MetroWest495 Biz

22 MetroWest495 Biz | October 2015 WHAT IT TAKES Paul Joseph President and CEO, MetroWest Chamber of Commerce An insider's view of how to build and sustain a business. '(This job) just felt very natural as a step for me.' I n August, the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce welcomed Natick resident and business consulting entrepreneur Paul Joseph as presi- dent and CEO. Joseph, who holds an MBA from Babson College and is an adjunct faculty member at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was formerly a member of the Natick Board of Selectmen and chairman of the Natick Economic Development Committee. A 46-year-old father of two, Joseph said he loved being in business for himself, but leading the Framingham-based MetroWest Chamber was an opportunity to bring those two aspects of his life together. How did you get into the business consulting field? I've always loved technology. I started as an undergraduate thinking I wanted to be an engineer, but I really gravitated toward the business side of it. It was really the dawn of the dot-com era. For me, what was interesting was the business that was be- ing built around that technology. You ran a business consulting and training firm, Contexed, prior to joining the chamber. Did you enjoy working for yourself? I loved it. The truth is, it's sort of mothballed at this point because this is a full- time job. I think Peter Simon, founder of my first employer, Simon Management Group, showed me at an early age how to have a work-life balance that was true. He created a firm where he could go home and be with his family at night. That was im- portant, because two weeks after I graduated from Babson, I got married. The truth is, I did work out of my home an awful lot. I have a 15-year-old son and a 13-year- old daughter. We're a classic suburban family; the ability to have that flexibility, some presence at home, has been really important. Why did you decide to pursue this job? It just felt very natural as a step for me. I was a selectman in Natick from 2010 to 2013, and I was on the Economic Development Committee before resigning in August. So I joined the chamber as a member. I was truly looking at it as a tool for business development. I always looked at the Metrowest Chamber's strength as be- ing all-encompassing. It had large members and small members as well. How do you rate the quality of the relationship between local govern- ment and the business sector in the MetroWest Chamber's coverage area? It's in-between. I think you have varying degrees of awareness of the role business can and should play in the community. I look, for example, at what Framingham is doing right now. They're going to town meeting this fall with a major proposal to change downtown zoning. They have a town manager and professional staff who are working collaboratively with local businesses. What is the chamber's role? After the recession, I think towns are understanding that they need to be more proactive in engaging business and less reactive to these opportunities. I think func- tionally, a role that I can play (is that of ambassador) between the municipalities and the companies that are in them. We want to advocate for businesses in the region, which can sustain economic growth. Businesses need somebody that can speak on their behalf when a complex legislative matter comes up. I'd say we're really here to help businesses grow, and we're here to advocate for the businesses, for their needs within the communities they're in. Do you think chambers are widely appealing to people in business today? As a person who was self-employed and highly focused on tech in a very nar- row sector, I was always questioning the value of the chamber … Is it an outdated model? There is clearly a high value associated with this chamber. I see the network- ing that goes on, the businesses that have formed and the connections the chamber makes. It brings that physical relationship back into a world that feels like it's becoming more and more virtual. What, if anything, would you like to change? I'm a month on the job, but I would say this: I most certainly expect that we will be evolving. Our website is functionally great. As a marketer, I think about taking that next step. I want to make sure our message and the tools we make available to our members is seamless. We live in a one-click society, so I want to make sure we have a one-click approach to sharing information. I'm very impressed to see how well the relationships (with the business community) have been maintained. n This interview was conducted and edited for length by Emily Micucci. P H O T O / E D D C O T E

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