Charles County Chamber New Member  Breakfast Mixer

According to new Charles County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ken Gould, “There are some subtle and some not subtle things we want to do to make the Charles County Chamber provide more benefit to its members.”

Gould has moved beyond the world of Roy Rogers restaurants, which he and his family have owned and operated since 1983, into the area of corporate service. “After leaving the restaurant business I wanted to find a career that did not involve food service.” He went on to say that after a few months he discovered that what he missed the most about the restaurants was meeting people.

“When the chamber position came available, I did some research and it looked like this was a perfect fit for me,” said Gould. ”It was a way I could continue to work and meet a lot of new people.”

 One of the policies Gould has initiated is an effort to increase participation in chamber events by lowering prices for those who preregister. The event held on Wednesday, Sept. 3 – a new member breakfast mixer at the Spring Dell Center in La Plata – had so many attendees that there was barely enough seating.

Mixers are a great way to network.

Historically, the new member breakfast mixer was poorly attended by only 10 or 12 members.

“We are working hard to make the chamber something that works for our members,” said Gould.

In the future, Gould and chamber executives Scarafia from St. Mary’s and Carolyn McHugh from Calvert are planning a regular tri-county chamber event. “We don’t know if it will be more than quarterly at this point,” said Gould. “We still are deciding if it will be a three-county mixer or expo.”

Gould is also working hard to mend some fences that were left untended by his predecessor. “I’ve been meeting with the Blue Crabs to make sure there is a more cooperative effort than previously existed,” Gould reported.

This coming Monday, Sept. 8 is the first Charles County Chamber night at the new stadium. The three chambers of commerce are competing for charity to see which chamber brings more fans to the games on successive nights. Monday’s game is Charles County’s turn, then Calvert and St. Mary’s will try to do better at bringing fans to the games. The chamber with the most, wins a check for $500 for their chosen charity.

Michelle Lekan