Continuing to lobby the state Legislature to earmark funds for much-needed transportation improvements in Utah County will be a rallying cry among others of the newly-installed board of the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce this year.

Developing alternative transportation routes in Utah County before expansion of Interstate 15 starts in 2011 is a pressing need for the local business community, said Chris Dexter, managing partner of the Orem law firm of Dexter & Dexter and a new board member inducted at the Provo-Orem chamber's board installation ceremony Thursday night at Thanksgiving Point.

That, he says, is a factor that could spell the difference between business retention and failure in Utah County, and in turn, the chamber's membership growth or decline.

"Utah Valley businesses will pay a huge price if nothing is done about transportation once I-15 undergoes reconstruction. It's a problem because we don't have a viable alternative route," Dexter said. "We're trying to relocate and retain businesses here in the Valley. But how can they thrive if transportation becomes a problemfi Already, many Utah County businesses that have Salt Lake City satellite operations are scaling those back, if not eliminating them, because the commute is just ridiculous. My law firm has also been impacted. If you have an attorney wanting to get to a court hearing in Salt Lake City on time, he can't be subject to the vicissitudes of traffic. So we leave earlier, but that represents decreased efficiencies."

"State Street was the route to Salt Lake City. But that's not a good alternative route because it bottlenecks at Pleasant Grove. The solution would be to extend Redwood Road from Salt Lake City through Lehi and connect on the west side of I-15 to Geneva Road, or fix the bottleneck at Pleasant Grove, or consider commuter rail," he said. "Since we have a $1 billion state budget surplus, we should spend some of that money on expanding transportation in Utah County."

Dexter is one of 11 representatives from businesses including Tahitian Noni, NuSkin, SCERA, The Jewelers' Bench, Utah Auto Sales, Remedez Hair Spa, Novatek, All State Insurance and the Daily Herald that were inducted by Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday. Several outgoing Chamber board members were also honored. They include Paul Clyde of Clyde Companies Inc., Brent Brown of Brent Brown Auto, Kevin Call of Utah County Association of Realtors, Rob Kallas of University Mall, Rich Hartvigsen of Nuskin and Al Manzi of The Daily Herald.

Throwing support behind such issues as transportation, taxation and funding for public colleges is part of the chamber's strategy to raise its profile and meet the needs of businesses in Utah County, said Dave Cutler, who was installed as the new chairman of the Provo-Orem Chamber on Thursday. Cutler, the chamber's former vice-chairman, is also vice president of worldwide technology services at Novell Inc., where he had served for 17 years.

"Getting prospective and existing members of the chamber to see value in their memberships is key to retaining and growing membership," he said. "It's all about helping businesses in the area and providing lots of networking opportunities for chamber members. Improving retention through high-quality events advertised on our Web site and growing membership through word of mouth referrals are our main goals this year. If existing members don't take advantage of the chamber's programs and events, they won't realize the full value of their membership, and then it becomes easier for them to drop off as members.

"Chamber members do get a lot of perks and benefits. As a member, you get free advertising for a 10-inch ad in the Daily Herald, which in itself is more than the cost of membership," Cutler said. Business membership rates typically start at $350 per person and can jump to as high as a thousand dollars depending on the company's size and annual revenues.

Al Manzi, Daily Herald publisher and the chamber's 2004 chairman, says membership growth was slow last year. That's partly because the chamber's primary members are mostly very small businesses -- more than 50 percent of which tend to fail in the first year of business -- and the chamber is constantly replacing those businesses with new ones that move into the county, he said. Chamber membership grew by less than 100 to around 850 this year, Manzi said.

"The key to retention is helping businesses see value in membership. We try to offer enough value so it more than pays for the cost of their annual membership. As members, you get access to marketing opportunities, health insurance programs, training programs and big-time opportunities for networking," Manzi said. Despite these programs, only 25 percent to 30 percent of chamber members take full advantage of those programs. Ten to 20 percent do not use the programs, and the remainder are infrequent users, he said.

The chamber, however, had an exceptional year in terms of revenue growth and event participation, Cutler said.

"The financial status of the chamber has been very solid for the past few years," said Manzi, also head of the chamber's funding council for 2005. "Every fundraising event the chamber put on last year exceeded the previous years' revenues, which speaks to a strong staff and their ability to run excellent programs."

Delynn Rodeback, the out-going chairman of the chamber, agreed. "Our programs and events were more successful. We were making more money and getting more visible to the community. Taste of the Valley, for instance, doubled in participation and revenues and is fast becoming one of the chamber's premiere events. Eggs and Issues last year saw a great increase in participation from legislators and residents and helped raise awareness in the community of issues like transportation and health-related bills. The Chamber University series and Golf tournaments are also becoming successful."

Rodeback, who was inducted as the head of the funding council Thursday, said he will focus on examining the chamber's existing events and find ways to increase revenues and participation. "It's a slow process trying to get businesses to become members. They need to understand that they can't just pay their dues and expect people to flock to their doors. They need to work at developing relationships by using the programs the chamber offers."

Cutler said the Provo-Orem chamber is making some headway in growing membership by inviting businesses from other chambers of commerce to become members and also take advantage of its resources. "Some members in the Spanish Fork Chamber have expressed interest in joining forces with the Provo-Orem chamber to take advantage of the First Friday Forums and other events. This year, we're looking at this issue."

Describing Cutler as a "visionary and someone who sees the big picture and how the technology industry plays an integral role in Utah's economy," Manzi says Cutler has the "energy, integrity and passion to will the chamber to grow and become more successful."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A11.