Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Spring 2017 - 26

Get to know Randy Peers
Hitting the Ground Running
Randy Peers has been on the run since
beginning in January as President and CEO of
the Greater Reading Chamber and Economic
Development Corp. (GRCEDC). We caught
up with him just long enough for a Q&A to
allow our readers to get to know him - that
is, if you haven't already met him yet! Here's
what he had to say about his new job - and
a few other subjects.
How will your past work experiences translate into your efforts in this new
position?
I have experience both with Chamber of
Commerce work and Economic Development.
As Vice President for Economic Development
at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, I
led efforts to promote and expand business
in various sectors throughout the borough,
including Manufacturing and Retail. I also
have deep knowledge of workforce development, and I believe it will be helpful for
my work here in Berks County, where many
employers are concerned about where the
future workforce will come from.
Also, I am adept at organizational development, something that will help me bring
together GRCCI, GBDF and GREP. I call
this the "challenge within the challenge."
Having now travelled Route 222 North
between Allentown and Reading, can you
offer any observations about its priority in
our organization with regard to the continued growth of Greater Reading business
opportunities?
Well, everything is relative. I can tell you
that the traffic isn't as bad as what I faced in
New York. This said, Berks County is a big
county and public transportation options
aren't the same as in NYC. Our roads and
infrastructure are key to getting people to work,
moving goods and convincing companies to
make Berks their home. And, the corridor
to Lehigh Valley and Allentown is obviously
one of the most important corridors for our
continued growth, especially as we look at
the economy from a regional perspective. So
it needs to be a priority, and I am ready to
focus many of our advocacy efforts around
transportation on this corridor.
Projecting past experiences into current
challenges and opportunities, how will you
integrate legislative advocacy work with
26 COMMERCE QUARTERLY SPRING 2017

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private industry expectations?
Chambers do three things essentially
- Promotion, Support and Advocacy. All
programs and services can fall into these
three buckets. Advocacy is an important
and essential service that members expect
- especially the larger businesses within a
Chamber. As with any good advocacy effort,
there is strength in numbers. So one thing
we need to do is to grow our membership.
Second, we need to realize that on many key
issues, there is always some common ground
that can be identified - in other words, an
"all or nothing" approach is not always the
most effective approach in the long run. I
am all about building off of "small wins" on
the road to positive change!
What is, or will be, the most challenging
part of integrating the talents, goals and
tasks of three business/economic development entities into one cohesive organization?
We have three amazing teams that are really
good at what they individually do. However,
we need to foster greater cooperation so that
we can leverage the strengths of each of the
teams. This starts by facilitating frequent
communication between each of the staffs.
Another important step is to articulate clear
goals for the new organization, and translate
those goals into specific action items for each
staff member. Once staff can connect their
daily work to the big picture, they will feel
much better about the direction the organization is taking. And, my role as President
and CEO is to set the tone and articulate
the vision.
Do you have any immediate ideas on
ways we can tackle the workforce development issues facing our community?
Well, one major theme that has emerged
during my many stakeholder meetings with
Berks businesses is that they are very concerned
about where their future workforce will come
from. And these concerns were not just coming
from manufacturing companies, but from
healthcare providers, financial services firms
and many others. So, supporting workforce
development efforts has to be a priority for
GRCEDC.
The good news is, we have very good assets
on the training side of the equation - strong
vocational-technical schools, RACC and the
Schmidt Center, and an active and engaged
Workforce Development Board, to name
a few. We also know that Reading has the

highest concentration of unemployment in
the county. So a next step is to make the connection, and part of that involves marketing
careers in such industries as manufacturing
and healthcare. To do this effectively, we need
to fund a position at GRCEDC that focuses
full-time on workforce and education issues.
Secondly, as the representative of the
business community, we need to push for
better coordination of efforts between the
many training and education entities focusing on this issue. And lastly, through our
advocacy work, we need to bring the business
perspective on workforce development to all
of our policy makers and elected officials at
each level of government.
In an effort to help you better acclimate
to the Greater Reading community, what
would be the single most important question
that you would ask business and community
leaders?
I have asked that question to nearly
everyone I've already met. It's "What makes
this place special?" After I ask, I let them
decide how they define "place." They can tell
me about Berks County, Reading, or their
business, whatever. Synthesizing the answer
to this one question helps me to create a more
"positive" narrative about Berks and Reading
as a community.
Have you ever had to "break a rule" to
reach a company goal?
My favorite book on leadership is First
Break all the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham
and Curt Coffman. It's an unconventional
approach to leading people that focuses on
managing people's strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses and trying to "correct"
those weaknesses. I really believe in this concept, and I look to build successful teams by
hiring people whose strengths complement
one another. With respect to other company
rules I may have broken over the years . . .
well, you will need to wait for my memoirs.
What is one philosophy you have continued to draw upon in your leadership roles?
Hire smart and let the people you hire
do their thing!
Imagine that a small business owner
approaches you about the benefits of being a
part of the combined organization - Greater
Reading Chamber & Economic Development
Corporation. In your own words, how do
you respond?
GRCEDC is about developing new and

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Spring 2017