News Analysis: Chamber Crisis Result of Missed Opportunities

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce officially accepted the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Pam Christopher in a meeting closed to the public and the media Monday.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the 10 years I had the pleasure of working at the Anderson Chamber and the successes my team and board of directors have shared with me over the years,” said Christopher, who served in the position since 2014.

“I remain passionate for the Anderson Chamber, our business community, and our people and I wish the Anderson Chamber and team success in the future,” said Christopher. “I am looking forward to the future in continuing to work with the South Carolina Department of Transportation (she is the first woman to serve as chair in the position for the Third Congressional District), our legislators, and our amazing county and leaders that I love. I’m looking forward to what God has in store for me.”

In an email to Chamber members on Tuesday, a board member representative wrote:

“In May, the Executive Committee received information suggesting that the Chamber’s nonprofit status may have been revoked because certain required filings had not been submitted to the IRS. Based on this information, the Executive Committee gathered information from Chamber Chief Executive Officer Pamela Christopher about this issue and made an initial report to the full Board of Directors.

In August, the Board began the process of undertaking an audit. In the last few weeks, the Chamber has worked with our attorneys to engage experienced non-profit sector auditors to fully understand the situation and to prioritize the reinstatement of the Chamber’s nonprofit status.

The audit – which will review all relevant activities over at least the last 18 months - begins this week. Our goal is to have the audit done in a timely but thorough fashion…None of these developments affect any member and all services and benefits to members continue in full…Should you have any member-related questions, please call Brandie Greer at the Chamber office at 864-226-3454.”

Board Member Josh Raffini, the board’s appointed spokesperson and attorney for Pruitt & Pruitt, said records in question go back to 2019.

“We are currently looking back at records from several years to look at what was missed and how it was missed,” said Raffini. “We’re still investigating, still looking at what occurred.”

Raffini said the loss of the organization’s tax-exempt status is being resolved and that an accounting firm with experience working on such tax issues has been hired by the chamber to help navigate and sort out the records.

The Observer was asked to leave the Tuesday meeting where the decisions were made on asking for Christopher’s resignation and what exactly is being done moving ahead to instill trust in Chamber members concerning the situation, both now and looking ahead.

A search has already begun for a new leader, but no decision has been made on whether there might be an interim director during the process.

A source who asked not to be identified said there were some discussions on finding ways to assure the board is not faced with the same problem again in the future, but no on-the-record chamber representative has offered what steps are or might be taken and when.

A survey of seven large non-profits in the area offer some guidance. Every other non-profit has active finance committees which monitor budgets, tax forms and non-profit status information. Some do it monthly, others quarterly, and the rest annually. All other local non-profits contacted also had annual audits to insure nothing was missed by their committees.

“I don’t understand how this could have happened,” the leader of one large local non-profit. “The board has to take some responsibility for this along with the CEO. A finance committee should have been in place just to make sure no mistakes were made or that there were oversights by the director.”

“Chamber members placing all the financial and operations on a single person was not a good idea.”

The Chamber did not form a finance committee until this summer, after it became aware there was a problem with the handling of tax-status forms. That committee’s exact role is unclear, but perhaps they will seek the advice of other groups who routinely monitor funds and forms going forward.

Other questions have also arisen as a result of the recent news from the chamber. Some questioned how the organization was able to obtain a bank loan to purchase their new building last year on North Main Street if their finances were not in order.

One bank manager said non-profits can be subject to different criteria in such loans.

Others have questioned how active board members have been in the organization’s work, including why the board chairman is a resident of Simpsonville.

The fact that the Chamber’s CPA, while not culpable, raised no red flags raised with the board members for such a long time if the tax-exempt status was put in jeopardy is odd.

The irony is that the community’s oldest commercial non-profit, one which has a rich history in the business affairs of Anderson reaching back 121 years, failed to follow the path of other non-profits with a system in place monitoring at least some of their critical financial records.

Remember this is the group which is responsible for the establishment of Anderson College and the Anderson County Fair. Their leadership and contributions to the city and later county at large, have been legion.

For more than a century it has been a hub of business and civic activity (the Anderson Mayor and a representative of Anderson County were required to be on the board for most of the organization’s history). The board was made of experienced business leaders in the community.

In a newspaper article from 1904, the goal of the Chamber was stated as: “The Chamber of Commerce was organized a year ago as a result of a well-recognized necessity for some kind of central organization, representing all the interests of the city, which would work for the promotion of Anderson. The membership is composed of men of every avocation in the city, and our efforts have been directed toward building up the city as a whole rather than any special or individual interest.”

There are still many talented and experienced local men and women on the Chamber board today. Let’s hope the mistakes that led to the current crisis will find solutions, and that the Chamber will commit to a spirit of more open communication with the community both about how they plan to resolve the current situation, and with greater transparency in all areas as they serve Anderson County and its citizens.