Two Chambers Vie for Lake Forest Business Owners

Two months before the city of Lake Forest is officially incorporated, businesses in the community are split between two competing chambers of commerce.

Frustrated with being overlooked by the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce, which is based in Laguna Hills, 20 local business owners have banded together to form the Lake Forest/El Toro Chamber of Commerce.

Although some merchants say the rivalry will hurt business, at least one member of the council-elect said it could help.

“Frankly, I think there’s nothing wrong in having a competing (chamber),” said Ann Van Haun, a member of the Lake Forest City Council that will be installed Dec. 20. “Competition is healthy. The fact that another one is starting up is an indication that there was something lacking in their organization. Obviously, they were not meeting the needs of the small business in our community.”

Last week, the new chamber selected officers just hours before the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce held the first function of its recently formed affiliate, the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce.

Detractors say the regional chamber is subdividing to compete for local chamber membership dollars, but officials at the larger chamber say its move is part of a 2-year-old plan.

In fact, the regional chamber already has affiliates in Rancho Santa Margarita and is planning others in Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills and Aliso Viejo by the end of the year, said Robert C. Lay Jr., chairman of the board of the South Orange County chamber.

The timing of organizing in Lake Forest is coincidental, he said, and not a “reaction to someone else’s action.”

“We feel very strong that with the incorporation, people want their individual identities.

“At the same time, people do see a need for a regional (organization) as far as legislative action or membership services, where you can draw on our entire . . . membership,” Lay said.

The 22-year-old chamber represents about 850 members from El Toro south to San Clemente. The new Lake Forest affiliate would be composed of existing members from the area, who number between 200 and 300 business people.

Ed Lorette, co-owner of Monogram Magic in El Toro, opted to stay with the larger chamber because of the opportunities it offers. “The existing chamber can better represent the interests of businesses in the county, both with legislative issues as well as the networking.”

He said the competing chambers will probably create “confusion,” which will hurt business. “My feeling is, hey, we’ve got the wheel. And it works.”

But attorney Paul Majors who plans to join the local chamber said it will provide a good opportunity to band together and help the new City Council carve a niche for the community.

He said small businesses will probably get lost among larger operations in the regional group. “If I had a small shoe store in Lake Forest, I don’t much care what’s going on 20 miles south, and I don’t think the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce has much interest in me.”

Lay did acknowledge that the two chambers will probably divide the business community rather than giving it “a single voice” as he had hoped. To avoid that, Lay said he has invited the local chamber, which was formed this summer, to combine efforts. “The problem with small city chambers starting . . . is you spend all your money on overhead, and it takes years to develop a chamber that economically viable enough to be a real benefit,” Lay said.

But spending local dollars on administrative costs for a “top-heavy” regional organization is exactly what Lake Forest officials are trying to avoid, said Ron Greek, an insurance agent in Irvine who is co-chairman of the committee that formed the new chamber. Greek also sits on the South Orange County chamber’s board as an ex officio member.

Greek, President of the Saddleback Area Coordinating Council, a citizens advisory group on land-use and transportation issues, said he resigned from the Chamber President’s 2000 Task Force Committee about two years ago after he saw the board “going in directions” he could not support.

For example, he cited the chamber’s plans to build a convention center in Mission Viejo. “They are good at providing support services for big businesses, but not to small businesses in the (Saddleback) Valley.”

Greek said he wanted to see more services, including seminars and workshops for small businesses, such as retail shops, dry cleaners and doctors.

In addition, he said,local business wanted an actual chamber office in the city and more say in how the organization spent its dollars.

Despite its extensive work with regional issues such as transportation and growth, the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce is “more involved in local issues than anybody else,” Lay said. “What we are about is small business. There seems to be an idea that since we are regional in geography that we only care about regional issues . . . It’s an unfair perception.”