, the Mesquite Chamber is always looking for volunteers to help in any way possible. “Our boards and committees are all volunteers,” Snell said. “We welcome anyone who wants to be a part of Mesquite’s growth to jump in and see where the experience takes them.”

The Mesquite Chamber will continue hosting ribbon cuttings for new members as well as some mixers and networking events. New ideas are being generated by the committees and Snell to bring some new ideas and activities. The ever-popular member of the month will continue, although the selection process may change slightly, Powell said. Full details were not yet available at the time of deadline, but were anticipated to be revealed at the Jan. 11 luncheon when Powell delivered his State of the Chamber address. For full details on his presentation, check the Jan. 19 edition of the Mesquite Local News.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce or being a part of their journey are encouraged to call the office at 702-346-2902 or visit their website at www.mesquitenvchamber.com. Their office is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 11 W. Pioneer Blvd, Suite C, in the Bank of Nevada building.