Houston Chronicle Article 4/24/08 - printed in the Spring/Klein/Tomball Z14 section

Tomball/Magnolia News

April 21, 2008, 10:19AM
Business owners might organize a new chamber of commerce for Spring/Klein communities
First meeting is scheduled for May 6


By KIM JACKSON
Chronicle Correspondent

Two small business owners are testing the waters to see if other local businesses in the Spring/Klein communities are interested in launching a new chamber of commerce.

Toni Richard, owner of the bi-weekly Tomball-Spring Times community newspaper, and Candace Runaas, owner of Runaas Resources Public Relations, said they expect a strong showing from business owners at the Spring Klein Chamber of Commerce's kick-off luncheon 11 a.m.-2 p.m. May 6 at the Sizzler Restaurant, 6062 FM 2920. They expect at least 60 to attend.

Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hickman will be the keynote speaker.

"This is our first step," Runaas said. "We are holding the luncheon to gauge interest in the community. If they say, 'Yes! We want a new chamber!' we will respond to that."

Richard said the response so far has been overwhelmingly in favor of moving forward with the formation of the Spring Klein Chamber. She said she believes, and has heard from others, that there is a need for a chamber that focuses on the Spring Klein area.

Richard said she came up with the idea of forming a new chamber after meeting and talking with local business owners who said they saw a need in the area for networking opportunities. She floated the idea with friend Runaas, who shared a passion for the Spring/Klein community and Klein Independent School District.

"We got together and I said, 'Let's go! Let's do it!'" Richard said.

The organization is in the formative stage, but the two founders have obtained a "DBA" (doing business as), and launched a Web site at www.springkleinchamber.org and a blog at springklein.wordpress.com

The Web site is under construction, but contains information about the luncheon, the chamber's mission statement and membership fees.

If the community backs the effort, Richard said, the next steps would be to form nonprofit organization; to appoint a board of directors; and to work out the organization's structure.

Richard said the area the chamber would serve is not set in stone, but would probably go north to the northern tip of Spring/southern tip of The Woodlands; west to Texas 249, but not into the city of Tomball; east to Interstate 45; and south to Cypresswood Drive or FM 1960.

Runaas said the area is a part of the established Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce's larger coverage area, but there is no chamber focused solely on Spring and Klein.

"The Northwest Chamber does a phenomenal job," Runaas said. "There is no way we can provide what they provide at this stage. However, we have had a lot of people have asked us to do this and we are excited about the idea."

Barbara Thomason, president of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce, said she is aware of the effort to form the Spring Klein Chamber of Commerce. She said the new chamber's proposed boundaries would encompass a large section of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce's primary coverage area, which is bounded by the Montgomery- Harris counties line on the north, Aldine-Westfield/Hardy Toll Road on the east, the Sam Houston Parkway on the south, and an area midway between Texas 249 and U.S. 290 on the west.

The Houston Northwest Chamber has close to 200 members in the Spring Klein Chamber's proposed service area.

"We have served the area for 35 years and a uniquely positioned to help our businesses because of our resources and long-standing position in the community," Thomason said.

For more information about the Spring Klein Chamber of Commerce or May 6 luncheon, call 281-257-4431 or info@springkleinchamber.org.