CEO of Menomonie chamber selected for U.S. Chamber Fellowship

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

April 28, 2025

MENOMONIE – In a first for the area, the CEO of the Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce  & Visitor Center has been selected for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Fellowship. 

Ashley DeMuth is one of 35 economic leaders selected from a nationwide pool to participate in the next cohort of the prestigious Business Leads Fellowship Program.

Hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Business Leads Fellowship Program (according to its website uschamberfoundation.org) is designed to develop business leaders to be education and workforce champions in their community and connect learners to economic opportunity.

It also aims to equip chambers of commerce, economic development agencies and statewide trade associations with the resources necessary to implement change in the education and workforce pipeline.

The program consists of both virtual and in-person workshops focused on topics including early education, K-12, college and career readiness, post-secondary education and workforce development.

Each workshop, according to the foundation, is taught by leaders who have put policies into practice to bring opportunity to their communities.

“I am honored to be selected,” DeMuth said. “Workforce development is a key priority for the Menomonie Area Chamber & Visitor Center, and this program will provide valuable insights, best practices and connections to help strengthen our efforts.”

Small, but mighty

DeMuth said there have been only five other leaders from chambers in Wisconsin who have participated in the fellowship program – most of them from larger communities. 

“(By my being selected), it’s really helping put rural chambers on the map and help others understand that smaller chambers can still make a big impact,” she said.

The application and selection process, DeMuth – who applied for the program one time before – said, is very competitive.

“They ask what your background is, what your interests are, etc.,” she said. “They’re looking for people who plan on staying with their chamber for a while – that way, they have a return on the investment based on community impact. It’s an investment in us because they do take care of all of the expenses… (The chamber) doesn’t pay for anything. So, it makes it very achievable for small chambers such as ours to participate.” 

DeMuth said “word on the street” is that more than 400 leaders applied for the foundation’s 11th cohort.

“And they accepted 35,” she said. “So, I essentially have 34 colleagues who will become fellows alongside me.”

Primary focus

DeMuth said her cohort will primarily focus on early education, K12, college and career readiness, post-secondary education and workforce development.

“We’ll be talking about all aspects of what that looks like,” she said. “So, from early education all the way to being in the workforce.”

DeMuth said the thesis topic she has chosen is childcare deserts – a very real struggle in today’s workplace.

“In Dunn County, we have a robust manufacturing industry, however, our childcare capacity and availability do not match the needs (of the) second and third shift workforces,” she said. “The challenge is that those people can not find daycare because there are no licensed daycares or facilities. There may be some home daycares here and there, but we are experiencing a childcare desert of opportunity for child care offered after 6 p.m. and before 6 a.m. We have people working in very large quantities here in Dunn County during those hours, however, there’s no childcare availability.” 

Oftentimes, when people are hired by manufacturing facilities for second and third shifts, DeMuth said they’re offered a competitive advantage for a shift differential for working overnights.

“So, it makes sense for them to work (during those hours) because they can make more money doing so; however, now they’re battling with the fact that if they have ‘littles’ at home, they have no place for them to go,” she said.

DeMuth said she isn’t providing a solution in her thesis, “but talking about how child care sets families up and workplaces up to be able to succeed.”

“Child care, absolutely, is a workforce issue, because if they don’t have accessible and affordable child care, people cannot go into the workforce or cannot remain in the workforce in the full capacity that the workforce needs them to,” she said.

DeMuth said the fellowship will include a lot of information sharing, including what’s working in other communities when it comes to childcare deserts.

“That will help us put together a framework of what could work in our community, or best practices for other communities to help generate ideas so we can then identify a solution of what may work for our community,” she said. “We are not going to open up a childcare facility, but what we can do is help promote private-public partnerships – connect the private industry and business community to individuals who perhaps are interested in opening a childcare facility.” 

According to the foundation, cohort members will also be assisted in understanding the barriers to issues, the history and other problems – with all topics followed by a robust, open discussion.
“They provide us with some of the framework,” she said. “They (will) help us better understand what the spectrum of (topics) looks like so we can be more educated, so we can have a seat at the table and effectively convene people in a data-driven way.”

DeMuth said she is most excited about gaining an understanding of what a chamber’s role could and should be related to childcare deserts. 

“We’re not in the business of starting a school or a childcare center, but the value of this is in how we can provide support and resources to others,” she said. 

Fellowship details

At a minimum, according to the foundation’s website, participation in the program requires a time commitment of 10-12 hours per month between homework and meetings.

There are two required virtual cohort meetings a month, as well as a larger cohort conference in October, which is when participants will graduate as official fellows of the U.S. Chamber. 

“So, for the remainder of my time here on Earth, I will be an official fellow of the U.S. Chamber (Foundation),” she said. “I can then enroll in any of (the foundation’s other trainings) for the rest of my life, for free, through the U.S. Chamber.”

Each of the U.S. Chamber’s in-person meetings, DeMuth said, has a very specific topic.

“For example, one of the more recent ones they held was about school board engagement in the community and how to participate on a school board, what the school board is responsible for, understanding school regulations and policies and so forth,” she said. “So, (being an official fellow) can (lead to) lifelong training, which would be wildly beneficial to our chamber here in Dunn County, to our community and most importantly, to our investors or members.”

How chambers have changed 

Once upon a time, DeMuth said chambers of commerce were considered more social than anything else.

But that image and a chambers’ mission, she said, have changed and evolved over time.

“Chambers have gotten away from being the pageants, parades and pancake feeds – or what we call the three Ps – and are now a catalyst, a champion and a convener – otherwise known as the three Cs,” she said. “That is something that has been new to our chamber.”

Since 2020, DeMuth said the Menomonie chamber has worked “very diligently to be the three Cs.”

“We took that leap by listening to our membership and what it was they wanted and needed from us,” she said.

DeMuth said the Menomonie chamber is a membership organization and has to make sure it’s giving those members deliverables that matter to them. 

“Sometimes, that’s not instantly gratifying – these things take time and magic doesn’t happen overnight when you’re working on community impact issues,” she said. “But we need to have a seat at the table, because essentially we are the connection to and the collective voice of the business community throughout Dunn County.”

DeMuth said they also work very closely with the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls chambers, and she plans to share the insight she gains through the fellowship with their chamber partners.

“We can really start looking at how to address these issues from a regional aspect, because we know that when we work together, our power is stronger and within that alliance, we bring all of our membership together and we can make big things happen,” she said.

DeMuth said she fully recognizes that she cannot do that by herself, noting that the chamber needs to have the buy-in from its regional partners, its membership and the community-at-large. 

“Those are all our prospective members as well,” she said. “I’m really hoping that (by being a fellow) I will have a regional impact, not just in Menomonie and Dunn County.”

DeMuth said she knows how easy it is to fall into a pattern of doing things one way just because it’s always been that way.

“We are trying to break that cycle in our chamber,” she said. “It has not been easy, but it has been worth it. So, I’m hoping that people and businesses will continue to be willing to take calculated risks.”

DeMuth said she also wants people to understand that the chamber is more than just the Business After Hours or the other social events it holds. 

“There’s so much more that happens behind the scenes on how we support the business community and the community as a whole,” she said. “So if people are hesitant to join the chamber, they’re not necessarily understanding what the chamber is and does. They should ask questions if they’re in doubt as to what the chamber is, what it stands for, how they can get involved, etc.  We create so many meaningful opportunities for folks to get engaged. And we want them to understand the larger impact the chamber makes.”