PASCO — Between managing money flow and staffing and recessions and – oh yeah, pandemics that close the doors for months, running a business is tough, more than a full-time job. So one of the jobs – but only one – for chambers of commerce throughout the region is helping business owners in their communities take care of business.

Sometimes that means a Chamber targeted toward a specific business community, but one that’s part of a larger network of business support and promotion. Martin Valdez, executive director of the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said it’s part of that larger network.

“There are several chambers here in the Tri-Cities, and basically our role is to complement what other chambers are doing,” he said. “We’re like other Chambers; we’re a membership organization to help small businesses in particular.”

Hispanic business owners may not know about support available to them, or may have trouble accessing it, Valdez said.

“We focus on Latino-owned businesses, Spanish-speaking business owners, but we also are a sort of cultural mediator, if you will. We work with non-Latino, non-Hispanic organizations, businesses, nonprofits, to help them connect with the Latino consumer, the Latino community and to better understand them, so we do that as well. So our Chamber is not just made up of Latino businesses,” he said.

Taking care of business is a collective as well as individual effort, letting consumers, especially local consumers, know what’s available to them. Mary Masingale, 2023 president of the Republic Chamber of Commerce, said for her that’s the Chamber’s biggest job.

“I want businesses to see us as their representative in keeping business local by encouraging the local population to shop here. I feel that is our most important task,” she wrote in response to an email from the Herald. “Without local businesses we would simply be another wide spot in the road, and for those unable or unwilling to shop elsewhere would leave them with very few options.”

Businesses face some of the same challenges no matter where they are, whether it’s Republic or Kennewick, Hermiston or Moses Lake or Sandpoint. But local conditions will differ too, so Chambers have to adapt to the needs of the members, and sometimes that means adapting whole new lines of service.

For the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber, it means a new program offering technical support, courtesy of grants from the Washington Department of Commerce. Valdez said it started during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue now that the pandemic is over.

“A lot of our focus is with members, dues-paying members. But we will also receive some funding from (WDOC) to provide technical assistance – how to do business plans, how to start a business, how to do marketing, how to apply for loans and grants, anything,” he said.

The goal is to help business owners find support they might not be able to find otherwise, he said. The funding pays for the Hispanic Chamber to provide services to business owners in Grant, Adams and Walla Walla counties also.

“Those communities have their own kind of traditional Chambers,” Valdez said. “So our purpose is not to compete with those Chambers. But we do outreach and that technical assistance to business owners, particularly Spanish-speaking, Latino business owners, who those other Chambers may not be able to connect with. So we’re trying to be partners and really collaborate and really fill gaps.”

The programs have brought new people to the Hispanic Chamber, he said.

“Chambers, historically, have mostly got established business,” he said. “But now that people know about us, we are starting to get people who want to start businesses.”

Valdez said the Chamber wants business owners to think about where they are going, in addition to encouraging success where they are. He cited the example of the owner of a food truck who has bigger plans.

“If you think you want to open up a restaurant in a few years, what do you need to know between now and then, so when you ask for a loan to buy a building, what do you need to have done?” he said. “A lot of education.”

Part of the Republic Chamber’s job is to promote the city and Ferry County, and one way to do that, Masingale wrote, is through events.

“We have a couple of very fun events, which are promoted out of the area as well as locally to bring much-needed commerce to town. Winterfest is held in January, and is a respite from the dreary days of winter,” Masingale wrote. “We have some unique events such as Sasquatch calling, snow sculpting and outhouse races. It’s a lot of fun and draws people from out of town. We also have a local shopping contest that encourages people to shop in our local shops.

“Our summer celebration is Prospector Days, which is also a fun time with a parade and more fun contests,” she wrote.

The Hispanic Chamber has some paid staff, but the Republic Chamber depends on volunteers, and that is part of the challenge, Masingale wrote. Ferry County has about 7,000 people, which is part of its attraction, she said, but provides a very small pool of people willing and able to volunteer.

“(The pandemic) had an extreme impact on our Chamber,” she wrote. “We had to cancel events and in the meantime, people quit stepping up to volunteer. We have the same ‘team’ of loyal volunteers for nearly every event, and it’s increasingly getting harder to get more people involved. Our Chamber is showing its age.

“I hope the next generation will see the importance of a local business union, and keep the Chamber of Commerce alive. Small communities such as ours need local support in order to thrive.”

Like the Republic Chamber, the Hispanic Chamber still has things to do, Valdez said.

“While it’s growing and we’ve gotten a lot done, there’s still a lot of work to be done,” he said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].