Five to Thrive Strategic Plan
Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce
Economic Strategy
The Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce (HRCC) cultivates a strong business community that drives regional prosperity throughout Cabell and Wayne counties. In 2022, HRCC reached a pivotal moment, facing both a need and opportunity to build a future as strong as its historic past, re-establishing its focus on supporting members and energizing the business community.
HRCC engaged Fourth Economy to manage a strategic planning process to develop a new vision, mission, and focused path forward.
Our Approach
The five-year strategic plan was largely informed by a SOAR analysis (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results), developed through broad stakeholder engagement and assessment of promising practices from peer organizations to inform and validate strategy development. The process was supported by project leaders, including the Chamber’s Board of Directors, a newly formed project steering committee, and community partners from the broader economic development ecosystem. Our approach uniquely engaged economic development partners to ensure the plan addressed the broader community’s needs and opportunities while focusing on serving Chamber members.
The Results
This work was captured in HRCC’s strategic plan, “Five to Thrive - Connecting the Greater Huntington Region,” which also serves as a branding campaign to generate support, investment, and excitement throughout implementation. The plan includes HRCC’s new vision, mission, and focused path forward to connect community, cultivate growth, and catalyze development. Strategies are organized by: (1) priorities to serve the business community and enhance internal chamber operations and (2) long-term economic development goals. Each strategy identifies clear roles and responsibilities, additional capacity needs, timing goals, and metrics to measure success. By the end of the second year of implementation, HRCC had successfully completed 8 of the plan’s 19 strategies, with an additional 7 strategies in progress and 4 scheduled for future years.
View the Executive Summary and Progress Update here:
Five to Thrive Executive Summary | Strategic Priorities Matrix
Location
Cabell and Wayne Counties, WV