New Fairfield chamber execs take helm, get right to work

Article Launched: 02/04/2006 08:10:43 AM


New Fairfield chamber execs take helm, get right to work

By Amanda Janis/Business Writer

The debut of its marketing director this week rounds out the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce's all-new executive team.

Roxanne Dizon, a recent San Francisco State University graduate, joined Vice President Mark Creffield and President G. Leslie Fay, both of whom began working for the chamber in January.

The new leadership team is busy getting acclimated and organized to best serve their members and potential members, they said.

Creffield explained, "Once we get organized, then everything will be great - and we're almost there. Having a solid staff is a wonderful situation for us because being staffed is everything."

The new team, Creffied remarked, "will make this office and what we do for the community run very smoothly." We believe in what we're doing, he added.

Fay concurred.

"I'm confident in the team," she said, and outlined their diverse strengths - her own extensive Solano County contacts and chamber expertise, Creffield's varied talents and business experience and Dizon's energy and creativity.

Creffield's short-term goal, he said, is for the chamber executives to meet as many people in the community as possible, and by extension to have the community regard them as a solid team.

"Long-term," he said, "a lot of it is strengthening existing members and building and bringing in new chamber members."

Fay added, "We want to give our members the feeling that there is a value for their membership. We want to make sure that they believe in us." She wants them to realize, she said, that the chamber is a powerful resource for them to build or enhance their business.

She explained that the chamber will soon survey its 700-some existing members in order to better serve them, as well as endeavor to attract new membership.

Concerning new members, Dizon said, "My goal to attain 20 per month, and from there just keep working."

Already, within her first three days of work, she said, the chamber has acquired five new members.

In addition to strengthening its relationships and attracting new members, Fay said, "One of the biggest things that I want to happen here is for us to partner more with the city, with the Solano Economic Development Corp., with the college and with other entities."

Dizon explained that partnering initiatives might result in workshops and seminars to educate new business owners, or potential new business owners, on various facets of operating a business.

One workshop that the chamber already has scheduled for mid-March, Creffield said, will feature an expert on compliance with the American with Disabilities Act.

New faces and initiatives are likely just the beginning of what the new chamber executives have to offer Fairfield-Suisun businesses.

"Sometimes change is hard for people," Fay conceded. "But change is what we're about right now."

Amanda Janis can be reached at business@thereporter.com.