Windsor Heights Chamber of Commerce: Community Involvement is Key

The Windsor Heights Chamber of Commerce was founded in May of 2004 as a result of local business leaders banding together as University Avenue was being reconfigured and, today, University Avenue remains a top priority of our Chamber.

I believe we are the smallest Chamber in Greater Des Moines (DSM) with roughly 42 members. A recent study of our community of less than 5,000 people tells us there are roughly 75 business units in Windsor Heights. 

Joining the Chamber

My personal inspiration for joining the Windsor Heights Chamber was my past experience as a Chamber Member in prior communities. For several years I was active in the Urbandale Chamber but when my family moved to Windsor Heights we decided to become a business member there. I was also familiar with the Chamber structure when I served as President and then National Chaplain of the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce.

The signature offering of our Chamber is community involvement. We hold elected officials events, Fourth of July Parade, assist in the new program “Nights in the Heights,” Small Business Saturday, monthly Lunch & Learns, ribbon cuttings and a host of value centered programs designed to give our members voice and knowledge of our community and DSM.

Accomplishing Big Things

Our biggest accomplishment over the past four years has been driving the discussion around redesigning University Avenue, now a five-lane highway that cuts through town, into a Main Street that will allow for more commercial and residential development along the mile-long road. That project has received approval of the Windsor Heights City Council and we look forward to starting construction in the summer of 2020. 

Following the successful Local Option Sales and Service Tax (LOSST) vote, our next goal is to work with the City of Windsor Heights to discuss automated traffic enforcement cameras. We believe that with the change in University Avenue, speed will naturally come down and make speed cameras obsolete.

Finally, we are in the middle of creating our value proposition for existing and potential members. Our goal is to reach 68 members this year and create a better cash flow situation with added revenue opportunities that offer real value to our membership. 

Interested in being part of the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s Regional Affiliate Chambers of Commerce? Please reach out to Meg Schneider to learn more about our dual-Membership model that combines the value of Chamber benefits with the value of Partnership benefits

Read more Chamber of Commerce news at dsmpartnership.com/blog.