Tom Manskey
By Amy Stansbury
Friday, 06 March 2009
Tom Manskey, President and CEO
- Work history: Began working in current role in early February
- Experience: President and CEO of the Fort Smith, Arkansas Chamber of Commerce; President and CEO of the Lufkin/Angelina County, Texas, Chamber of Commerce; President and CEO of the Rockwall, Texas, Area Chamber of Commerce; Economic Development Director for the City of Port Arthur, Texas; Main Street Project Coordinator for the City of Daingerfield, Texas
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning/public administration, Southwest Texas State University
- Contact: 255-5805;
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- What makes you a good fit for your new role?
- My previous experience [as Fort Smith, Ark., chamber CEO] was probably where I gained the most knowledge on connecting the two [the city and chamber] since I’ve been in the chamber business. We were part of a team with the city. When companies come into the city, if the city and the chamber and whoever else are not quite on the same page, it’s obvious.
I’ve just got a feeling here that the chamber is knee deep in economic development, which not every chamber in Texas is. Every chamber can probably make an argument that the programs they do contribute to economic development, but I’m talking about actual business retention and expansion — not every chamber does. Here we’re a major part of the team and it’s part of our program of work. We’ve got a good relationship with the city that’s only going to get better.
- What are your goals for the chamber?
- Membership is low for a community this size. We certainly need to be over 1,000, I would say probably in the 1,200 to 1,500 range. That won’t happen overnight, but membership needs to be higher.
A lot of members don’t understand why they have to pay to attend chamber events. They say, “We paid our membership investment. How come we have to pay to get into that [chamber-sponsored] event?”
Events cost money, and most chambers will tell you that membership investment won’t even cover half of your operating costs typically. You have to go out and put together programs that are worthwhile to your members, like the Business Women’s Luncheon, Power Lunch and Business After Hours. Then you try to make sure they’re good, effective networking programs, and you try to make a little money off of them. It’s not that we’re in the profit-making business, but we’re like other businesses in town. We have a building here, we pay the light bills, we pay payroll and the whole 9 yards.
- What should the chamber do for local businesses and the community?
- I think anything good for business also helps the community. I would say that we need to provide opportunities for businesses who come in and invest, to be a member, to be a part of this association, to have things in our buffet, I guess you would say, that help them grow their business. The more we can do that, whether it’s a networking opportunity — you know, nowadays, people like to deal with people they know. We’re going to look at our small-business development programs. I think there seems to be a lot of opportunity here. You’ve got a lot of professionals who are highly educated in this area, who may have things rolling around in their head with regards to a business that they’d like to do — whether they were laid off or whether they worked for one of our major employers and just decided they needed to make a change. They’ve been thinking about this for 10 years.
We should be a link with the small-business development center out at Texas State and others to provide things that help them succeed.
- What have you noticed about Round Rock?
- It’s a very positive place. I’m sure there’s gossip, but I haven’t run into it yet. I think people realize we’re in a down economy, but in a down economy this is a preferred location to be in.
One thing I’m really looking forward to is, from a personal standpoint, I’ve already seen a community that stresses family. The schools are outstanding. I’m looking forward to getting my family wrapped up in the middle of the community.
