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

B.  Provide direction to staff.

During the public comment portion of the City Council meeting held on October 6, 2025, the President of the North Orange County Chamber of Commerce (NOCC), Mr. Andrew Gregson, along with other representatives and members of the NOCC, proposed that the City Council consider a partnership between the City of La Habra (City) and the NOCC. Mr. Gregson suggested that the City could join as a member of the NOCC in new program they had developed that would allow certain eligible and licensed small businesses in La Habra to become members of the NOCC at no direct cost to those businesses. Later, during Council Comments, Councilmember Nigsarian made a motion that staff meet with the NOCC to learn more about their proposal and return to City Council with a report on their findings. Mayor Pro Tem Medrano seconded the request.

As directed by City Council, staff met with Mr. Gregson and representatives from the NOCC on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, to learn more about their proposal. This information was then put into a report and presented by staff to the City Council for consideraton at its meeting held on November 17, 2025 (Attachment 1). If approved, the NOCC's “Small Business Strategic Growth Proposal” would have had the City enter into a formal agreement with the NOCC in which the City would pay NOCC to participate in their program which, among other things, would subsidize chamber membership benefits for certain eligible and licensed small businesses that operate in the City of La Habra.

The fee structure for NOCC’s proposed new membership program would have cost the City between $120,000 and potentially as much as $247,600 in the first year, and a minimum of $100,000 each subsequent year, assuming that the City was charged for a minimum of 1,000 businesses at $100 per business. This annual cost could have potentially increased if the number of businesses enrolled was higher than the 1,000 minimum that was proposed.

NOCC indicated that the proposed benefits to eligible and enrolled local small businesses would include a free membership to NOCC, including access to NOCC staff, resources, business advocacy, networking opportunities, website development, and participation in regional initiatives without requiring individual businesses to pay separate chamber membership dues. Furthermore, the NOCC proposal would have provided visibility and marketing to La Habra businesses through NOCC’s communication network, which reportedly included:

During the October 29, 2025, meeting between staff and the NOCC, staff learned that the NOCC provided a different membership level for government entities at a significantly lower cost of approximately $5,000 per year. Based on information gathered by staff, this is evidently the membership level that four other North Orange County cities were enrolled in at the time. Staff provided this information to City Council as part of the report. Following the report and discussion, City Council made a motion to receive and file the report with no further action regarding NOCC's "Small Businesss Strategic Growth Proposal." Council did, however, direct staff to gather more information about NOCC's lower cost government entity membership program and report back to Council.
 

At City Council’s direction, staff contacted Mr. Gregson to inquire about the lower cost municipal entity membership level's cost and benefits. NOCC staff ultimately provided information about two types of lower cost membership plans designed for local governments for Council consideration. The first proposal, received on March 27, 2026 (Attachment 2), is structured as a comprehensive business services and economic development program and partnership, whereas the second proposal, received on March 30, 2026 (Attachment 3), serves as a more basic municipal entity membership.
 

OPTION #1: Comprehensive Business Services and Economic Development Membership Program - $30,000 per year membership dues. 

Per the information provided by the NOCC, this proposed membership level would include the following services and program benefits at an annual cost to the City of $30,000: 

1. City Representation & Regional Integration

2. Citywide Business Visibility Infrastructure

3. Business Engagement & Outreach Pipeline

4. City Promotion & Strategic Communication

5. Economic Development Support

6. Business Engagement Opportunities & Events

OPTION #2: Basic Municipal Entity Membership Program - $5,500 per year membership dues. 

Per the information provided by the NOCC, this proposed membership level would include the following services and program benefits at an annual cost to the City of $5,500: 

1.  City Presence & Portal Access

2. Onboarding & Training

3. City Visibility & Communication

4. ChamberTalk Feature & Digital Reach

5. Event Access & Engagement Opportunities

OTHER NOCC MEMBERSHIP PLANS:

In addition to the three proposed municipal entity membership programs that NOCC has provided information about, staff found that NOCC provides other types of membership options, as listed on their website:

1. In-home startups/small businesses/in-home daycares/startup nonprofits — $475 per year membership dues
    Criteria: For members with an annual income $500,000 or below
   
Benefits:

2. Entrepreneur/Small Business/Small Nonprofit Organization — $575 per year membership dues
    Criteria: For members with annual earnings from $500,000 to $1,000,000

Includes all member benefits listed above, plus:

3. Corporations/Medium-Sized Business/Nonprofit Organization — $975 per year membership dues
    Criteria: For members with an annual income from $1,000,000 to $2,500,000
   
Includes all member benefits listed above, plus:

4. Global Companies/Large Nonprofit Organizations — $1,600 per year membership dues
    Criteria: For members with an annual income exceeding $2,500,000

   Includes all member benefits listed above, plus:

Summary

The lowest cost NOCC membership level currently available to the City of La Habra would be the proposed $5,500 municipal entity membership. Based on information provided to staff from the NOCC, this membership level intends to provide the City and its business community with regional exposure and access to NOCC’s broader business network, including its communications and network platform. NOCC has indicated that this membership tier is structured as an entry point for the City, with flexibility to expand into a more comprehensive partnership model, potentially at a higher annual cost, should the City wish to pursue a more active role.

Staff inquired if the City could join NOCC as a Global Companies/Large Nonprofit Organization at an annual cost of $1,600, and were told that municipalities do not fall within these membership categories, as they are specifically designed for businesses and nonprofits based on their size and operational structure.

Finally, for reference, at its Regular Meeting on Monday, April 7, 2025, the City Council considered various membership options with the La Habra Area Chamber of Commerce. That report was presented by staff, with City Council approving the report to be received and filed, with no further action taken (Attachment 4).  

There are no funds budgeted in the FY 25/26 adopted budget for membership to any local or regional chamber of commerce. Any such membership, if approved by City Council, will require an appropriation of General Fund resources or will be included as part of the FY 26/27 proposed budget.