Chamber CEO Chris Hoffmann Leaves Legacy of Collaboration

During her time as CEO of the Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce, Chris Hoffmann says one of her top priorities has been to foster a sense of cooperation between the business community and city government in order to avoid putting the two interests at odds unnecessarily.

“We’ve worked very hard to create a dialogue between the city and the chamber staff,” she said.

Now, as Hoffmann ends her eight-year tenure with the chamber and prepares to retire to Sarasota, Fla., with her husband, she said she hopes that spirit of collaboration will see the chamber through its next big challenge — replacing both her and the recently hired director of the newly-formed Redmond Economic Development Alliance, Larry Williams.

Williams, during his short two months here, helped define some of the goals of the new EDA, the creation of which was led by the chamber in collaboration with the city council. Hoffmann says she was excited that Williams brought with him a lot of depth in knowledge of an East Coast-style EDA model, where such agencies, though accountable to city government, act largely independently.

“We spent a lot of time defining who we are," Hoffman said. "We are an international business center, that connects digitally and personally."

Rob Odle, Redmond's planning director, says having Hoffmann at the helm of the chamber has been a huge boon to the city’s relationships with the business community.

“Chris has really gotten the concept of working in partnership with the city," he said. "We’ve really worked for positive outcomes instead of butting heads."

To that end, the chamber has reserved voting positions on the chamber board, one of which is held by Odle, for a city council member and a city staff person. Hoffmann and Odle both say the arrangement is rare and serves to strengthen the partnership between the entities so that the voices of business owners are an important part of the process, along with the voices of other residents on issues such as the recently updated comprehensive plan.

The timing of Williams departure due to a transfer for his wife, presents an additional challenge for the chamber's near future, but also opens up some possibilities, Hoffmann says.

“The EDA and the chamber could or could not combine,” and be directed by one individual, Hoffmann said. For now, the chamber board will seek an interim CEO for the chamber while it discusses those larger issues, she says.

Though Hoffmann’s official last day of work is on Friday, she said she will remain available to help the interim CEO with transitioning. But once someone hits the ground running, Hoffmann said she prefers to let that person put his or her own ideas into play to keep the chamber moving forward.

During her tenure, Hoffmann says she has been very active in lobbying on behalf of the chamber members through a coalition of chamber organizations, and that one of her passions has been transportation. She has participated on the King County Metro task force that has worked hard to shape the planned improvements of the 520 bridge and corridor.

Though Hoffmann is passionate about her work, she is quick to credit others in the same breath as citing some of the projects she’s worked on.

“When something is accomplished there are so many hands involved. One person can’t take credit.” For her own part, however, she says, "I hope I’ve been a transformational leader. I like to celebrate people’s strengths and strengthen their weaknesses.”

It’s a trait she admires in the businesses she works with too, such as , which she says is exciting because it takes technically skilled people and teaches them art skills, and takes artists and teaches them computer skills.

Over the last two years, chamber membership has remained fairly flat, after nearly doubling since Hoffmann took her position eight years ago. Hoffmann contrasts that statistic by noting that chambers in many cities much larger than Redmond have lost 50 or 60 percent of their members in the last two years due to economic pressures.

Because of the high cost of land in Redmond, Hoffmann says she believes future business growth here will not be manufacturing oriented, but will be a high-tech incubator and will attract a lot of research and development operations.

As for Hoffmann’s own future, she said she’s not sure yet whether she’ll really retire, but though she’s had a productive and happy time in Redmond, she's looking forward to sunnier weather and perhaps a slightly less hectic day-to-day pace.

“I believe in growing where you’re planted,” she said.