Staff photo by ERICA MITRANO
Ken Gould, president of the Business Alliance of Charles County, speaks Tuesday evening at the group's first event.
Curiosity and friendship propelled businesspeople to the first public event of the Business Alliance of Charles County, a business group founded in October by the former executive director of the Charles County Chamber of Commerce, who was fired from that position in May.
Visitors crowded into the reception room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Waldorf for the group’s “kick-off celebration” featuring appetizers and networking opportunities.
Surveying the dozens of people at the event, BACC President Ken Gould said he was “not completely surprised” by the larger-than-expected turnout, “but I am a little pleasantly surprised. You never know until it happens.”
Chamber leaders did not give a reason for Gould’s ouster.
BACC is still finding its direction and voice, but will hold its first board of directors meeting in January, he said, which will “help us determine the holes we’re going to fill for businesses in Charles County. It’s very important to the leadership to reach out to the community in any way that makes sense and is possible.”
BACC is recruiting through “word of mouth,” Gould said, including people joining Tuesday night as they bought their tickets. But new BACC President Seanna Smallwood, founder of a business that provides designated drivers, said recruitment would be her priority in 2012, including “maintaining a relationship of respect for our members and from businesses and members of the community.”
“It’s going to be kind of fluid. We’ll continue talking to the members about what they want and need, instead of assuming we know,” she said.
Three Charles County commissioners, Reuben B. Collins II (D), Ken Robinson (D) and Bobby Rucci (D) attended early in the evening, which Gould heralded as a good sign.
“If we’re already on their radar, that’s important because we want to work with them,” he said.
Sara Naar, a sales executive with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball team, said she and her colleagues were checking out the event to decide whether or not to join the group. So far, the turnout was encouraging, she said.
“It’s definitely different from the chamber of commerce. I mean, it’s the first meeting, but more people,” she said.
Some attendees were personal friends of Gould or BACC Vice President Tracey Harris, a former chamber staffer who quit in the wake of Gould’s dismissal, while others were simply seeking new networking venues. Some expressed hostility toward the chamber, while others planned to be active in both groups.
Jim Krieger of Waldorf, director of business development for IPC Technologies, was experimenting. He attended because “it’s an alternative to the chamber of commerce,” which he said “was not worth my time” when he was a member. He hadn’t yet decided whether the BACC would be a good investment either, he said.
Not everyone there was feeling antagonistic.
Bonnie Morris, owner of Arrow American Pest Termite in White Plains, knew Gould and Harris but had no plans to cut ties with existing business groups.
“It’s a different type of group,” Morris said of BACC, “and networking is so important for businesses. It’s a wonderful opportunity. This morning I was at a chamber function.”
On Thursday, chamber President John Jilek said its events remain robust, including an “expo” in White Plains for new members that had “well over 100 individuals.”
“I think you can credit [any hostility] up to, any time you have a new organization starting, they tend to point fingers in other directions and say, ‘They’re not as good.’ I think the proof is in the longevity. … In the economic times we’re in, I think everyone has seen a scaling-back.”
Beacon Printing worker Lynda Rainbold said employees attended the BACC event “because we’ve known Ken and Tracey for a long time. Beacon Printing wanted to support this venture.”
“I felt our presence was necessary,” agreed her co-worker, Tammie Alexander.
The same personal ties drew in Aileen M. Rose, operations manager at Rita’s of La Plata, a chamber member.
“The main thing that’s attractive about this [group] is its new, fresh ideas,” she said. She was “not yet” a member, “but I will be by the end of the night.”
At the moment, BACC memberships cost $95 for sole proprietors to $500 for the largest companies, Gould said. Twelve people bought memberships Tuesday night, bringing the total number of members to more than 50.
emitrano@somdnews.com