2 min read November 2022 — Robert Peluso, president of the Parsippany Area Chamber of Commerce, is looking toward the future. Investing in new projects and the future of young citizens, he aims to support and encourage growth and prosperity in the community. He told Invest:, “Our goal is to be a marketing liaison between our members. We’ve been very proactive about being out there in the community.”
What sets the Chamber apart from other groups?
Parsippany Area Chamber of Commerce is a regional chamber of commerce that has been serving our community since 1956. We’re passionate about what we do; we’re all volunteers and we’re not supported by taxpayer funds. As president for over 23 years, I can say that our leadership team does not receive a salary or benefits package, unlike other chambers of commerce and visitor centers. Our leadership are volunteers and every dollar of membership dues goes back to membership benefits. We’ve been working with the business community as we enter the “new normal” way of conducting business. We’ve decided not to charge our Chamber of Commerce members over the last year, so there were no membership dues coming in and we sustained ourselves with our own financial resources in order to support our community. We’ve continued to develop programs and our membership has grown because we’ve given back to the community in a very large way by not collecting a revenue stream and still providing free benefits. Recently, we’ve partnered with the Small Business Administration and the New Jersey Small Business Development Center to provide small businesses with financial resources and assist in business planning. We continue to partner with the Morris County School of Technology to provide scholarships and mentorship programs to our young adults and people going back to school to learn new skills. We’re still supporting our Shop Local initiatives and initiate ribbon cutting celebrations for the business community, which is what we call community economic development.
How are you adapting to economic changes in the area?
With over 755,000 square feet leased over the last year, there are vacant buildings. We were a part of the Morris County Small Business Grant Program in which at least $5 million was made available to Morris County’s small businesses and nonprofits, basically to reimburse them up to $15,000 for eligible expenses that resulted from COVID-19. We also focused on helping our community through partnerships with the New Jersey Small Business Development Center and the library system to get information out to our small businesses. Not all organizations understand the way the business community is working, so we’ve helped them and are providing the education that they need to create successful opportunities.
How do you support small businesses and nonprofits?
We’ve been successful in ensuring that the small business community and nonprofits have received their fair share of the grant program for Morris County. We’ve actually provided more networking events that are free on a monthly basis. We’re offering two free events per month right now in addition to our free Women in Business, Community Development, and Ambassador Committee opportunities. Our Lunch and Learn program provides education to business owners, where they can learn about navigating the new way of doing business in this economy and find information about their workforce and how to use technology to their advantage. We’ve also implemented more brochure racks throughout our community. This is another free opportunity for our members to get their brochures out to the public. Giving back to the community enables our Chamber to remove some expenses for the small-business community and the nonprofits. We’re also working with nonprofit organizations such as the American Cancer Society and houses of worship to put their brochures out and promote their events. We’re liaisons to the community that we serve.
How do you build up young professionals in your community?
Our partnership with the Morris County School of Technology allows us to provide career and mentorship opportunities and locate career opportunities while increasing the skilled workforce for young people between 17 and 40. Recently, I had a meeting with the superintendent of our schools in Parsippany to discuss career readiness. We have 14 schools, which include 10 elementary, two middle and two high schools. We are promoting the STEM Pathway, dual enrollment, and advanced admission programs that they offer. Although we’re providing scholarships for our high school seniors, we’ve been seeing an uptick in students who want the real-life experience to work within companies so we’ve been partnering with more businesses to provide young adults with these opportunities. They are getting first-hand experience to see if they want to become an accountant, an engineer or to be in skilled trades to name a few. We also accept volunteers at the Chamber of Commerce, starting at the high school level. We help mentor them with some basic skills, such as how to answer a phone, how to communicate effectively, how to address questions and resolve problems. These are all things that young adults are learning before they enter the workforce. Chamber experience combines in-business learning on work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship where young adults can test -drive a real workday.
What are your goals going forward?
Our goal is to continue to be the economic stimulus and community liaison for our membership. We’ve been very proactive about being out there in the community. When I became president, I changed our mission to include the entire community. It’s not unusual for us to work with non-members to show them the value of our chamber benefits. We’re not only a stimulus for economic development but also a community resource that continues to build meaningful relationships. Working with young adults and providing educational resources is part of the new way we’re doing business. When you look at a lot that’s going on in our business communities, I think we’re all faced with similar economic cycles, and similar challenges with housing redevelopment, labor and supply shortages, as well as economic challenges, I can tell you that Parsippany has a high level of the skilled and educated workforce as well as access to most major highways that stands out among many communities. Despite some common challenges, we as the Parsippany Area Chamber of Commerce remain volunteers and are liaisons to the community in which we continue to serve. We invite our businesses, residents, and volunteer organizations to experience what the Chamber has to offer.
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