Incoming Chamber of Commerce President Ricky Bromberg looks to a brighter 2021

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce was able to adapt, said Tonya Jones, the organization’s outgoing president and owner of Tonya Jones SalonSpa in English Village.

“What this has taught us is how to pivot and really come up with some creative ways to generate some money for our city,” Jones told the Mountain Brook City Council in October.

“We’ve gotten to make new relationships and see our city sort of come together,” she said.

Ricky Bromberg — president of Bromberg’s jewelers in Mountain Brook Village and the incoming president of the chamber — praised the leadership that his predecessor showed during a tough time.

“Tonya Jones never missed a beat,” he said.

“The chamber did a great job the past year, especially given the circumstance that life has dealt,” Bromberg said.

Bromberg will now take his turn in leading the chamber into a new year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

“It’s such an uncertain time, as we know,” Bromberg said. “The good news is that it appears the COVID-19 will be in the rearview mirror sometime in 2021.”

He also has a clear mission as chamber president. “Our number one goal is getting on track fully to what is our regular normal,” Bromberg said.

During 2020, the chamber was forced to cancel or reschedule some events, and 2021 is starting off the same way.

The organization’s annual luncheon, typically held in January, will be pushed back and held sometime in the spring, said Evans Johnson, the chamber project manager.

“We hope that the Village Run will be some-thing we can do,” Bromberg said, referring to an event typically held in the spring that was cancelled in 2020 and remains uncertain for this year.

“Getting back on track is my number one priority,” he said.

Johnson said that the chamber is also excited about the activities of its Junior Board, which is entering its second year.

Bromberg — who served as the chamber’s executive vice president in 2020 — will be serving as president for the first time beginning in January 2021.

However, he has served on the chamber board for many years, Johnson said.

He will also be a good fit as president, she said.

“He cares deeply about this community and the merchants that thrive here,” she said. “You can tell from his past work and participation with the board that he is going to do everything he can to support the chamber.”

In his new position with the chamber, Bromberg draws on his family’s rich retail legacy in Birmingham and Mountain Brook.

In 2019, Bromberg’s jewelry store celebrated the 60th anniversary of its Mountain Brook location.

Bromberg’s expanded from downtown to Mountain Brook in 1959, making it one of the first Birmingham retailers to open a branch over the mountain.

The first location of Bromberg’s was opened in Mobile in 1836 — one year before another famous jeweler, Tiffany & Co., was founded. That makes Bromberg’s the oldest family-owned retailer in the United States.

Bromberg worked at the store during summer and Christmas breaks while growing up and went to work there full-time in 1983, a year after he earned his marketing degree at The University of Alabama.

Ricky Bromberg said he does his best to carry on his family’s legacy.

“You think about it, and you don’t want to be the one that blows it,” he told Village Living in February 2020.

“You want to build on what your forbearers have already done,” he said.

He is also looking forward to being chamber president, especially after his long involvement with the organization.

“I have always loved being on the board,” Bromberg said. “I have really enjoyed that group. Of almost all the things I do, it’s near the top or it is the top. It is meaningful to me because this is where I live and this is where I work. It has more personal impact for me.”

Bromberg also appreciates the importance of a strong Chamber of Commerce for local enterprise.

“The chamber is an advocate for the businesses in the city,” he said. “At the same time, it is helping create an environment that is attractive for additional businesses to want to come to the city.”

The Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce “has excelled in having a close relationship with all the departments of the city of Mountain Brook” and is “truly a liaison between the business community and the city itself,” Bromberg said.

Under Jones, the chamber filled that role in 2020 despite COVID-19, Bromberg said.

The chamber continued to hold its monthly meetings, “so everyone was plugged into” information about the pandemic, he said.

The organization was also effective in “helping people find resources back in the spring when the world got off its axis,” Bromberg said.

He also noted that the chamber helped start the Mountain Brook Merchant Relief fund to help some of the local merchants that have struggled.

“Tonya is a natural born leader,” Johnson said. “She led the chamber board through a difficult time and has been strategic about guiding the board through these uncharted waters. She has been very flexible and creative on how to help guide the board and Mountain Brook businesses.”

Jones also praised Suzan Doidge, Chamber executive director, during her October update for the council. Doidge led the chamber “through this whole pandemic so bravely and just amazingly,” Jones said.

Bromberg agrees.

“I am the president of the Suzan Doidge fan club,” he said. “She has just got unbridled enthusiasm for the city, and she is just genuine, and it’s not just a job for her. It is something you can generally tell she enjoys doing it.”

He and Doidge share a common vision for 2021.

“Suzan and I had lunch, and we talked about the year ahead, and we are just looking forward to a great year and just having 2020 in the rear-view mirror,” he said.

CHAMBER ITEMS

Last spring, the Chamber created a new non-profit called OneMB to take donations to help support local merchants and restaurant owners affected by COVID-19.

The Chamber is still taking those donations through the Mountain Brook Merchant Relief Fund, and nearly $80,000 has been distributed to local merchants.

“We’ve got a lot of merchants that still need your help,” Jones told the City Council in October.

The chamber is continuing its weekly series of videos on social media called “Live Local.” Hosted by Mountain Brook City Councilor Gerald Garner, the videos help promote local merchants. At press time, Garner had recently taped segments with Snoozy’s Kids and The Happy Olive.

“The Official Guide to Mountain Brook,” published annually by the Chamber, is in production and will be available in early 2021.

For more information about the Chamber, call 205-871-3779 or go to mtnbrookchamber.org.