In a packed room of business owners, Chamber members and guests, Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Betsy LaVoie offered a State of the Chamber address and welcomed recently elected Arizona State Attorney General Kris Mayes to the event. In her address last Thursday, June 15, LaVoie provided an overview of the Chamber’s achievements over the past year, introduced new Chamber board members and reiterated the Chamber’s support in the local business community.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chamber of commerce quite this well attended,” Mayes said. “As evidenced by this gathering, we are a fast-growing, prospering state and that is fantastic.”

Mayes discussed issues facing Arizona including the drug crisis, water crisis, consumer fraud and more. An overview of Mayes’ presentation will be highlighted in a future edition of The Times.

Record numbers

In 2022-23, the Chamber saw a 15% increase in membership, adding 120 new Chamber members over the past year. There are a total of 588 active members of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce, marking an all-time high for the non-profit organization.

According to Phoenix Business Journal, the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce was the 19th largest business advocacy group in the state in 2023. LaVoie was happy to share the Chamber’s vision of becoming the most business-friendly town in the State of Arizona by 2030.

“We truly are working on putting our chamber on the state map,” LaVoie said, adding that the Fountain Hills Chamber recently acquired the designation as an Arizona Visitor Information Center (AVIC).

As a special announcement, LaVoie said the Fountain Hills Chamber will host the inaugural State of Maricopa County on Thursday, Oct. 19, with Maricopa County District 2 Supervisor, Thomas Galvin.

This year, the Chamber launched its new community mobile device app that provides information about the Fountain Hills area. The Chamber also introduced the Young Entrepreneur Chamber Membership this year for business-minded youth under the age of 18.

This fall, the Chamber will roll out its new Success program to grow its members’ professional and personal development.

“We are proud to report that currently 26% of Fountain Hills businesses are active Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce members,” LaVoie said. “This is much higher than the industry standard of 8%.”

New Board

With three-year term limits for the Fountain Hills Chamber Board, five outgoing board members made way for the new slate of directors who were sworn in during last Thursday’s event.

The 2023-24 Executive Board includes Jeff Stack as chair, Michael Gant as vice-chair, Lauren Stratton as secretary, Karen Logan as treasurer and Scott Sommer as past chair.

The Chamber also welcomed Jill Haislip and Jason O’Neal as the newest members of the board and thanked outgoing board members Christine Colley, Debbie Skehen, Cherie Koss, Kim Widner and Suzanne Nann for their years of dedication and support.

“When businesses contemplate Arizona, we want them to think of Fountain Hills first.” LaVoie said.

The State of the Chamber is part of FH Connect, a series of networking events for local professionals. It was held at Batchelor’s Pad BBQ with breakfast provided by Mountain View Kitchen. The event was sponsored by LizardPools LLC, Dynamic Appliance Repair, Dominick Home Services, All About You Placement and Akston Coffee Company.