It’s been a big year for the Opelika Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber, founded more than 80 years ago, was named Chamber of Commerce of the Year in the First Division by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
According to President and CEO Ali Rauch, this is the first time the Opelika Chamber has received this award and the chamber is only the third Alabama chamber to receive this honor from ACCE.
For Rauch himself, who has had a successful year and was appointed to the ACCE Board of Directors in July, the “Chamber of the Year” award is recognition of his work with the Opelika Chamber of Commerce.
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“We’re not in this business to win awards, but it’s really nice to be able to show the community that, ‘we’re not just leading our community, we’re leading the country,’ by doing a really great job for the community,” Rauch said.
Rauch said when he took over at the Opelika Chamber of Commerce four years ago, the organization had about 713 members. Today, the organization has 989 member businesses across Opelika and the Auburn area, representing more than 20,000 employees. During that same period, the chamber’s budget has also nearly doubled.
What’s the key to that growth? Rauch said the chamber has changed its thinking about how it can help Opelika businesses.
“We’ve really gotten creative and brought a business and marketing mindset to what we do,” she said. “I credit that to the team I’ve put together. They’re all amazing, they’re all hard workers, they believe in what we do, so this collective effort has helped us grow and also helped us achieve this incredible milestone of being Chamber of the Year.”
Local businesses pay attention to the Chamber of Commerce’s efforts
One company that has seen that growth is Lambert Moving Systems and its president and CEO, Carlton Hanley IV. The local family-owned business was founded in 1925, and Hanley became involved with the company in 2004, taking over as president and CEO from his father in 2022.
Hanley first became directly involved with the chamber after being persuaded by Barbara Patton several years ago. Hanley eventually served as chair of the Opelika Chamber of Commerce board and continued in that role after Rauch was hired. He said the chamber has always offered great programs and services, but has changed over the years.
“I think the most unique thing about the Opelika Chamber of Commerce, and what makes them so successful, is they don’t get stuck doing things a certain way just because that’s the way they’ve always done them. They’re the opposite of stagnant,” Hanley said. “They’re always evolving with the community. As businesses change, as the makeup of the community changes, they change with it.”
Hanley currently serves as chairman of the board of the Opelika Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which helps with fundraising.
Hanley stressed that some of the initiatives the chamber has initiated have helped his own business and others, such as after-hours business and coffee meet-up events, which he said bring businesses throughout the region together.
Rauch echoed the change, saying the chamber must evolve to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and think carefully about the programs and services it offers. Rauch said about 80 percent of the chamber’s membership is made up of businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
Lambert Moving Systems is celebrating its 100th anniversary, while Golden State Foods broke ground on its Opelika facility about eight years ago. GSF is one of the chamber’s largest companies, and employs about 300 people at the facility.
“GSF has been operating out of the Opelika Industrial Park for seven years, but if you ask around, very few people or businesses know about us. Through chamber activities such as Business over Breakfast, the Annual General Meeting and Snopelika, it has given us a platform to promote our business to areas and other businesses we would not normally have access to,” said Nathan Murphy, GSF group vice president, protein products.
Murphy has been with GSF for about six years and currently serves as secretary of the Opelika Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee. Murphy said he decided to join the board because he felt a strong connection with the chamber and the work it does.
Rauch said the chamber’s mission is to strengthen the community as an advocate for business and that mission has four pillars: achieving excellence, cultivating community, building bridges and elevating business.
Rauch said the company helps many businesses through educational events such as its Business Over Breakfast, where speakers recently provided important information about the Fair Labor Standards Act, which affects some of the region’s largest companies, and about a week later hosted a free business seminar on the employee life cycle, which covered details such as hiring, firing and retaining employees and the benefits employers can offer, and Rauch said the event is targeted at small businesses and startups.
Rauch also sees the chamber as the biggest cheerleader for area businesses, with a strong social media presence and large membership. The chamber is able to be that cheerleader through initiatives like the Reach 2024 campaign and Food Truck Fridays, a downtown Opelika tradition that averages 3,600 people in attendance.
How the Chamber of Commerce is Combating the Labor Shortage
Hanley said one of the chamber’s most exciting recent developments has been workforce development under the direction of Joel Alvarado. Hanley witnessed Alvarado’s work firsthand when Lambert Moving Systems needed a summer employee and said Alvarado pointed them in the right direction.
“I think the vision was there from the beginning of the Forward Opelika movement, but it wasn’t until we started looking specifically for a workforce development person that we really put resources into it,” Hanley said. “He understood the needs of the region. He understood the industry. He understood the imperative to have a workforce that was ready to get to work.”
The Opelika Workforce Council is a collaborative effort to address the growing hiring needs of area businesses, Rauch said, and involves major employers such as GSF, Alabama Power and Point Broadband, as well as the city of Opelika’s economic development team. Rauch said the council began in February and was needed because there are more than 1,000 job openings in the area.
“When you think about the biggest problem facing most businesses right now, it’s a lack of talent and resources, so we’ve created the Opelika Workforce Council to really get to grips with how we can help solve these issues,” Rauch said. “This group will be the leaders of these businesses and set the tone for how we as an organization address workforce development and address the vacant jobs.”
What’s next for the Chamber?
While it’s a project that only recently began, the chamber is nearly finished with construction on a new building that will be constructed on the site where the Opelika Public Library once stood.
Murphy said with the new building and other upcoming campaigns, the Opelika Chamber of Commerce has a lot to look forward to.
“This is an amazing year and we have so much more to look forward to, including the launch of our REACH 2024 campaign and Forward Opelika initiative. I can’t wait to show everyone our new facility and all the resources it will provide to our community over the next few years,” Murphy said.
Rauch said the new building will open this fall, with a dedication ceremony and ribbon-cutting for the new space planned for December. He said the building is badly needed and will allow the chamber to provide “even bigger and better services to the business community.”