Teaneck Chamber of Commerce

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify for Dr. Pruitt, as well as members of the Township Council, the business community and residents of Teaneck of something that Dr. Pruitt discussed with Howard Prosnitz in his interview.

“While the Chamber of Commerce is a useful organization, attendance at meetings is sparse, Pruitt said. He suggested that council authorize tax breaks for business property owners, which would then be reflected in reduced rents for tenants.”

“If you have a store that you cannot rent and you have to pay taxes on it, you are losing a lot of money, he said.”

Firstly, I’d like to state that whenever the Chamber has a meeting or an event, we usually have a good turnout. Like most organizations, our events could certainly be better, but leaving that aside, our representatives have generally not attended any of our meetings or events. The event that might have been attended by council members is our annual Community Awards Dinner where the Chamber pays homage to those that have contributed much to our community in a variety of ways. That tradition will continue on October 11^th at the Marriott-Glenpointe. I certainly hope that Council attend and show full support.

Sometimes it is not just the meetings that make the Chamber, but what the Chamber does. Our Chamber is unique in that we are concerned with the business community, as well as with the Teaneck community as a whole. A successful business community makes for a strong community.

Over the past three years, the Teaneck Chamber has attempted to undertake some major challenges. The first was to take the Rosenstein’s of the Puffin Foundation up on their offer of a $500,000 donation for the creation of a Cultural Arts Center. The Chamber first had its eyes on the Givaudan Building on Windsor Road and then with the Verizon Building on Teaneck Road. The Verizon Building would actually have been the better location as it would have tied in much better with the town’s desire of improving the North Teaneck Road corridor. () Approximately 2-1/2 years were invested in this project to make what naturally comes to Teaneck -- the Arts, into a financial resource from making the arts a niche for Teaneck, providing new employment opportunities as well as new business opportunities. The plans proposed for this center would have greatly benefited all of the cultural arts programs in Teaneck in addition to being a tremendous resource for the public school system. Council was aware of the project, but not one member commented one way or the other, yet they were seeking new sources of revenue to help residents with property tax relief.

While a group of 15 local chambers participated in an effort to have a law passed that would have benefited small business in securing health insurance at group rates, the plans and the bill, S113, is currently stalled in the legislature. The Teaneck Chamber of Commerce took the initiative to continue moving forward and came up with an alternate plan that is currently in process.

As a result of some of the turmoil over Public Schools and Charter Schools, the Chamber convened a group of individuals from all sectors including FDU and Bergen Community College to take inventory of the resources available and to take advantage of what we each have to leverage whatever funding that is currently there.

Special efforts were taken to contact all the owners or property manages of vacant commercial real-estate up and down Cedar Lane as a start. Each was offered the opportunity to list their properties FREE of CHARGE on the Chamber’s website in the interest of helping rent the properties. Two out of approximately 15 showed interest. In the end, not one took the Chamber up on its offer. The Chamber is still trying to convene a group of commercial property owners to see what precisely they view as the issue and proceed from there.

As a result of some concerns, the Chamber was able to partner with the Township to come up with an expedited program for Sign and Façade improvements. And for those that could not afford these improvements, five Chamber member financial institutions came together to form a coalition, The Banking Committee, to provide financial assistance. These banks, while competitors, saw the value that could be realized when working together and the benefits that the community would realize. This program will prove to be invaluable as Bergen County gears up to be only the 10^th site to host Super Bowl 2014.

The Teaneck Chamber of Commerce was involved with the Teaneck Advisory Commission on Sustainability, the Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan Study, and has reached out to the Senior Advisory Commission. Furthermore, the Chamber has done what it could to help promote the Teaneck International Festival on the County level, was instrumental in getting a fledgling organization under the name of Fair Trade Teaneck and helped it get the Township of Teaneck the distinction of being the 21^st town in the United States to be a Fair Trade Community.

Over the past three years, the Chamber built upon some of the foundations laid by its predecessors, and blazed a new course which involved participating in the 4^th of July Parades, National Night Out, promoting Teaneck, providing assistance to the Teaneck Rotary Club which has been helping the Teaneck community since its inception in 1929 and can boast that one of its members became a Rotary International President and after whom a prestigious award is named.

The Teaneck Chamber of Commerce over the past three years has been an active participant in the Cedar Lane-Memorial Day-Family Fun event. The Chamber has provided and encouraged network opportunities for businesses. One of the members of the board was a participant in Bergen LEADS, a project of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County and is involved with the promotion of a project entitled Destination Bergen. () A program that is being warmly embraced by many including the Super Bowl 2014 Host Committee. The Teaneck Chamber of Commerce is a participating member of the Inter-Chamber Consortium where the different chambers work together in helping each other out as well as arranging joint projects. The Teaneck Chamber actively participated by volunteering office space to accommodate the census of 2010.

Over the past few years, numerous articles appeared in our local media covering the activities of the Chamber. More recently, the Chamber website has been updated and is still a work in process. The Teaneck Chamber can also be found on Facebook. Residents as well as businesses, are encouraged to visit our pages and hopefully “Like.”

The Chamber maintains a phone line that receives and fields questions about the township and its businesses from as far away as California. The Chamber is a known entity and one that is often sought after… except by our community. Perhaps this might have been due to the complacency in the past, but today, it is highly aggressive and has a volunteer staff that is committed to Teaneck and to the business community.

While there are groups that are concerned about specific business districts, The Teaneck Chamber of Commerce is there for all business. With strength in numbers, there is the ability for change. Who best to talk about the business community than the business community? This is often overlooked and in the process, costly errors are made, resentment created, and issues that could be easily resolved are not.

When the “visioning process” continues, don't leave a valuable resource curbside.

The next major Township event that the Chamber will again participate in is National Night Out on August 7th beginning at 5pm at Votee Park. Presented by the Teaneck Police Department. The event is a family event that will include displays and presentations from the Teaneck Police, various other county, state and federal law enforcement agencies, fire trucks, Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, representatives from various branches of the military, other organizations and community groups and much, much more!

For more information on the Teaneck Chamber of Commerce, its activities, programs, membership or to get on their e-mail list, please contact the Chamber office at info@teaneckchamber.org or at 201-801-0012.