For the Homewood Chamber of Commerce, the past 15 months have been about ensuring success for local businesses in uncertain times. Luckily, Homewood-area businesses had the support of Meredith Drennen and the Homewood Chamber of Commerce to lean on.
Meredith works to identify issues and immediately take action to solve them. Within 24 hours of taking the position of executive director, she had vetted several member databases and selected a system that would allow members to manage their membership, update their business information and allow their employees to access member benefits with ease.
She has given the same proactive energy to helping her community through the crisis of a global pandemic.
“The first thing we did when the lockdowns were announced was to call every member and ask, ‘What do you need?’” Meredith said.
The chamber traditionally hosts networking events such as the Downtown Business Committee, where business owners are able to discuss common challenges and make necessary connections.
“All of our downtown businesses that want to participate have an opportunity to do things like meet their city councilors or meet the police chief or fire chief,” she said. “Usually, we kind of kill two birds with one stone. We help all of these businesses network and make connections for things that they need.”
That wasn’t able to happen when lockdowns were ordered, so the chamber stepped in to become the facilitator.
Meredith worked one-on-one with each business owner to find out what their needs were and connect them with other members who could fulfill those needs.
“We hosted a series of community town halls through Zoom, connecting not only our members, but also residents with people like Dr. Ellen Eaton, an infectious disease specialist, and lawyers and accountants who had expertise in areas related to Small Business Administration loans and payroll protection,” she said.
Meredith started her career with the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, which is now known as the Birmingham Business Alliance. She said that in many ways, she feels her time with BBA prepared her for the rollercoaster of a year that 2020 turned out to be.
“I got to work in a lot of different areas, which you don’t always get to do in the chamber world or even nonprofits in general,” she said. “It was almost like a leadership development program.”
Meredith started in the Workforce Initiatives Department before moving on to events, special projects, then community development and finally to the director of operations position. She was able to garner valuable experience in several areas that she now utilizes as the Homewood chamber’s executive director.
Now that she hopes things continue to get closer to normal, Meredith has turned her attention to helping these businesses kick-start the community again.
Last December, the chamber pivoted its Holiday Open House shopping event into a weeklong event with curbside performances by local artists. This is just one of several events held throughout the year to promote local shopping. There is also the annual Hop n Shop, as well as the upcoming Sidewalk Sale, which will be the last week of July.
The one thing that Meredith feels she has learned throughout the events of the past year? “You can accomplish a lot when you believe in your mission and believe in your vision.”
Throughout the year, Meredith and the Homewood Chamber of Commerce upheld their mission to be “a vital resource in maximizing the potential of both commerce and community in Homewood.”
