By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
June 3, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — There are only a few birthdays really worth celebrating.

And when someone turns 21-years-old, its cause for celebration.

So instead of celebrating 20 years, the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce decided to wait a year and go all out for its 21st birthday.

On Thursday, June 11, the chamber is hosting the 21st Birthday Celebration of the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, at the Villa Guadalupe, 5123 Truman Road. During the event, the chamber will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Carl DiCapo, Honorary Chairman of the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. The night, which runs from 5:30 – 9 p.m., will also include, “an exquisite dinner with an International flair,” live entertainment, an auction, presentation of the chamber’s history and recognition of founding leaders and board members.

The proceeds from this birthday celebration will be designated for the design and creation of a commemorative work of art that celebrates and honors the heritage of the Historic Northeast neighborhoods. Bobbi Baker-Hughes, CEO of the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, said the goal is to create works of art for a proposed pocket park-like area at the intersection of Independence and Hardesty Avenues. The area will be used to celebrate the Northeast’s past while also looking forward to its future with a heritage tree.

“It’ll be a celebration of a new era,” Baker-Hughes said of the party and the proposed art.

The History of the Chamber

Having been with the chamber since 1995, Baker-Hughes has spent the last 20 years helping the chamber grow. Initially, she joined the chamber after moving to the Northeast, as a way to network more within the community. Soon after, the chamber started the Fall Festival, which, for 12 years, was held at the Concourse. The community event included a carnival, but was an opportunity for the chamber to introduce Northeast residents to businesses.

Then around 2000, Baker-Hughes said the chamber created its first strategic plan, which focused on improving the quality of life issues in the Northeast.

“The chamber was involved and worked with police early on because we were always aware of criminal element and the quality of life issues,” Baker-Hughes said.

Next, she said, the chamber worked on building bridges with Hispanic business owners. Spanish classes were commissioned and since 2002, the chamber has been working closely with the Mexican and Latino community.

“The Latino population began to explode and it was important for the chamber to reach out because more businesses were being run by them,” Baker-Hughes said.

By 2004, the chamber started fighting for more Avenue improvements and became more involved in community matters by holding candidate forums and town hall meetings with the mayor. In 2011, the chamber was selected for a pilot program by the city, the Community Improvement District [CID], which Baker-Hughes calls a, “game changer.” The purpose of the CID is to provide enhanced and reliable improvements, security, services and activities, such as general maintenance of public areas, continued efforts to address area beautification related issues, as well as other concerns within the Independence Avenue corridor not already receiving such services.

“The chamber administers the CID and it is the single most game changer at that point the Avenue had seen in a very long time,” Baker-Hughes said. “I think the game is changing on the Avenue and proud to say the chamber had a signature role in playing that.”

These days, along with administering the CID, the chamber also hosts fundraisers — Beans, Beads and Beers — the International Taste and Tour which showcases Northeast international eateries and business and leadership classes. Today, the CEO likes to think of the chamber as more of a community based organization than something which focuses entirely on area businesses.

“When it first started, [the chamber] was a group of business men who wanted to make things click and better the Northeast and the Avenue,” Baker-Hughes said. “The chamber was something most businesses were not familiar with, at all. We were, and still are, building an awareness other than what the perception people have of the Northeast. Its come a long way. Today, we’re much more focused on business but that’s only because the community now knows there’s a chamber.”

More information can be found at www.nekcchamber.com/event/nekcc-21st-birthday-celebration/.