CHAMBER BESET BY WOES : DEBT, SHRINKING NUMBERS WORRY PACOIMA GROUP.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

These days, a phone call to the Pacoima Chamber of Commerce reaches an answering machine in a dusty, antique-filled building on Foothill Boulevard.

``The Pacoima Chamber is not available. Please leave your message at the tone. When you are finished recording, please press pound.''

``I get at least 30 calls a day from people wanting information that I should be able to provide,'' Ed Kussman, 85, the chamber's interim president, said as he stood amid the clutter.

Kussman does his best to return the phone calls, but all he can pass out is hope for a brighter future. There simply isn't any money in the kitty for business promotion.

And these days, Kussman is wrestling with the bigger problems of dwindling membership rolls, a balance sheet awash in red ink and a business community largely uninterested in the group's endeavors.

The chamber, formed 49 years ago, moved out of offices in a city-owned building last August owing $18,000 in back rent. And it's faced with a Department of Water and Power bill of nearly $3,100.

There is even disagreement among the remaining members about how best to chart the chamber's future course.

Past President Joseph N. Gray said it was his decision to vacate the offices rather than let the rent bills pile up at a $600-per-month clip. It was not a popular move with some board members, he said.

``That caused a considerable amount of problems. There wasn't 100 percent support for the decision, so the group's been fragmented ever since,'' Gray said.

Part of the problem?

He wanted to focus on building membership - which totaled nearly 250 as late as 1993 before falling to its current level of about 50. Other directors wanted to focus on money-raising projects like a community carnival and golf tournament.

``We have to be able to provide a service that is worthy of the money we need to pay rent,'' Gray said. ``There is a lot of legislative activity and advocacy type things we do for the economic engine that drives our community. We need to do these things first, not a carnival.''

Chamber director Leroy Adams, a Realtor, thinks that people ought to focus on the positive things the chamber can accomplish rather than dwelling on the financial problems.

``I don't think our problems are different from anyone else. The things we are trying to do are positive for the community. I'd like to see those emphasized rather than the fact we have a bill that may be past due,'' Adams said.

Projects like a community carnival and golf tournament are moneymakers that can help reduce debt, he said.

Kussman, toward the end of the group's monthly membership meeting last week, asked that the outstanding bills be tabulated so negotiations can start with creditors.

And the creditors say they are willing to work with the group.

``We've always been willing to make payment arrangements since we've been aware that they have been having problems,'' said Debra Sass, DWP spokeswoman.

But she points out that the group only made three payments last year and hasn't done anything to resolve the bill.

``All we need to do is bring the chamber to the table to try to work something out,'' Sass said.

Kussman, for his part, talks in general terms about getting financial help from the city of Los Angeles through Councilman Richard Alarcon's Office.

But Alarcon said that he has already contributed about $5,000 in direct financial aid and other support to the group since he took office three years ago.

For example, his office sent out a membership mailer a couple of months ago on behalf of the chamber. Now it's up to the group to follow up on that effort, Alarcon said.

``It's a membership organization, and I really believe that it needs to grow its members in order to survive,'' he said. ``That's how other chambers survive.''

The group should get an organizer who could focus on drumming up new members, but that may have to be a future goal.

``The strong chambers have a staff person paid out of membership dues, and those dues keep the organization going,'' the councilman said. ``There is no way you can be $21,000 in debt and expect to manage an effective organization. They really do need some support, and we've tried to help.''

And Pacoima does not lack for potential chamber members.

There are about 2,000 large and small businesses in the community.

It's one of the most thriving industrial sections of the San Fernando Valley, with a vacancy rate of about 3 percent, notes John Rooney, president of the Valley Economic Development Center, a nonprofit business consulting agency.

``You have a tremendous, growing industrial base. There are a lot of very substantial companies in Pacoima, but it's not readily apparent if you drive through town,'' Rooney said. ``The retail corridor is suffering, and you have a lot of absentee ownership. But in fact the economy there is probably healthier than is apparent.''

And the community's economy is poised for cash infusion.

Pacoima has been designated an ``enterprise zone,'' which makes businesses either locating in the area or already there eligible for more than $200 million in loans from a community development bank backed by the federal government and city of Los Angeles.

``It has a great location,'' Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County, said of Pacoima. ``They are close to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport and rail access on San Fernando Road. And there is a large labor pool.''

So why is the chamber in financial trouble and scrambling for membership?

Cost doesn't seem to be an issue.

Kussman said that annual membership dues range from $25 for individuals to $150 for large corporations.

Perception might be part of the problem. And the chamber might not have been doing an adequate job of marketing itself.

Chris Taylor, owner of Video Agenda and Christes Beauty Supply, joined in 1985.

``I joined because someone came by and asked me to be a member. I didn't hear too much after that and I never knew what their function was, anyway,'' Taylor said. ``But I didn't put a lot of effort into (the chamber) either.''

In the case of some of the bigger businesses the chamber doesn't have any programs that meet their needs.

Consider the experience of Al Gold, owner of Gold Graphics, which employees about 200 people. Gold can't say whether he's a member of the chamber or not. But he doesn't think that the group has any programs that would help his business.

``My business is a job shop and we sell to companies on a national basis,'' Gold said. ``We employ a lot of people in Pacoima and we're a major manufacturer but we don't do much business in Pacoima. To me, chambers of commerce are mainly focused on local business benefits and I never saw a need for that.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) Ed Kussman is operating the troubled P acoima Chamber of Commerce out of a cluttered building filled with antiques.

John McCoy/Daily News

(2--Color) The Pacoima Chamber of Commerce now fits into a small banquet room.

David Sprague/Daily News