CHATSWORTH : Focus on Crime Boosts Chamber Membership

A vigorous recruiting effort and frustration with graffiti are credited for a dramatic increase in membership of the Chatsworth Chamber of Commerce.

In the last two months, the chamber roster has grown from about 340 businesses to nearly 500, the largest membership in the chamber’s history.

Jack Kelly, chamber vice president of membership, attributes some of the growth to the organization’s new emphasis on crime prevention.

A chamber graffiti committee has been formed to work with police and provide civilian patrols to watch for spray-painting vandals. The committee has attracted the interest of business owners such as Dennis Rohde, general manager of the Lamplighter Restaurant, who had resisted joining the chamber for nine years.

Rohde said he changed his mind this year because he wanted “to become involved with an organization dealing with crime and graffiti.”

“I’ve been dealing with it by myself, just keeping paint around and covering it up,” he said. “But the chamber can keep you informed of patterns and work with police in preventing it.”

The growing membership has increased the influence of the chamber, and “pumped up its cash flow,” said Mary Gemuendt, the chamber’s executive director. Chamber leaders plan to use the organization’s new clout to lobby for changes in state workers’ compensation laws and offer support to struggling local business owners, she said.