New chamber to focus on private enterprise

Roger Koopman has a portrait of Patrick Henry hanging on the office wall above his desk.

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL Chronicle Staff Writer

He admires the founding father, he said, for his boldness, his clear vision and his willingness to stand for his beliefs.

It’s those principles that have led Koopman to create the new Chamber of Private Enterprise, a statewide business organization with headquarters in Bozeman.

"That’s what I envision the Chamber of Private Enterprise being: an organization of serious-minded business people who want to make a difference," he said.

Since Koopman announced his idea recently at a conference in Missoula, he said 11 chapters have started to form around the state.

One of the Bozeman participants is Mike Hetherington, owner of Word Works, a consulting business that does customer-service training. Hetherington is a member of the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce, but is interested in Koopman’s group for different reasons.

"I think the Chamber of Private Enterprise has more of a focus on political involvement and it’s a little edgier," Hetherington said. "Defending free markets is one of the many things that the Chamber of Commerce does. It’s the primary mission of the Chamber of Private Enterprise."

Koopman said his goal is not to compete with the Chamber of Commerce, but to offer different services to businesses.

Members of the Chamber of Private Enterprise will be asked to sign a pledge refusing to accept governmental "subsidies, favors or other unearned financial support."

When any organization or business accepts government support, Koopman said, it is then difficult for that group to take a stand on political issues. For example, he said the Chamber of Commerce was not able to take a public position on the city of Bozeman’s decision to buy the historic Story Mansion because of ties to city government.

David Smith, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, agreed that his organization is broad based.

"If you look at the makeup of 920 businesses, you are not going to find anything that is going to be unanimous, or even very very clear, on some issues," Smith said. "That’s just the nature of any chamber of commerce, we are going to be broad based and we have to by law accept any business that wants to join."

Koopman said the Chamber of Private Enterprise will not compete with the Chamber of Commerce and has no desire to become so large. Members will know what they are signing on for in the beginning and are allowed to participate in both groups.

"It is my hope that the Chamber of Private Enterprise will become an organization that is highly respected to speak out on economic issues and key questions of what government on the local level should and should not be doing," Koopman said. "I also hope that we are feared by those who would threaten our freedom."

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/08/11/news/chamberbzbigs.txt