The Ames Chamber of Commerce is being rebranded to keep pace with its growing, regional mission, leaders of the organization announced today.

The Ames Chamber of Commerce will be rebranded as the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, which Eric Smidt, vice president of marketing and communications, said is really just the chamber “playing catch up” to the work that’s already being done and then “planning for the future.”

Dan Culhane, the Ames Chamber’s president and CEO, will serve in the same role for the new alliance, which builds on the partnership the chamber and Ames Economic Development Commission entered into with Boone in 2022, and the relationship it has with other communities in Story County.

“The brand — we’ve done that to be more inclusive of these other areas and these communities we’re working in,” Culhane said.

The regional approach behind the alliance will benefit all of its community partners, he said.

“It used to be 25 to 30 years ago, every small town had its own chamber of commerce, but it’s gotten harder and it’s gotten more sophisticated in that 30 years ago there wasn’t social media,” Culhane said. “Thirty years ago, you didn’t need a workforce person. Thirty years ago there’s a whole host of things an organization like this didn’t need, and as time has changed and the world has evolved, it’s harder and harder for smaller places to support financially all the things they need to support, the promotion, the support of their existing businesses and their downtowns or main streets or events, and all the things a community needs to do.”

That’s where regionalism can accelerate as smaller communities realize they can’t do it alone, Culhane said.

“We are super mindful that all communities are different and they like to be known for who they are,” he said. “We respect that.”

He said there is the “bench strength” of staff based in Ames that can help smaller communities
in traditional economic development, industry and business recruitment, community development and events and helping find grants.

Culhane said part of the lesson learned through the partnership with Boone was the ability to “discover and find new assets that support the work that we do.”

“When you’re a singular community and you don’t have a building or site [a company is] looking for, you’re out right away,” Culhane said. “Now we have multiple communities. We have a couple of different railroad providers. We have a variety of sites in terms of size and infrastructure. So all of a sudden when you have a prospect, we’ve got a number of places that we can pitch. So as we put together that packet of information it may have four communities in it.”

Current affiliate members of the alliance include Boone and Boone County, Ames, Story City, Huxley, Nevada, Story County, Iowa State University and the Iowa State University Research Park.

Culhane and the alliance staff are working with officials in Hamilton County and Webster City to create an organization that would become the next member of the alliance. The finalization of that agreement is expected in the coming weeks, Smidt said.

The alliance board is composed of members of member communities and organizations. There is no complicated funding formula, and Culhane said alliance members are asked to underwrite their costs.

He said alliance staff will work on the ground in those communities to do the work that’s needed. When staff members attend trade shows and trade missions, or when prospects come to the area, they will identify themselves as representatives of the alliance and not just one individual community or organization.

Culhane and Smidt said communities that are members of the alliance have been very receptive and welcoming to the expertise and assistance that alliance staff members provide.

The Ames Chamber of Commerce and Ames Economic Development Commission will remain as affiliate organizations under the alliance, although staff will begin referring to themselves as representatives of the alliance to better represent its mission, Smidt said.

“The work isn’t changing. The people doing the work isn’t changing. It is just under a different brand, which is more reflective of where we operate,” Culhane said.

He said the opportunity to add further communities to the alliance will exist as those opportunities present themselves. The alliance will not be actively recruiting new members or areas, Culhane said.

“The organization is in a better position after this to be more open to the next opportunity, wherever they may come from,” he said.