Greater Hyannis Chamber Presents Annual Report, Looks Ahead to Next Year

Todd Deluca

HYANNIS – The Greater Hyannis Chamber of Commerce recapped the previous year at its annual meeting last week.

The chamber presented its annual report, elected board members and presented community awards at the Cape Codder in Hyannis on Thursday.

Chamber CEO Todd Deluca says he learned a lot about the community and the chamber’s members during his first year leading the organization and is happy with a significant change made to the dues structure.

The chamber used to charge members by their industry, which included higher costs for financial or hospitality businesses.

“Now we have a flat fee for everyone and members can choose to upgrade their membership to get different benefits,” Deluca said. “So it is really up to the member how they’d like to engage the chamber and that can change from year to year and we think that is a better offer for our members.”

The organization also launched Chamber Circles. The initiative brings together member businesses with similar interests to discuss their industry.

“They discuss challenges and opportunities that are coming up and get some leading minds of the areas together to help their industry grow and maintain stability,” Deluca said.

Deluca said the new visitor’s center on the Hyannis Village Green has also been a success.

“As of last week, I think we had about 6,000 visitors go through since January 3,” Deluca said. “That’s 6,000 people who were looking for information about how to enjoy our town and where to spend money.”

Deluca said the chamber’s largest event, the annual Father’s Day Car Show was also a success.

“It’s a huge event that brings in millions of dollars into Barnstable and Hyannis,” he said. “We were pleased with the way that event went. It’s very weather dependent and we had beautiful weather this year so we were happy about that.”

Looking to next year, the chamber will help launch a Bluetooth beacon system for the entire town with hotspots for visitors.

Visitors will be fed information to their cellphones when they pass certain attractions or restaurants.

“It’s a way for our businesses to talk with visitors immediately,” Deluca said.

Over the next year, the chamber hopes to bring more visitors around the Cape to Hyannis. The chamber will work to brand Hyannis with a central theme, along with the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and the town.