Along with announcing the release of the Jefferson County, IL 2010 Community Profile and Resource Guide, we would also like to introduce you to the Jefferson County Chamber’s Executive Director, Brandon Bullard. As a young chamber executive, Brandon brings a lot of enthusiasm to the Jefferson County / Mt. Vernon community and a fresh perspective to chamber leadership. Here’s what he had to say in a recent Q&A session:

What’s your educational and professional background, and what was it that led you to a career as a chamber executive?

I started at the JCCC in January of 2009 after serving as the Director of the Southern Illinois Golf Association. I graduated from SIU-C with a Bachelors in Marketing and PR, and have enjoyed using what I have learned ever since. What led me to the Chamber was the inclusiveness of the role as director, and the opportunity to help our area businesses and make a difference in my community.

As an executive at a chamber that doesn’t have a huge staff, you probably have to wear a lot of hats. How do you juggle all of those things and still try to play to your strengths?

The Staff here consists of myself, a Marketing Assistant, and a part-time bookkeeper, so obviously we all have to do it all. The Board of Directors are great about helping out when needed. Our Chamber is very active and there is always a lot going on, so it is up to 2.5 people to make sure everything is set up to run smoothly. Luckily for us here at the JCCC, as well as within the Board, all of us have strengths we use together to help make the Chamber progress.

How important is it for chambers with limited resources to partner with other organizations in their community, and what has been your approach to doing that?

The old saying that the Sum is greater than the Parts holds true here in Mt. Vernon. The past several years we have focused on regionalism, partnering with entities like the City Government, the Airport, the Jefferson County Development Corp., Downtown Development, and Tourism to ensure that we are all working toward the same goals and the focus stays the same. Another idea that has helped several groups is literally sharing an office building. The City built the Municipal West Office Building which is home to the Chamber, the JCDC, and Tourism office, so Mary Ellen brings them in, I promote them, and Bonnie brings people in to see them!

You grew up in Mt. Vernon, and I would think that some of the people you work now with might even remember you from your childhood days. As a reasonably young executive in his own hometown, have you ever felt some resistance in being accepted as a leader in the community? If so, how did you change people’s perceptions?

Not really resistance, more of having to prove myself to gain the respect and support of our local businesses. My goal was to make the Chamber more active, and more valuable, and within a year we launched our Shop it Here program, we doubled our golf outing, and we hosted several business expos
and Business Afterhours, gaining momentum and garnering the support of the membership. Since those first few months, we have worked hard to keep up the energy and stay on task of promoting and advertising our membership, and so far, the membership is responding very positively.

Finally, what is your favorite Jefferson County Chamber event each year, and why?

I worked at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach Florida before moving back home to take over the SIGA, so I would be hard pressed not to pick the Chamber Golf Outing! We have 100 or so Chamber supporters out each summer to battle for the Malcolm Hirons Trophy, and I get to ride around and watch each one. It is a great day with lots of support and fun!

A close second is our Shop It Here Campaign, which runs from August 1st until Christmas. It is a program geared to promote our area consumers to give the businesses in Mt. Vernon a try before you go out of town to shop. We redeem thousands of receipts from 80+ local businesses each year, it
gives the businesses an advertising boost, as well as a boost in revenue, and provides the City and County with much needed sales tax revenue.

ChamberCentric, Executive Profile, Jefferson County, Mt. Vernon