Along with resolutions, one of the common traditions at the turn of a new year is to take stock of the year that was, and that was the theme of Tuesday’s first membership luncheon of 2025 for the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce.
Held Tuesday at The Center for Rural Development, Chamber Executive Director Bobby Clue ran down some of the key facts, figures and accomplishments for the organization, in addition to giving outgoing Chamber board president Lisa Phelps a warm send-off and welcome to the new president, Laura Glover.
The new year also marks a significant milestone for the local Chamber — 100 years of existence. First formed in 1925, the organization has woven itself into the fabric of the community, striving to provide a competitive advantage for local businesses and finding ways to improve local quality of life, such as with the annual Christmas Parade and in recent years, a popular air show.
“For the past century, the Chamber has played an instrumental role in shaping the economic growth, community engagement, and overall success of Somerset and Pulaski County,” Clue told the crowd at The Center. “As the leading voice of business for southeast Kentucky, the Chamber continues to play a role in the city, county and region’s prosperous future.”
Part of that is growing the Chamber itself, which is the seventh-largest in Kentucky, with over 1,100 members. In 2024, 226 new members joined, and the local chamber retained 94.7% of its members, a success compared to the national retention rate of 85% for chambers this size.
This has allowed the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber to be a mentor to a number of small chambers, and Clue called the local board of directors “one of the best” in the state, “comprised of a very eclectic group of people from our business community.”
The luncheons themselves are “about 5% of what we do, but they’re probably about 75% of what we’re known for,” said Clue. The events provide key networking opportunities, as well as a chance for businesses and organizations to set up information tables showcasing what they offer.
The major draw are the speakers, and 2024 featured a wide array of guest presenters at Chamber events, including U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Dr. Rand Paul, Master Distiller Wally Dant, Kentucky Community and Technical College System President Dr. Ryan Quarles, state Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell, Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman, neurobiology professor Dr. John Pearson, and Bluegrass Airport President Eric Frankl. There is also the annual “State of the City and County” luncheon, featuring the current Somerset mayor and Pulaski County judge-executive at that time.
Behind the scenes, the Chamber is doing the important job of providing information and serving members by giving referrals. The chamber received over 12,000 phone calls in 2024, and provided hundreds of customer referrals.
“We get thousands of phone calls, and a lot of these people just don’t know where to get services,” said Clue, “things that you and I might not think about. They will call and say, ‘Where can I buy a set of tires? Where can I buy a washer and dryer?’ … Referrals are a great benefit of being a Chamber member.”
Business liaisons JonBlake Richardson and Ace Swiderek, former Chamber interns who are now part of the staff, are young and social media minded, and have helped the Chamber grow its online presence, getting the Chamber on Instagram and growing its social media following to more than 21,000 followers.
The Chamber also offers an online jobs board, sharing over 700 local employment openings through email and social media in 2024, and provides insurance discount programs for members.
Another Chamber benefit is the Member-2-Member Discount Program, which allows Chamber members the opportunity to save money when purchasing at participant fellow member businesses, and stimulate new business through increased exposure and word-of-mouth referrals. To date, over 41,000 key tags and brochures to Chamber member businesses in the program have been given out, with 300 participating businesses offering special deals. The average household savings from the program is over $1,100 per year.
Clue also talked about the success of different programs and event the Chamber offers, including the Rise Women’s Leadership luncheon series, the annual Shamrock Shuffle 5K, the Jack Keeney Memorial Golf Tournament, and Operation Beautification, which offers paid cleanup opportunities to local school clubs and civic organizations. Last year, 493 volunteers collected 770 bags of trash off 95 miles of Pulaski roadways as part of Operation Beautification.
Also highlighted were the Leadership Lake Cumberland Program, the Chamber Ambassadors Program, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, and the number of in-person and virtual ribbon cutting ceremonies for new or pre-existing local businesses, 52 of them in the last year.
In saying her final remarks as president, Phelps talked about a new program instituted under her watch, the Future Leaders of Lake Cumberland, which is designed to provide selected high school juniors who display leadership potential with the chance to learn more about their community over a seven-month class program, and inspire them to take advantage of local opportunities over the course of their futures.
“My initiative was to educate our youth about the opportunities available in our community,” said Phelps. “… I’m proud to announce that the Future Leaders of Lake Cumberland, modeled after the Chamber’s Lake Cumberland Leadership Program, graduated 45 students in December from Somerset, Southwestern and Pulaski County High Schools.”
Speaking as the new president, Glover talked about plans to celebrate 100 years of the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce by highlighting a different past president at every luncheon, a time capsule ceremony scheduled for the spring and a past presidents’ luncheon in the summer, and the creation of a strategic planning community — “We will be recognizing that our past is seamlessly connected to where we are heading in the future,” said Glover.
She added that she was “excited to be the president of the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce during our 100th year. It’s a very exciting time for our business community, as you all know.”