Madison Aument
With 91.9 KVCR News, I'm Madison Aument. This is Economics IE, where I speak to experts from the Inland Empire to talk about the region’s economy. I spoke with Zeb Welborn, who is the president of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce, about creating business opportunities. Can you just talk about what the goal of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce is?
Zeb Welborn
Yeah. So what I tell people in the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce is we're a catalyst for business growth, so we're here to help businesses grow. We're a convener of leaders and influencers. So we bring leaders and influencers together, and we are champions for a stronger community; we work hard to make sure that our community stays strong by helping support local businesses.
Madison Aument
Can you talk about the economic development work you're doing?
Zeb Welborn
Yeah. So one of the exciting things that we've been doing on that front is organizing these roundtables where we'll bring in like-minded businesses to talk about common issues and challenges that they're facing. So a recent one that we did was a healthcare roundtable, where we brought in a bunch of healthcare providers. We talked about the common issues that they are facing. One of the big things in the healthcare industry is that they’re having a really tough time attracting doctors and nurses to the Inland Empire. So we came up with some creative ways to address that. They came out of that committee with ideas for better marketing to those audiences to help entice them to come here. We also worked on ways to support that pipeline of workers by connecting those entities with training institutions that are preparing people for work in that field.
Madison Aument
And I know that with the Chamber of Commerce, businesses that exist join and you offer services. But are you doing anything to help new businesses start, especially after COVID?
Zeb Welborn
Yeah. So an exciting new development for us is that we were just made aware that we've gone through the process to build an entrepreneurship center in Chino. That's something that Congresswoman Norma Torres approved, and we understand it’s going through the process, so it sounds likely that it will come through. But aside from that, we're constantly working with startup businesses and entrepreneurs to help grow their businesses here in Chino, Chino Hills, and across the Inland Empire. For example, one of the things we did was hold a roundtable with local businesses about finding capital to grow their businesses. One of the things they articulated was that they had no idea how to go about the process. So we created a business startup guide to help businesses get started in building a business in Chino or Chino Hills. We are also helping businesses in various ways, such as by assisting them in accessing funds, providing educational resources through experts in the field, and giving them opportunities to demonstrate their expertise so that they can grow their businesses as well.
Madison Aument
Are there any particular types of businesses you hope to attract to Chino?
Zeb Welborn
So yeah, we're working on a lot of different things. From an attraction standpoint, we want to have high-paying jobs. There have been five key sectors that we've identified: construction, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and professional services. These are the types of businesses we're trying to bring into the Chino Valley. Another sector with a lot of opportunities, which I see as having a lot of potential in the future, is the energy sector. There is a significant need to address our future energy requirements, and business opportunities come with that. So that's another area where we believe we can start attracting energy sector-related businesses to the region.
Madison Aument
That was Zeb Welborn, the president of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. Join us again next Monday for Economics IE. You can find this segment and others on our website, at kvcrnews.org/econie. Support for this segment comes from the Nowak Family. For KVCR News, I'm Madison Aument.