The Catawba County Chamber Foundation
The Catawba County Chamber Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in January 2023, is dedicated to enhancing our region’s economic prosperity and quality of life through strategic partnerships, education, and engagement. While operating as a separate entity, it is closely aligned with The Chamber of Catawba County to collaboratively address critical community needs.
Our Mission
Since its inception, the Foundation has been committed to a strategic visioning process aimed at bringing together a diverse cross-sector collaboration of business, local government, non-profit organizations, and other leading institutions. The goal is to develop consensus-built strategies to tackle the key challenges impacting Catawba County’s economic competitiveness.
Key Projects
Workforce Scan & Competitive Analysis
In November 2023, the Foundation commissioned a comprehensive Workforce Scan to evaluate the county’s workforce development and talent retention strategies. This project began with a virtual focus group of local stakeholders, identifying workforce strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The insights gained informed a detailed Talent Profile, which analyzed workforce composition, demographics, educational attainment, and migration trends, comparing Catawba County’s performance against state and national benchmarks and similar counties.
Talent Priorities Identification
In the spring of 2024, we partnered with Broad Ripple Strategies to identify the business community’s priorities for talent attraction, retention, and development. Building on the Workforce Scan, this project collected follow-up quantitative research and qualitative insights from interviews and focus groups with over 100 private sector leaders. This initiative is a preparatory step to align The Chamber of Catawba County and its strategic partners for future planning efforts, complementing existing initiatives from organizations such as the Catawba County EDC, the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, and the United Arts Council.
HKY4Vets
Since its inception in 2016, HKY4Vets (Hickory4Vets) aims to make Catawba County one of the most veteran-ready communities in the country. We serve as the preferred conduit between transitioning active duty service members, veterans and their family members and the Catawba County business community, serving as a key resource for employment assistance, professional networking, and employer education. For more information, click here.
Get Involved
Governance and Support
The Catawba County Chamber Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors composed of business and community leaders. Our work is funded by contributions from individuals, businesses, private and corporate foundations, and grants.
If you are interested in providing a charitable tax-deductible contribution or learning more about our work, please contact Lindsay Keisler, President & CEO here.
