The Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce cut another position.
Mark Manasco, manager of Workforce Development for the Chamber, was let go June 26.
The Chamber has suspended its workforce development initiative because its purpose overlapped with the Capital Regional Workforce Investment Board.
Since December, the chamber has eliminated nine positions and currently has 27 staff members.
Kim Scheeler, president and chief executive, said the organization is stepping back from workforce development so as not to complicate the efforts of the newly formed board. As a result, Manasco’s position was eliminated.
“We are looking at how this is going to shake down,” Scheeler said.
He said the initiative was targeted at retaining and attracting talent. Now, he said, the challenge has shifted to creating jobs, a task that will be left to the CRWIB.
The new regional board is part of a federally mandated statewide network of workforce organizations. It was formed by combining the Capital Area Workforce Investment Board with the Richmond Workforce Investment Board. A partnership was formed last fall to put together a new board, which is in the process of being assembled. Read more about that here.
While the new board takes on the task of creating jobs and training workers, Scheeler said the chamber would reshuffle resources to take on other agenda items — namely high-speed rail.
“We will be spending a lot of time and energy on making sure that goes forward and the state does everything it can to get as much stimulus money as possible,” Scheeler said.
Scheeler said that high-speed rail would be a great economic driver for the area and strengthen business relationships between Richmond and Washington.
If high-speed rail brings new business into Richmond, it would also be a good thing for the chamber, which has seen a 15 percent decline in membership since the recession started.
The Chamber is cutting its costs in part because there are a dwindling number of members. In October 2007, the chamber’s website listed 2,208 members. Currently the website lists 1,870 members, or 15 percent less.
The chamber has only had a net loss of three “trustee” memberships in the same time frame. Circuit City, Land America and Qimonda are absent from the esteemed list that currently stands at 23. Those memberships cost $10,000 and up.
Although membership has declined overall, the chamber has added 17 members in the past 30 days, including Canon Business Solutions, Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations and Momentum Design Studio.
Al Harris is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].
The Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce cut another position.
Mark Manasco, manager of Workforce Development for the Chamber, was let go June 26.
The Chamber has suspended its workforce development initiative because its purpose overlapped with the Capital Regional Workforce Investment Board.
Since December, the chamber has eliminated nine positions and currently has 27 staff members.
Kim Scheeler, president and chief executive, said the organization is stepping back from workforce development so as not to complicate the efforts of the newly formed board. As a result, Manasco’s position was eliminated.
“We are looking at how this is going to shake down,” Scheeler said.
He said the initiative was targeted at retaining and attracting talent. Now, he said, the challenge has shifted to creating jobs, a task that will be left to the CRWIB.
The new regional board is part of a federally mandated statewide network of workforce organizations. It was formed by combining the Capital Area Workforce Investment Board with the Richmond Workforce Investment Board. A partnership was formed last fall to put together a new board, which is in the process of being assembled. Read more about that here.
While the new board takes on the task of creating jobs and training workers, Scheeler said the chamber would reshuffle resources to take on other agenda items — namely high-speed rail.
“We will be spending a lot of time and energy on making sure that goes forward and the state does everything it can to get as much stimulus money as possible,” Scheeler said.
Scheeler said that high-speed rail would be a great economic driver for the area and strengthen business relationships between Richmond and Washington.
If high-speed rail brings new business into Richmond, it would also be a good thing for the chamber, which has seen a 15 percent decline in membership since the recession started.
The Chamber is cutting its costs in part because there are a dwindling number of members. In October 2007, the chamber’s website listed 2,208 members. Currently the website lists 1,870 members, or 15 percent less.
The chamber has only had a net loss of three “trustee” memberships in the same time frame. Circuit City, Land America and Qimonda are absent from the esteemed list that currently stands at 23. Those memberships cost $10,000 and up.
Although membership has declined overall, the chamber has added 17 members in the past 30 days, including Canon Business Solutions, Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations and Momentum Design Studio.
Al Harris is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].