Background

Bend, Oregon is one of the fastest growing local economies in the US, Bend has lured small businesses and entrepreneurs that have flocked to the area to take advantage of the inviting high desert Cascade Mountains recreation, family-friendly and healthy environment with full online connectivity.  Covid was a game-changer that Bend was ready to embrace. The Bend Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with city and other local operations, had proactively been addressing the Bend area growing pains began in the early 2000’s.

Special PREP note:  Our company started in Bend back in 1984 and was an active participant and recipient of Bend Chamber of Commerce and associated services and outreach from the get-go.  We are proud to be part of this success story and share here a part of the Chamber’s success story, this one from 2013.

Their Challenge

When new Executive Director Tim Casey took the helm of the Bend Chamber of Commerce, the plan was to continue to deliver on their charter to provide education, training and development programs to some 1,500 members. That meant ongoing development councils, numer­ous networking and training events, and coordination with local and state government as an advocate for mem­bers and the local business environ­ment. All with a total staff of nine, to service a membership larger than their Portland counterpart.

Tim’s new team was burning the candle at both ends, wearing multiple hats, working long hours, and gener­ally doing what they had to, to get it done; regardless of their skills set or level of comfort with specific roles This started taking its toll on morale, quality and short term performance. Tim knew that, without a change, service levels would drop and good people would leave. He brought in a PREP consultant and PREP tools to get the team on track.

The Solution

Beginning with PREP’s Survey, an easy-to-take online sur­vey, every member of the team got a clear view into their—and the rest of the team’s—CORE Character traits and strengths. The certified PREP consultant pointed out the unique CORE Character makeup of the team and how individu­al profiles were best suited to team roles and responsibilities. In the individual coaching sessions, the PREP consul­tant used PREP’s change and stress measurements to reinforce strengths and address challenges for building a strong, high performance team.

Tim Casey said of PREP’s team development process: “PREP opened our eyes to the vari­ous personality types and how they fit together to create a high-performing team”, according to Casey.

The Results

“After PREP Team building Workshops, we came to­gether as a team, with a clearer under­standing of our strengths and how to le­verage them. The team worked together to rewrite job descriptions along profile lines, ensuring that individuals were assigned roles that fit their profiles.

“Morale has increased, we work much better as a team, we’re more productive and we collaborate better”, says Casey. “It has humanized us and given us a new respect for each other’s style and personalities. I feel that the PREP solu­tions have armed us much better to take on the additional challenges we face in this new economy, and we’re confident that we can continue to take on aggres­sive goals with the existing team.”