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City chamber of commerce expands MAC membership
Looking to draw new members to its ranks, the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce launched a program in recent weeks that makes it easier for individuals to join the local Military Affairs Committee.
New memberships offered under the revised plan opens the organization to active duty military members at the base as well as those in the community that have retired from military service.
"We started talking about opening up this new (MAC) category last year because we wanted to find a way to attract new members without having to be, per say, a chamber business member," said MAC chairman Robby Robinson.
Established in April 1980, the chamber of commerce established the MAC to acquaint newly assigned base airmen and their families to the community as a way to welcome them to Mountain Home. At the same time, the organization's work promotes the importance of the military presence across the state, especially at Mountain Home Air Force Base and the Idaho National Guard at Gowen Field in Boise.
"The base is important," Robinson emphasized. "It's very important that we keep the base here, and our Congressmen and our Senators know it -- that the community supports the Gunfighters, and the community realizes the asset that we have 10 miles down the road."
Membership fees members pay each year represent the organization's "funding arm" that allows it to continue its outreach mission to support the Gunfighters and the military's presence in the state, according to Robinson. Those funds help offset costs to allow a delegation of senior community leaders to meet face to face with senior military officials in Washington, D.C., in addition to the state's elected officials on Capitol Hill to promote the base and highlight the community's support with these federal officials.
Currently comprised of 78 local business members and community leaders, Robinson hopes to use the new membership initiative to increase its ranks to more than 100 by the end of the year.
Those who join the organization gain a better understanding of the need for a strong, dominate national military with a focus on its importance to the state's economic strength, according to Robinson, a retired Gunfighter himself. Each year, Mountain Home Air Force Base and the National Guard at Gowen Field contribute more than $1.48 billion to the state's economy.
The MAC also provides highly visible support to airmen at the base as well as their families. Members of the organization know firsthand the sacrifices these military families deal with every single day, especially those whose loved ones are regularly deployed to combat zones overseas.
To help foster their rapport with the base, MAC members receive invitations throughout the year to attend a number of functions at the base, including change of command ceremonies and mission immersions.
"MAC membership provides and opportunity to voice your support and concerns about Mountain Home Air Force Base and its leadership about pressing issues within the community," MAC officials said.
At the same time, members foster friendships with those at the base that can last a lifetime, they added.
Mountain Home is home to a large percentage of military veterans in addition to those currently serving at the base, he added. This makes the community unique when compared to others across the country, according to Robinson.
Opening the organization to active duty airmen, especially the younger enlisted members and officers, gives them something else they can be a part of while helping to bridge the relationship between the base and the city.
"It gets them more involved... more invested in the community," Robinson said. "If we can get them more engaged and more involved, they'll see that. Hopefully, they'll fall in love with Mountain Home and decide to retire and stay here or move back here once they do retire."
Details on how the MAC will reach out to these Gunfighters were still being ironed out this month. However, Robinson expects the organization will use social media and word of mouth to spread its message to those at the base and encourage them to join.
Robinson longs to see a day when being part of the MAC becomes the "thing to do" for those newly assigned to the base as well as those who retire and choose to live here.
"I want people to realize the importance of MAC and what we do," he said. "I want people to buy into that and having them say, 'I want to join the MAC. I want to support the base. I want to support the Gunfighters and do my part.' "
The MAC includes a "dynamic team" that works throughout the year to support the Gunfighters and their families while emphasizing the importance of the military's presence in the community and across the state, Robinson said.
"If we do our job right, in supporting the Gunfighters, then they can focus on doing what they need to do," he added.