La Habra — Andrew Gregson, president and CEO of the North Orange County Chamber of Commerce, asked the La Habra City Council on Oct. 6 to direct staff to explore a partnership that would provide membership benefits at no cost to every small licensed business in the city.

Gregson described the program as a city–chamber partnership that would give small businesses a verified online presence in the chamber’s eDirectory, a custom landing page to boost visibility, access to a member portal for posting ads and job openings, and exposure across the chamber’s regional marketing channels. "I'm here this evening to share a unique opportunity for La Habra's small business community," Gregson said in public comment, noting regional web traffic and newsletter reach the chamber can bring to local firms.

Multiple local business leaders spoke in support. John (Johnny) Hong, who runs a retirement-planning firm, said the chamber had helped his small business obtain marketing support and visibility; Lauren Sweeney described using chamber workshops and data to measure return on investment; Janeth Manjarrez and Carla Vargas also described benefits the chamber provided to employers and workforce programs.

Councilmembers reacted positively to the proposal. Councilmember Nazarian told the council he was "very impressed by the idea presented by Andrew Gregson" and moved to agendize a staff report on possibilities and options for partnering with the North Orange County Chamber. The motion was seconded and the council agreed to direct staff to return with a report exploring the option.

What was proposed: Gregson asked that the city consider a program to provide membership benefits to small licensed businesses (his remarks cited businesses with 10 or fewer employees), including a verified online listing, a custom landing page, access to chamber promotion and referral channels, quarterly reports to the city, and a 12‑month review to measure outcomes. Gregson told the council that across La Habra’s three ZIP codes there are 1,912 small businesses and that, according to his cited data, about 48% lack a website.

Why it matters: Council direction to study a formal partnership would start a staff analysis of costs, expected benefits for small businesses, performance metrics and potential contract or grant mechanisms. Councilmember Nazarian said a chamber partnership could be "a force multiplier" for visibility beyond La Habra by linking the city to neighboring jurisdictions the chamber serves.

Next steps: Staff will prepare a report on options and implementation details covering costs, scope, and performance metrics for a potential city–chamber partnership.