Your Voice Matters: How to Get Involved in Bend Chamber Advocacy

You don't need to understand the legislative process, regularly attend City Council meetings or consider yourself a policy expert to participate in Chamber advocacy. In fact, one of the most valuable things you can bring to the conversation is something you already have: your experience running a business.

Maybe a permitting process is delaying an expansion. A new regulation is creating an unexpected cost. Childcare availability is affecting your employees. Transportation challenges are making it harder for people to get to work. Or maybe you've encountered a public program or policy that's working particularly well and deserves greater investment.

We want to hear about it. Those real-world experiences help us understand how public policy is working in practice. They can also make Chamber advocacy significantly more effective. Data is important, but being able to show a policymaker what a proposal actually means for an employer, employee or project in Central Oregon can bring an issue to life.

There are plenty of ways to get involved, depending on your time and interest:

• Tell us what's affecting your business. Reach out when you encounter a policy challenge, emerging issue or opportunity.
• Respond to requests for input. Member surveys, roundtables and calls for feedback help shape our positions and priorities.
• Attend advocacy events. Join conversations with elected officials, policymakers and other business leaders.
• Share your expertise. Your industry's perspective can help policymakers better understand the real-world implications of their decisions.
• Use your voice. When an important issue arises, members may have opportunities to contact elected officials, provide testimony or participate in a Chamber call to action.
• Get more involved. Members interested in deeper policy engagement can learn more about the Advocacy Council and other Chamber committees and opportunities.

Chamber advocacy is strongest when it is grounded in the experiences of the businesses were present. With more than 1,600 members across Bend and Central Oregon, those perspectives encompass businesses of different sizes, industries and needs.

You don't have to be a policy expert to be an advocate. Your business experience is the expertise we need.

Have an issue we should know about? Reach out to Emily Boyd, the Bend Chamber’s Government Affairs Manager, to start the conversation.