That the City Council:
A.  Receive and file this report; and,

B.  Provide direction to staff.

At its Regular Meeting on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, during Council Comments, Councilmember Lampkin made a request that staff explore the cost and benefits of having the City apply to become a member of the La Habra Area Chamber of Commerce (Chamber). Mayor Espinoza seconded the request.

In researching this report, and based on information previously provided by the Chamber, it does not appear that the City of La Habra, as a government entity, has ever applied to be or been a member of the Chamber. In the past, some individual Councilmembers have applied to become members of the Chamber, but this was not as a result of any City Council action, but rather, due to their own personal choice.

While not a member, the City has had a history of supporting the Chamber in prior years. The primary support has been through City Council approved annual budget allocations from the City’s General Fund to support general Chamber activities or specific Chamber programs. The most recent Council approved budget allocation to the Chamber was $20,000 in Fiscal Year 2022-2023.

The City has also, in the past, partnered with the Chamber in other efforts that created indirect financial support for the Chamber, such as revenue sharing from advertisements sold in the Life in La Habra magazine, or partnering with the Chamber when they hosted the annual State of the City or State of the Community event, for which tickets were sold to the public. While the City is not currently providing these types of financial support to the Chamber, the City continues to invite the Chamber to certain City events, such as the City’s annual Economic Forum, or to the City’s annual Community Open House event. The City has also continued to permit the Chamber to hold its annual Spring Citrus Fair event on City streets and in a City park, for which the Chamber fully reimburses the City for all direct and indirect costs associated with the City's labor, materials and supplies used in support of the event.

Despite not having been a member of the Chamber, the City had previously been provided with an “ex-officio” seat on the Chamber’s Board of Directors (Board) for the Mayor or his/her designee. The Chamber had also, in the past, provided a general Board seat to a designated City staff member to act as a liaison between the Chamber, its members and the City government. The City was advised in 2024 that the Chamber Board had revised its bylaws to remove the Mayor (or his/her designee) as an “ex-officio” member of the Board and then, in January 2025, the Chamber eliminated the City staff position from the Board. City staff are still permitted to, and do, attend the Chamber’s Connect Up meetings.

The Chamber currently offers different levels of membership benefits depending on the tier selected, with eight annual membership levels for prospective applicants to choose from:

Membership Type	Annual Cost	Membership Profile / Benefits / Notes
Residential Member	$108	Intended for individual supporters of the Chamber. No business promotion allowed.
Volunteer Organization	$171	Intended for clubs, teams, etc. that have no paid staff
Small Biz Start-Up/Home Based	$286	Intended for sole proprietors that are just starting their business (good for one year only)
Charitable Organizations NGO	$264	Intended for established organizations that have paid staff
Basic Business Member	$396	Intended as a starting level for small businesses
Executive Member	$539	Intended for a small business ready to move up to a new level
Business Gold	$820	Intended as upper level membership, with access to all services except for “VIP” services
Platinum Circle	$1,815	Serves as the “VIP” tier membership option, which includes comped tickets to Chamber special events

• Networking – Chamber networking events, such as ConnectUp
• A basic member webpage – Member information page that includes basic details about the business with a link to the business’ website
• A Chamber name tag – Personalized name badge including name, business name, and level of membership
• Chamber on the Move – Meets the first Thursday of each month at a local restaurant to discuss business needs, services, and guest presentations
• Chamber Business Alliance (CBA) – A group of seven Chambers that welcome members from other CBA Chambers to attend selected events displaying the CBA logo
• A membership plaque – A plaque to display at the place of business
• Attendance at showcase mixers – Small receptions for people to learn about the business
• Social media acknowledgment
• Attendance at lunch mob events – Gather for lunch, networking, and business promotion

If the City Council desired the City to have a higher tier membership, the annual costs and additional benefits would be as follows:

• Executive Member: $539
  • Includes all benefits listed under “Basic Business Member” plus
    • Enhanced Member Webpage
    • Enhanced Member Plaque
• Business Gold Member: $820
  • Includes all benefits listed under “Basic Business Member” and “Executive Member” plus
    • Company Name on Chamber Website
    • Company Name listed on Top Level Entry Sign (Event stand banner)
• Platinum Circle Member: $1,815
  • Includes all benefits listed under “Basic Business Member,” “Executive Member,” and “Business Gold Member” plus
    • Company Logo on Chamber Website
    • Company Logo listed on the Top Level Entry Sign (Event stand banner)

If approved by City Council, the first year cost to the City’s General Fund to become a “Basic Business” member of the Chamber would be $426. Although this was not budgeted in the current FY 24/25 budget, there are sufficient funds in the adopted Non-Departmental Program Contingency budget to cover this cost.