Edmonds Chamber Board: Harsh Realities Dictated Change in Direction

Last week’s decision was one that was not taken lightly, says Ron Clyborne, president of the chamber’s board of directors. 

Clyborne said the chamber’s board, after conducting a significant amount of research and recognizing the harsh realities that had seen the chamber’s membership decrease by 15 percent in four years, realized that a change of direction was due.

At the end of last year, the chamber decided not to bring back Vance, who was named executive director in 2006 and was working on an annual, contract basis.

The Edmonds Chamber of Commerce is now represented by two equal co-managers, who will report directly to the chamber executive committee for day-to-day operations. They are membership and events manager Valerie Claypool and business and communications manager Ailsa Kellam.

Claypool worked as an independent contractor and real estate broker for Keller/Williams, and was previously director of a small chamber of commerce in Idaho. Prior to joining the Edmonds Chamber, Kellam worked at Terwedo Financial Services, LLC. She has more than 20 years of experience, including having served as membership development manager for the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce.

“I want to emphasize that this decision was not made quickly or lightly, nor without extreme difficulty,” said Clyborne, who along with his wife, Michelle, is a managing broker with Lynnwood-based Windermere Real Estate North. “We took a real serious look at everything, all management, staff, restructuring, organizational and financial realities, our entire business model.

“It was made in the best interests of the chamber and our over 360 members, as well as for the community. We had to make some changes in order to return to level of profitability, and we absolutely had to make management changes in order to improve our overall efficiency of operation.”

As part of the chamber’s cost-cutting, it also decided not to renew the contracts of three of four private contractors. Those were positions working on accounting, membership and event administration/sponsorship.

The chamber, however, did choose to renew the contract of Craig Cooke, who is responsible for A Taste of Edmonds, the chamber’s chief fundraiser. “We never even considered eliminating the position, which is responsible for the success of the Taste,” said Clyborne. “His entire chamber committee and team are solidly intact. He’s done a fantastic job, and the Taste is extremely profitable and very efficient.”

Clyborne says he has nothing but praise for Vance, with whom he has worked  for more than 10 years.

“Her dedication to chamber and the community of Edmonds is and always will be highly recognized and greatly appreciated.”