Neighborhood councils stealing chamber of commerce thunder.

When neighborhood councils started forming five years ago, many business groups opposed them as potential havens for anti-business, slow-growth advocates.

Now, some local chambers of commerce are grappling with a more direct threat. As these councils gather strength, they have pulled in some of the most active chamber members, leaving smaller chambers to struggle staying relevant.

"Some of these weaker chambers didn't pay too much attention to the rise of neighborhood councils and now they are losing some influence in their communities," said Ross Hopkins, past chairman of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley.

Neighborhood councils have a broader focus than chambers. Under the city charter they must have representatives from each of the major segments of the local community and they are also charged with addressing community concerns, like improving streetscapes or setting up local crime patrols. Chambers, meanwhile, strictly represent the interests of local businesses.

But most councils include business representatives on their boards, and those representatives frequently come from chamber boards.

Some chambers actually helped launch neighborhood councils and continue to support them, even loaning office space. Others have had a more hands-off approach, merely sending a representative to the neighborhood council.

'Natural order'

In general, larger, more established chambers have been able to co-exist with the neighborhood councils. But smaller, lower-profile chambers have often been overshadowed.

"It's part of the natural order of things," said Greg Nelson, general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. "If there are stagnant neighborhood or community organizations in a given area and the neighborhood councils are actually doing a better job of representing the neighborhood, then people will naturally gravitate towards them."

The impact is especially severe where the chamber has long been one of the few associations in a neighborhood, according to Ron Clary, area representative for the northwest San Fernando Valley for the United Chambers of Commerce.

The Winnetka Chamber of Commerce in the West San Fernando Valley never had more than a few dozen members, but the chamber nonetheless was a force in the small community.

Then came the Winnetka Neighborhood Council, which drew several members of the chamber onto its board. The neighborhood council quickly became much more active in the local community, pushing for street landscaping and other local improvements.

"There have been people on our board that have gravitated towards the neighborhood council," said Matt Lynch, a longtime board member of the Winnetka Chamber.

In response, the chamber started publicizing its events at neighborhood council meetings. "In recent months, our board membership has increased and much of that has come from this outreach," Lynch said.

The situation appears worse for the Arleta Chamber of Commerce in the north San Fernando Valley. Long the only major association in the area, the small chamber also included a residential contingent. "When the new charter came through, there was a migration of people from the chamber/residents association to the neighborhood council," Clary said. "The chamber became less of a force."

The Arleta Chamber still participates in some community events, according to Arleta Neighborhood Council Secretary Joy Bizar. But the council has eclipsed the chamber as the main voice for the community. Calls last week to the chamber were met with a recording and not returned over a period of three days.

Neighborhood councils are only the latest in a line of challenges to the survival of smaller chambers. Those include competition from other chambers, economic fluctuations and the changing makeup of local communities.

For example, the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce in the northeast San Fernando Valley is facing a business community in transition.

"We've been a small chamber for many years, and yes, we've had some of our board members--including myself--join the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council," said chamber board member Mark Seigel. He said the area has a large number of business owners who are immigrants and who don't sign up for the traditional chambers of commerce.

The Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce has been less active in recent years than the three local neighborhood councils. Chamber vice president of political affairs Pamela Hamby said this was more the result of a "lack of concerted effort" than competition. She said the chamber held elections in December and is preparing its slate of agenda items.

"We went through a re-emergence and are now becoming more active," she said.

Future Uncertain

Local chambers struggle as neighborhood councils take hold.

Arleta: Association of businesses and residents has dwindled as many members joined new Arleta Neighborhood Council.

Crenshaw: Long-struggling chamber is trying to re-emerge after change of leadership; plans to work with local councils.

Sunland-Tujunga: Some board members lost to Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, but bigger problem is immigrant business owners not joining up.

Winnetka: Small struggling chamber lost members to Winnetka Neighborhood Council but is now using the council to try to grow its membership.