Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce Celebrates First Birthday, Looks Ahead

Companies ranging from mega-brand Oakley to local chain Bagels & Brew have joined the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce in its first year.

But there's still plenty of room to grow, said chamber president Mike Brenhaug.

“One of the challenges facing the chamber is, of course, getting the name out there,” Benhaug said. “At our one-year anniversary, many businesses don’t know the chamber exists.”

As the chamber prepares to celebrate its first birthday with a party at Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ on Wednesday, it can count among its successes a series of well-attended mixers, support from city government, and an accumulation of more than 160 businesses as members, Brenhaug said.

An all-volunteer group, the chamber held its kickoff Jan. 30, 2010, and since then it has set up a board of directors, held a number of outreach events and begun bimonthly networking meetings for local businesses.

The city of Lake Forest kicked in $22,500 for an 18-month contract starting in Jan. 2010 for the chamber to help promote and attract business.

But, Brenhaug said, there's still a lot of work to be done.

“We have a real solid foundation,” said Brenhaug, CEO of BlueRock Coaching. “Our No. 1 priority right now is to increase our membership. … Without increased membership and without additional people, we’re not going to have the human resources available to be able to create the programs that we want.”

Some of the programs the chamber would like to create are classes to help teach local business owners how to better manage their businesses and use social media to tell others about their businesses.

One of the group's goals is to get at least 10 percent of the businesses in Lake Forest to join. With 3,000 businesses in Lake Forest, Brenhaug said, the chamber may not get all of them, but it’s going to try.

If it gains enough members Brenhaug said, it may be able to hire a staff.

During its first year, the chamber added some big names to its roster, including Oakley, the eyewear manufacturer; Waste Management, which handles garbage disposal for a number of Orange County cities; and Alacer, producer of the Emergen-C vitamin drink.

Originally, the chamber was part of the South Orange County Regional Chambers of Commerce but broke off after the regional chamber began considering the elimination of its local affiliate boards—including the one for Lake Forest, according to a city staff report.

“The primary reason for [splitting off] was that the Lake Forest business community wasn’t getting the full attention it needed,” Brenhaug said.

South Orange County chamber chairman Jim Leach, vice president at Cox Communications, said he wished the Lake Forest chamber the best.

“We’re thrilled that they’ve done well and put together the kind of membership they want and seem to be thriving,” Leach said.

Besides finding more members, the Lake Forest chamber wants to see current members get more involved.

“If you get members, you want them active; you want them participating,” said Dave Carter, manager of Crown-Ace Hardware in Lake Forest and president-elect of the chamber.

Brenhaug said the city has been a big supporter of the chamber, and David Belmer, assistant city manager, says the chamber is good for the city.

“The chamber plays an important role in helping promote a positive business climate in the city,” Belmer said. “In particular, the focus is helping businesses promote themselves.”

“I would say the chamber has had a very successful first year,” Belmer added. “Membership has exceeded expectations.”

Though it has had successes, Brenhaug says the group will still have to work to become more well-known. 

“That’s the biggest challenge we’re expecting,” Brenhaug said. “Just getting the message out there.”

The group's birthday party is at Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ in the Arbor, at 23760 El Toro Rd. Feb. 9, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The price is $20 for members and $30 for nonmembers.

For more information on the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce, visit lakeforestchamberca.com or call 949-596-0410.