GRCA Commerce Quarterly Winter 2021 - 4

a message from GRCA CEO & President

Top 5 things to look
for from GRCA in 2021
L

By Jim Gerlach, President & CEO,
Greater Reading Chamber Alliance

ooking back on 2020, GRCA 3. Advocacy Series
has faced a lot of challenges,
As a former lawmaker at the state and federal levels, I plan on sharing
hardships and change. And
my expertise on the best practices when it comes to advocating for
while the COVID-19 pandemic threw
pro-business policies. Beginning mid-February, I will host board
us for a loop in many of our plans, we
members and BCAC members for an advocacy series called " Lessons
stayed persistent and accomplished
in Effective Advocacy Series with Jim Gerlach. " In this three-part
a tremendous amount of work with
series, I will discuss everything from how to best communicate with
much success. With a solid strategic
legislators on critical policies to how best to engage your employees
plan in place for 2021, GRCA is
as advocates on big issues important to your company. For more
positioned to continue affecting
information on GRCA's upcoming advocacy programs, check out
positive change and growth in the
Katie Hetherington Cunfer's story on page 14.
Greater Reading business community
this year. Here are five things you can 4. New GRCA website
look for from GRCA in 2021.
Our organization is always looking for ways to improve access to
1. New member benefits & its numerous resources and tools. And because we feel our current
website needs improvement to better facilitate that access, our
programs
marketing team will be working closely with one of our GRCA
The new year has brought a renewed
members to launch a new site that showcases the depth of work and
focus on delivering real, tangible
services our organization provides. If all goes to plan, members will
benefits to our 900 members. Director
see a new website by summertime.
of Membership Services Julie Larison
has carefully crafted new membership levels and benefits that 5. Events & Professional Development Programs
ensure every member receives the most for their investment in While things continue to look different in 2021, we still have plans
our organization. Julie also has recently rolled out a new " Member to carry out our professional development programs as well as our
Exclusive Benefits Program, " which gives members access to popular events. We have reimagined and reformatted some of our
numerous discounts. From major discounts on Amazon Prime events to continue bringing our members together. Our first large
Business, mental health and fitness services to Constant Contact, a event for 2021 is Go Taste Berks, a spinoff of our popular Taste
GRCA membership can pay for itself in these real savings. To learn of Berks event. To learn more about this weeklong restaurant-week
more about this great program, turn to page 19.
style event, check out Rachael Romig's story on page 25. Having

2. Focus on economic development

With the new appointment of Aaron Gantz as the Senior Director
of Economic Development, there will be a fresh strategy for
economic development. The launch of GRCA's new economic
development microsite, selectgreaterreading.com, brings together
numerous tools for site selectors, community partners and investors
in one centralized location. As a community, we all know that
Greater Reading is a great place to do business, work and live, but
this microsite serves as a landing spot filled with data and facts
that illustrate these points. We want local, regional and national
companies to " Select Greater Reading. Grow Here. Thrive Here. "
4 COMMERCE QUARTERLY WINTER 2021

delivered professional development programs for more than 20
years, we have no plans of stopping our training offerings. Like
events, our interactive professional development programs have
been reformatted to work within the current, state-mandated safety
and sanitary protocols. To learn about our new training offerings
and how we can help upskill your workforce, read Mark Dolinski's
story on page 18.

We thank you for your commitment and look forward to what we
can accomplish together in 2021!

http://www.selectgreaterreading.com

GRCA Commerce Quarterly Winter 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA Commerce Quarterly Winter 2021