Building Bridges: The Power of Collaboration in the Perimeter Area

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It’s time for Chamber Spotlight, brought to you by Corp Care, your Employee Assistance program partner. Caring for them because we care about you. For more information, go to CorpCareep.com. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Chamber Spotlight and this is going to be a good one. But before we get into it, it’s important to recognize our sponsor CorpCare. Without them we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Chamber Spotlight, we have the president and CEO of the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber, Mr. Adam Forrand. Welcome.

Adam Forrand: Hi, Lee.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to hear an update kind of state of the union of the chamber. I know a lot of exciting things are happening. Would you like to share?

Adam Forrand: Absolutely. You have found us at a fabulous time in our organization’s history and our growth. The Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber, as our Board of Directors and the board of Directors of the Perimeter Chamber this summer agreed in principle to merge our two chambers into a unified regional chamber of commerce serving the leading cities, the perimeter leading cities of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. And we are in the process of integrating our two organizations from a technical and operational standpoint, all in service to our members, with our goal being that come January 1st, 2025, that our members of both organizations find the power and the potential and the opportunity that a larger chamber can bring them.

Lee Kantor: Now, what was kind of the impetus for this kind of combination collaboration to to bring the chambers together? I know there’s a lot of growth in the perimeter area. I know there’s a lot of activity in the the cities that surround the perimeter. But what was kind of the catalyst that brought you both together?

Adam Forrand: You know, I’d say a maturation of our two communities, the cities, the municipalities themselves of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody as they continue to grow and mature in terms of their service to their residents. We find ourselves in the context of a marketplace, the central perimeter market. The economy here has been here for many, many years and has been recognized across the southeast as an epicenter of employment and and business and commerce. And what you find is the convergence, if you will, of touring cities and equity and building and brands about what’s happening in these two cities, along with the the bedrock that is the central perimeter economy. And this conversation has been going on for the last ten, 11, 12 years, about two municipally focused chambers coming together to better serve the region. And I think it just reflects sort of that time and in a post-pandemic recovery as well, is that as our economy continues to evolve with uncertainty and economic environments, that the evolution of the central perimeter deserves a strong regional chamber for both small businesses, solopreneurs as as well as the fortune 500 that call perimeter home.

Lee Kantor: Now, there’s obviously a lot of large organizations and companies here in the perimeter area that have decided to headquarter and to call home. Yes. Um, how do you foresee the chamber creating value for them as members and also serve, like you mentioned, the many more small to midsize businesses that also are in the perimeter? Because I would imagine that’s one of the challenges, is to create value for all of the constituents. It is a.

Adam Forrand: Challenge for sure, but on the continuum of resources and partnerships and opportunities that a chamber, a good, strong chamber, can provide a member and the business community. It does run that full gamut from a small business to a large business. So we’ll start with those large businesses that you described that are resident here in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, who continue to choose to remain in this community as they consolidate offices from across, say, the southeast or across North America into a focused hub of activity. And we’re hearing these announcements on a daily basis as new lease arrangements come up across the perimeter, that they have particular needs, cultural needs of their organizations to bring people back into the office. And as talent talent acquisition, talent retention remains a competitive challenge for all employers of all sizes. A chamber like ours can help activate relationships for those large employers among, say, their young professionals, those who are 40 and under. We know that if young professionals meet other young professionals outside of their own work environment, in the community in which perhaps they work or play or even live, that there’s a higher likelihood that they will remain committed not only just to that employer, but to the community itself.

Adam Forrand: So we are going to convene and catalyze these relationships among young professionals through our Perimeter Young Professionals program. We also know that the importance of employee resource groups, ERGs, and business resource groups Brgs and their connection to the community is a facet of that connectivity that a large employer has to the to those local residents, and the impact that they can have in advancing and sustaining these ergs and brgs. And we can serve as a conduit to making those connections and relationships to ensure that these particular areas of focus or concern or issues in the community that the large employers have articulated and stated as being important to them, that we help them activate that here in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody as well. So from a from a large standpoint, a large employer standpoint, we can serve as that local hyper local partner to activate these relationships. Um, whether it’s in talent, whether it’s in enterprise, whether it’s an issue oriented opportunities.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, as part of your role in the chamber, is is part of your role, um, helping attract other businesses to the community? Is that, um, part of the mission or is that something economic development in those locales are in charge of?

Adam Forrand: Most certainly we are a partner to our city’s economic development leadership. So in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, we work very closely in partnership with them, um, particularly as those cities provide Opportunities to provide incentives to recruit businesses, as well as retain businesses and employers in our community as well. That looks different from one conversation to another, but our role as the local chamber is to ensure that there’s a vibrant, economic, prosperous environment in which executives choose to live, um, that they know that their employees can live in, uh, and that there is opportunity here for growth. And that growth may be challenged by, uh, amount of square footage they have access to, or perhaps the amenities in the region and the community in which they live, and they work and they play. And our job is to be sure that our members are growing and are prosperous, and then in turn, makes it a very attractive environment in which businesses would seek to relocate or to expand within.

Lee Kantor: And that relocation, obviously, the business climate has to be right, but also it has to be right for their employees. So there has to be kind of. That’s where I think the small to midsize businesses come in, right? Where everything is working hand in hand. If you have a thriving small and midsize business community that lends itself to the larger organizations employees to have a happy life and to live closer, to go into the office and do things like that. Indeed.

Adam Forrand: Yeah. The smaller businesses that provide the professional or personal services to the employees, uh, you know, as as mundane as it is, we need these services to live our lives in the high quality of life. And so whether it is, uh, your local dry cleaner or your daycare or even the quality of restaurants, the fast, fast service that you may receive for any part of your life, that is the ecosystem, that is a community and that every business contributes to that quality of life.

Lee Kantor: So what are the things as a chamber expands throughout the region? What are the things you need more of and how can we help you?

Adam Forrand: Oh, well, we need, uh, What we need more of is more engagement. And engagement shows up in many different ways. In this particular case, I’ll specifically speak to the engagement of our business owners, our leaders, those who are chamber members, to bring their knowledge and their expertise to the benefit of their fellow members. Uh, one phrase that I use often is that we want our members to show up to coach and to be coached. And what I mean by that is that they bring their subject matter expertise to the room, that if another member should be so appropriately vulnerable to say that I need help in this particular domain or this particular area that we can find and make those matches and connections that a member can help another member. And so that type of engagement in which that knowledge and expertise is shared to the benefit of fellow members in their goals and pursuits of growing their business. And so we do that in person. We convene and catalyze these relationships through over 80 events over a year. Um, but we’re also going to transition into doing so electronically and digitally in, uh, in asynchronous ways as well. And so, uh, what that means is that we’re seeking more members, we’re seeking more experts, we’re seeking more expertise and knowledge and a commitment to growing their business as well as other people’s businesses in this community.

Lee Kantor: All right. So let’s give the pitch to each of those constituents. So if you were talking to a small business owner, what would be your pitch to them to become a member? And not only just pay dues to be a member, but to actually lean in and get involved with the organization?

Adam Forrand: Yeah, membership is an interesting thing. Um, there’s a lot of analogies that we can use about membership and optimizing and maximizing membership, and they’re not many of them are not perfect. Um, and so the pitch would be that as the decision maker, if you’re the business owner and you are deciding to make an investment in your business through chamber membership, that the membership is not necessarily yours and yours alone as an individual. Although you may be the decision maker, you may be the one making that financial investment. The rest of your team needs to be on that membership roster that you deputize. You enable, and you empower the rest of your team to show up at our events, to be present at the opportunities to learn and to grow, to represent your business. And that way, your enterprise, your company gets the full benefit of membership and not just you as the owner or the decision maker. And that’s a challenge because people think about membership as being their own, their own personal membership. And we use some mixed analogies, like a gym membership. Like if you don’t show up to the gym, then you’re not going to get the benefit of it.

Adam Forrand: Like that’s such an individual thing. We’re trying to find ways in which we project that onto the business itself, that the business itself, if the business does not show up through its representatives, through through any member, any or any person, employee of that organization is a member of the chamber, that they show up and leverage the benefit of the of of their chamber membership, their businesses membership, then that’s the best thing that they can do. And that means that perhaps there’s some expertise in a very specific domain as it relates to finance or accounting or marketing, that a fellow fellow member can show up and help them with. Maybe it’s a young professional who’s learning about business development that they can show up and meet their peers and learn and grow together. And so it really is a an enterprise wide proposition that I would ask more specifically, if there are some acute areas of pain or challenge that perhaps our resources and our fellow members can help them with.

Lee Kantor: Right. And that’s something important for the small business owner to understand, even if they have a small team. The brand is the member, correct? It’s not the individual. And that mindset shift is really important because that the the brand then can use that as a benefit to attract and retain employees because they’re getting part of their when they work there, they’re getting access to all of the benefits of the chamber.

Adam Forrand: They are they are. And these are great experiences for professionals of all ages, at all levels within an organization to be able to step out of the business, step into community, a community of other business professionals who are there to help and support. Have an enjoyable experience for sure. We are very proud of the quality of the experiences that we produce, but ultimately it’s what you get out of it in terms of the resources, the connectivity, the support, the encouragement, the inspiration. You will find that, Uh, as as every member of your team encounters and experiences and engages with the chamber. Your organization will benefit from that.

Lee Kantor: All right, so now let’s pitch these kind of billion dollar firms that are around here. Now, you mentioned some of the benefits of being part of the chamber and active in the chamber. But what are what’s your pitch when you’re talking to, you know, one of these fortune 500 company leads?

Adam Forrand: Absolutely. Well, beyond being able to activate and support their talent retention, acquisition and development needs around young professionals or engaging in employee resource groups or business resource groups. Ultimately, it sends a signal to the community that as a resident of this community, these large businesses are concerned about the quality of life here and the quality of the economy, and that through an investment in their local chamber, they are then parlaying that into additional resources to support small businesses of all types. And so it shows up in manifests itself in many ways, certainly visibly, when you can see that a large employer, a large global Fortune 50, has made such an investment in their local community. It’s reassuring. Um, but the flip side of that is there’s also a benefit to that. It reminds people in this community that they are an employer, that they are an employer of choice, and that, uh, if you do not want to commute across the metro and you’re looking for an opportunity in a large enterprise, there may be a company, a member of ours that is hiring today that may really suit your particular skill set and your knowledge that you can contribute to and improve the quality of your life as well that you can contribute. So we talk about that not just from a from a young professional standpoint, but also the these brands, these consumer brands that are easily recognized, that are members of our chamber and fly great flags on tops of buildings here in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody are fabulous. And it’s a reminder, hopefully to them that their employer brand here in the local community is just as strong and that it’s conveyed.

Lee Kantor: Now, for folks who aren’t aware of maybe the types of industries that are represented here in the perimeter. Yes. And especially when you expand beyond Sandy Springs into the perimeter as a region, can you share some of the industries that maybe aren’t on the radar of people who aren’t familiar with this part of town? Well, I.

Adam Forrand: Think there’s two parts to that, Lee. One is we can name those sectors or verticals or industry by name and think about specifically what they do. So we’ll use transportation distribution and logistics as an example. Ups, a fortune 50 company headquartered here in Sandy Springs. Everyone knows what Brown can do for you. And they think of the trucks, they think of the deliveries, they think of the retail storefront services. But what they may not think of is the fact that marketing, accounting and finance and all those operational opportunities are based here as well. Right. Um, but then there’s a clustering effect around transportation distribution logistics that there are a number of, um, well known, uh, companies that in that sector that are known in that sector for their specialties. Um, perhaps they may specialize in cold distribution and storage. Perhaps they specialize in a particular food group. And these companies are clustered here as well. Um, they’re in the same buildings. They share a propensity for the the needs of talent that they share among them as well. And so there are big brand names, consumer brand names, and there are a whole host of lesser known names that are in those same sectors. So transportation distribution and logistics, for example. But each of those companies have a full complement of enterprise wide jobs that that they need to fill as well.

Adam Forrand: Um, financial technology, uh, we process over I think the latest data I heard was like 79% of all financial transactions in the US come through Sandy Springs and metro Atlanta. And these are names that many people may not recognize, but Global Payments Deluxe, uh, there’s a whole host of companies that are in the fintech space are based here as well. Um, we are certainly well known for our concentration, the density of fast casual restaurants that are owned by private equity firms and other, uh, other organizations that, uh, go by the name of Inspire Brands and Roark Capital and go to foods, and they have got a whole host of consumer brands that we would recognize as well. But they’re all based here. But it’s the entire enterprise is based here. All their marketing operations, their supply chain and distribution operations are based here as well. And certainly last but not least, health sciences, health services. We have got a density of, uh, service providers, practitioners, researchers here in central perimeter that ensure that not only are our residents well taken care of, but we’re advancing medical sciences and discoveries in the community as well.

Lee Kantor: Now, I think you brought up an important point when it comes to having these large firms here. Um, it does create kind of a cluster effect where that the other companies that serve them in a variety of ways. It’s also a good idea for them to be close, in close proximity of them, so they can have access to them when those people need them to deliver some of the services that they outsource, for sure.

Adam Forrand: And we also know that, um, not only just from a vendor supplier standpoint that there’s those relationships, but many joint ventures and perhaps research and development come out of these relationships that are clustered in these communities as well. We know that there’s test kitchens in our communities. We know that there are R&D labs testing alternative supply chain distribution methods and models as well in our own community. And these are, uh, companies that are in that sector that are very interested and very keen on these relationships and proximity matters, for sure. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: And a lot of times, um, what happens is those large entities acquire the smaller entities, and that happens more times than I can count, I think in just in doing the show over the years, that you see that happening, that somebody as part of one of those clusters starts delivering a service that the larger entity likes, and then all of a sudden cut to a few years later, they’re acquiring that organization. Yeah.

Adam Forrand: And that’s where innovation occurs. Innovation occurs certainly within the confines of these large employers, but it also occurs when entrepreneurs take a step out and believe that they that they have a a new and better and a different way of doing things. And so conceptually, this is a ripe environment for entrepreneurs as well to, to test those waters, to be in the environment in which they know other industry sector companies can, will be able to easily evaluate and to partner and to test and advance innovation in those respective areas.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to connect and learn more, what is the easiest way to plug into the chamber?

Adam Forrand: Oh boy. Well, you can find us certainly online everywhere, but Sandy springs.org is the current URL for the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce. But you can just Google us. You can hit Sandy Springs perimeter chamber and you’ll find us on all the social medias as well. Uh, happy to connect with you on LinkedIn. Uh, as well, uh, where where we try to focus some of our business oriented conversations as well. Um, but we are in the community. Uh, we’ve got a fabulous office here in Sandy Springs as well that we open up for programs and events as well.

Lee Kantor: Is there an event that you would recommend a prospective chamber member attending? Is there something, uh, that they should know about? And and can they just go to try it out?

Adam Forrand: Absolutely. We program breakfast, lunch and dinner. We, uh, welcome nonmembers to come and enjoy and experience firsthand what a chamber membership may feel like and look like for them. Uh, to test those waters and ask those questions and meet those other subject matter experts who are showing up to help coach them. Um, we have a monthly luncheon where we bring in a particular subject matter expert who has some expertise that can help and inform and educate and perhaps inspire our members. That’s once a month, uh, we, uh, our next one will be in November on the I think it’s the 15th of November where we’ll have Justin Campbell from Assembly Studios, Atlanta, uh, a big new production complex, uh, on the top end perimeter over by 85. Uh, and talking about what they’re doing, not just in the backstage in the back. Lots there in terms of production, but they’re community facing activities as well as they seek to enrich our economy.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And that’s another sector in the area that maybe people aren’t aware that is happening.

Adam Forrand: It is. It is because it happens in nooks and crannies and in locations and sets sort of tucked in in a way. You see those yellow signs, but, uh, gray, gray television has made a significant investment in our region, uh, With the support of NBC universal. With that, Assembly Studios Atlanta. It’s certainly a bright, shining star.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Um, the perimeter is definitely where things are happening. The center of gravity of the city seems to be moving north into our backyard.

Adam Forrand: There is definitely power and magnetism here in perimeter. I think it always has been. Um, to, you know, uh, to a certain degree, at a certain times and the ebbs and flows of, of where investments are made. Uh, but definitely pay attention to the headlines of what’s happening in perimeter.

Lee Kantor: All right. Before we wrap one more time, the website, Sandy Springs.

Adam Forrand: Org. Uh, we’d love to have you there. Uh, but Google Sandy Springs, perimeter chamber.

Lee Kantor: All right. Adam. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you. Thank you. Lee. All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Chamber Spotlight.