A meeting was held to organize a Chamber of Commerce of New Braunfels. The purpose of the organization is to "promote the commercial resources of the city and to advocate for advanced methods in municipal affairs."
E.P. Nowotny was working to form the Junior Chamber of Commerce, also known as the Jaycees. The Chamber endorsed the new organization.
The Sightseeing Bureau formed for the purpose of promoting the tourist business of New Braunfels. This was the forerunner to the Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Chamber has been the community's tourism marketing entity ever since.
Several long-lasting Chamber awards were created including the Besserung award (1964), the Chair of the Board award (1967), and the Hall of Honor award (1967). The
The Chamber formed the New Braunfels Industrial Foundation which was active until 2005. This was the forerunner to today's Greater New Braunfels Economic Development Foundation.
The Membership Meetings Committee established a new program called "Business After Hours." These membership mixers are held monthly and are still going strong!
The newly organized Small Business Council produced the first Business Trade Show. Today, the event is known as the Business Showcase and is put on annually by its own committee.
The Chamber launched Leadership New Braunfels and the first class graduated in September of 1993. In 1998, the Youth Leadership New Braunfels program launched with a similar composition to the adult program.
New Braunfels voters passed a 1/2 cent sales tax. This is the forerunner to the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation, also known as the 4B Board.
The Hispanic Business Alliance was formed under a Chamber division. The organization hosted its first ever Dia de los Muertos Festival as a community event in Downtown in October of 2016.
The New Braunfels Chamber is a non-profit (501 (c) (6)) corporation founded locally in 1919 as the Merchants Association of New Braunfels. Today the organization works to strengthen the local economy, advocate for its members and the community, advance community excellence, and deliver value to its members.
We're conveniently located in downtown New Braunfels next door to the New Braunfels Civic/Convention Center at 390 S. Seguin Ave.
We represent Comal and Guadalupe counties which includes New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, Seguin, Spring Branch, Bulverde, and McQueeney. We also represent surrounding communities such as San Marcos, Schertz, and San Antonio.
We provide professional services via a contract to the City of New Braunfels for tourism marketing as well as for the recruitment of new jobs and wealth in New Braunfels. We're an independent 501(c)(6) not for profit organization and are not a department of city or state government.
We fund our operations via multiple sources, including dues from members, professional services contracts with multiple entities, special events, sponsorships, services and more.
Since 1971 the Chamber has had professional services agreements with the City of New Braunfels for tourism marketing and administration. That was the year room taxes were first authorized by the state legislature. The previous 50 years, the Chamber had provided these services from the Chamber budget and via private donations.
Why does the Chamber do this? The purpose of the Chamber of Commerce per the by-laws is to promote progress. One of the ways that is done is via destination marketing. The local hospitality industry is a major industry in New Braunfels and a major employer.
These funds are used only for state statue-limited expenditures and further limited by the annual approved budget from city council on these marketing dollars. There are budget line items and a maximum the Chamber can expend. Quarterly reports are required that include financials as well as an annual audit. The Chamber cannot expend these funds on anything else. In 2018, approximately 50% of the total room occupancy taxes collected from visitors locally were administered by the Chamber.
Staff costs are limited to a percentage of that staffers time spent on tourism activities. There are 6 full time equivalent personnel for these activities that the Chamber is reimbursed for out of the 18 employees at the organization. Sixteen years ago 8 FTE’s received room tax monies and the Chamber administered over 74% of room tax funds locally.
Besides reimbursing the Chamber for personnel and operations costs associated in tourism promotional activities, visitor paid tax revenues administered by the Chamber go toward convention services, brochures and creative costs, telephone and postage costs, advertising, travel trade, market research, direct mail, public relations, convention incentives and technology/emerging opportunities. Our Convention and Visitors Bureau division is award-winning and well thought of locally by the hospitality industry and around the state by their peers.
These funds are maintained in a separate account as per state law. We are contractually obligated to make available all expenditures upon request by city council or any other person.
Other uses of room occupancy tax funds locally (not administered by us) are to the civic convention center debt and M&O, multiple arts and historic non-profits in the community and for special city projects such as Wassailfest.
The CVB changed to the city fiscal year (from calendar year) for reporting purposes eight years ago at the city staff’s request.
In 1995, New Braunfels voters authorized an additional half-cent to the local sales tax rate. One eighth cent is dedicated to property tax reduction and the other three-eighths cent is dedicated to what is known as the 4B board or technically the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation.
This three-eighths cent raised approximately $6 million in the 2018 city fiscal year. The Chamber has a professional services agreement with the 4B board for recruiting and marketing services. In the current fiscal year that equals approximately $400,000 or 6.6% of 4B annual revenues.
Like hotel occupancy taxes, economic development sales tax revenues are controlled by state statue on what monies can be expended on. The Chamber has a contract with the 4B board that spells out in great detail what those expenditures can be for. City Council approves the agreement also. All 4B board members voluntarily are trained by state-approved courses and the Chamber President and the City Attorney are designated as the two individuals that have mandatory training every two years on proper uses of the funds.
In FY 2018-19, expenditures the Chamber are responsible for are in the areas of missions and local tours, tradeshows, marketing, strategic plan initiatives and personnel. The Chamber is reimbursed for 1.6 FTE’s for these services.
The Chamber by contract delivers monthly invoices to the city for reimbursement and also makes quarterly reports to the 4B board and semi-annual reports to the City Council. Monthly briefings are held via what is known as the Advisory Team (Mayor, City Manager, NBU CEO, County Judge, EDF Chairman and 4B President briefed by the Chamber President on activities the last 30 days in economic development).
The Chamber of Commerce contributes capital hardware-software and operations to the local effort for recruiting jobs and investment. The purpose of the Chamber is to promote progress and one key way to do this is via economic development.
The Chamber also has a professional services agreement with the Greater New Braunfels Economic Development Foundation, a local 501c3 not for profit organized approximately 14 years ago. This agreement is for approximately $200,000 and monies are expended for personnel costs of the local economic development effort (1.6 FTE’s) and marketing costs determined by the EDF board.
Comal County and the Chamber also have a professional services agreement for economic development services. This amounts to $12,000. Our duties are to represent the county as the initial point of contact for companies inquiring about locating an operation here and to submit required state reports annually on the Texas Enterprise Zone program. We brief Commissioners and the County Judge in closed session regarding major job-producing projects seeking assistance.
One of the four major goals of the Chamber is to be the voice of business. Advocating for our members has proven critical to not only our members, but to the overall health of the community over the years. There are many examples of how the Chamber’s involvement facilitated progress in the community, including road projects, new attractions, job creation, school and city bond issues, and quality of life amenities we enjoy today.
Anyone can be a member! We have diverse members including those in business, education, government or retired.
Joining is easy! You can fill out an application online or contact us for more information.
A Chamber membership opens the doors to endless advertising and sponsorship opportunities that will make your business more visible and successful. We provide many networking opportunities, business referrals, connections, leadership development opportunities and much more.
To find a specific company, you can search by name or industry category in our online directory which will include the company name, physical address, phone number and website. We do not give out email addresses of our members.
A full list of Chamber members are available to our members by contacting us. You may receive the file as a list, in an excel format or as mailing labels. For more information please give us a call.
Just by being a Chamber member you are already promoting your business to the community and other Chamber members by being included in our online directory and the Official Guide to New Braunfels.
If you're interested in some of the other opportunities listed below, please give us a call and we'll direct you to the appropriate member of our team to further assist.
Advertising: We offer various advertising opportunities including on our website, weekly newsletter, social media, and the annual Official Guide to New Braunfels.
Event sponsorships: We host several events we're always seeking sponsors for including the Business Showcase, the Texas Legislative Conference, the Chamber Banquet, new member receptions and orientations, seminars, and Board of Directors luncheons.
Business Showcase: Held each September, this is a great way to market your business directly to local residents, including other Chamber members. Your business sets up a booth to display your products and services to potential clients.
Contributions to us are not tax deductible as a charitable contribution. Dues may be deducted as a business expense.
We are not a government agency, and therefore have no authority to investigate how companies conduct business nor are we able to accept complaints. You can file a complaint against a business with the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Better Business Bureau.
We provide resources for small businesses through our partnerships with the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation and the City of New Braunfels. For information about starting or expanding your business in New Braunfels, please contact us.
If you have a question that is not answered above.