Surprise, AZ News blog

It’s official: What was once known as the Northwest Valley Chamber of Commerce will now be named the Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

Promotional materials with the chamber’s new name will also bear a tagline that reads, “Serving the businesses of El Mirage, Youngtown, Sun City, Sun City West and Surprise.”

Under a contract approved by the Surprise City Council last September, the city awarded the chamber $50,000 for fiscal year 2008, contingent on it rebranding itself as an organization bearing Surprise’s name, among other things.

 

Chamber President David Lewis said temporary banners bearing the new name and tagline would be displayed until permanent signage is finished around March. The new name was advertised at the chamber’s annual Copper Sun Awards Banquet held Friday and was also expected to be touted at the Celebrity Flag Football Challenge slated to be held at the Surprise Recreation Campus the Saturday before Super Bowl XLII in Glendale.

The chamber had four months to rename itself after approval of the city contract. The group’s board of directors chose the new name in roughly three months. It was revealed to members at a conference held Friday morning.

“Basically there were two things we wanted to do: capitalize on the growth and name recognition of Surprise, while at the same time emphasize the regional aspect of the chamber,” Lewis said.

The new name is the result of lengthy discussions and negotiations with the city about what each could do for the other.

Last spring, the City Council asked its Economic Development Department to explore what it would cost to form a Surprise Chamber of Commerce. The department found that it would cost about $500,000 over five years to do so. To avoid that cost, the department approached the Northwest Valley Chamber of Commerce about slowly morphing into an organization that catered to Surprise and carried the city’s name.

This fiscal year, which runs through Sept. 30, the city will make quarterly payments of $12,500 to the chamber, with stipulations that the chamber:

• Host a series of seminars on small business financing, government contracting and related topics.

• Include Surprise in its new name.

• Host a series of community leadership forums involving city officials, area school districts and community leaders.

• Purchase and install on its Web site a computer program called EC Town USA. The program allows Web visitors to book area hotel reservations and make local doctor appointments through the chamber Web site. It is a program already in use by the Glendale, Peoria and Southwest Valley chambers of commerce, said Surprise Regional Chamber President David Lewis.

• Apply for grants to boost tourism in the Surprise area, and form a military affairs committee to work as liaison with Luke Air Force Base.

• Expand its offerings at its visitors’ center at 12801 W. Bell Road, and log visitors’ names and addresses. The database of names must be given to Surprise within 10 working days.

• Arrange a series of meetings between Surprise council members and area business owners. The chamber also will conduct an annual economic climate survey completed by a minimum of 100 area businesses, and provide information it gleans to the Surprise Economic Development Department.

• Help Surprise lobby the Arizona Legislature for accelerated funding to build Loop 303 and fulfill other transportation needs.

• Turn over to the Surprise Economic Development Department any inquiries it receives regarding potential business expansions or relocations.

• Begin work on a proposal to earn accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.