ACCE Horizon 2.0 Shares Trends For The Next Decade
This summer’s Elevate ACCE 2024 Conference was, as always, an inspirational endeavour. Many practical topics were covered by presenters at seminars, network meetings and plenary sessions. The exhibit hall was also filled with suppliers of technology and services eager to help chamber leaders find new ways to fulfil the ever-growing expectations on them.
I always look forward to future-thinking at these professional development events. One interactive session encouraged attendees to choose 4 of 10 trends that we thought would be the dominant trends or forces having the most impact on our chamber in the next decade. The exercise is part of Horizon 2.0, a refresh of the seminal 2015 Horizons report, updated in 2019, which identified 9 influences that would shape chambers by 2025.
Looking ahead to 2035, here are 10 Trends or Forces identified by an ACCE Board task force, which has been working on Horizons 2.0 for about a year. A Horizon 2.0 report is due later this year. Of the ten trends, what four resonate most with you?
What will be the most dominant trends for the next decade?
Are there trends for which we aren’t yet aware?
Digital Transformation
Chambers should embrace technology to increase trust, connection and adaptability. Forward-thinking chambers can embrace artificial intelligence, data analytics and automation to increase efficiencies and innovate their products and services. Digital engagement strategies will be crucial to maintain connections and trust with younger generations.
Demographic Shifts
Population shifts, increasing diversity and generational changes require innovative engagement strategies. Economic disparities and evolving homeownership landscapes demand equitable growth advocacy. Workforce readiness highlights the need for alignment between educations and industry. Immigration policies and younger generations’ entrepreneurial inclinations call for supportive measures to foster a startup-friendly environment.
Political and Social Polarization
Increasing political and social divisiveness necessitates new approaches. Navigating politicized issues while maintaining mission clarity underscores the importance of impartiality and cohesive strategies in policy engagement. Chamber leaders must adapt by strengthening their facilitation sills, fostering inclusive dialogue and promoting collaborative solutions to benefit the broader community.
Upskilling at the Speed of Business
Generational shifts and evolving workforce expectations necessitate adaptive education and training. Emphasizing critical thinking and aligning skills development with industry needs are essential. Chambers must address changing employee landscapes and advocate for policies that enhance workforce readiness, ensuring a resilient and capable labour force in a dynamic job market.
Changing Expectations of Chambers
The chamber’s expanding involvement in social issues and regional development requires a shift from traditional roles to community-focused initiatives. Increased civic engagement and placemaking efforts underscore adaptive strategies to meet evolving member and community expectations. This includes addressing broader societal issues and contributing to regional prosperity while maintain core business support functions.
Diverse & Inclusive Economic Growth
Facilitating economic stability and growth trough diversity and inclusivity is vital. B supporting diverse leadership, engaging younger generations and championing minority-owned businesses, chambers ensure their efforts benefit the entire community, reflecting the diversity of the business landscape and fostering an inclusive economic environment.
Business Model Disruption
Building resilient and diversified funding streams to support your chamber’s work is key to long-term success. Chambers need to reassess their value proposition and identify ways to align and engage stakeholders around meaningful priorities that will attract funding. New revenue generation strategies and proactive financial management are critical for sustaining financial health and effectiveness in a changing landscape.
Chambers as Unifiers
The power of chambers as conveners has never been more crucial. Capitalizing on the collective eagerness for reconnection, leveraging strong volunteer networks, and collaborating across public and private sectors underscore the collective strength and impact chambers can achieve. Engaging in advocacy and fostering dialogue across divides are crucial for building consensus. Chambers must lead efforts to bridge political fragmentation, promoting policies that benefit the broader community and reinforcing trust in business leadership.
Balancing Technological Innovation & Responsibility
As technology advancements outpace legal and regulatory structures to ensure responsible and ethical use and protect from unintended consequences, there is a role for chambers to serve as trusted leaders. Challenges related to artificial intelligence, deep fakes, algorithmic bias, disinformation and privacy will only increase. Chambers must focus on ethical leadership to build trust to meet the evolving needs of their members and remain relevant inn a digitally transforming landscape.
Leadership Churn
As experienced chamber CEOs and volunteer leaders from member companies retire, the chamber industry must adapt to leadership and generational changes. Understanding what motivates and engages emerging community leaders is vital. Ensuring leadership continuity and focusing on inclusive growth strengthens community resilience. Chambers play a pivotal role in nurturing future leaders and fostering long-term prosperity through strategic community development initiatives.
How did you do? Can you pick just 4? Did some overlap? Is there a trend or force you think should be included that’s not there? What’s great about our chamber worldwide network is that we can learn from each other’s choices, thoughts and perspectives through organizations such as ACCE, CCEC, WCF and many provincial and state organizations.
If you aren’t already an ACCE member, I encourage you to explore this association. The ACCE website is chock full of practical resources. And be sure to budget for the next annual conference slate for Philadelphia, July 22-25, 2025.
