Q&A with Hardy Watkins, Senior Vice President of Membership and Investor Relations

Hardy Watkins, senior vice president of membership and investor relations at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, brings a wealth of experience from both leading and participating in chambers of commerce across the region.

Watkins sat down with the VeloCity team to discuss how his background shapes his approach, the value chambers bring to businesses and how the Greater OKC Chamber is helping drive regional growth.

Q: How has your experience—first as a chamber member, then leading another chamber, and now as senior vice president of membership and investor relations at the Greater OKC Chamber—shaped your approach to this role? 

A: My career has presented several fulfilling opportunities, including perspectives from every angle of the chamber world. As senior vice president of membership and investor relations, I try to never lose sight of a member’s perspective. Members invest hard-earned dollars, have demanding schedules and want value at every event. They want networking opportunities to grow their businesses, connect with their professional peers and feel a sense of shared ownership as we work together to advance our region. I feel a sense of responsibility to every member to evaluate and reconsider everything we do through their perspective. 

Q: From your perspective, what makes chambers of commerce valuable to businesses and communities? 

A: Chambers convene business and community leaders, making them the place where shared goals and ideas can help drive significant change and positive momentum. The Greater OKC Chamber has played a role in every good initiative and effort to propel our region forward, even from our earliest days. Without the Chamber’s involvement, there would be nothing like Tinker Air Force Base, long-term water supply for residents, passage of MAPS, United Way, Allied Arts, Innovation District or a growing visitor economy—the list goes on. Chambers bring businesses and the community together to help solve challenges, improve life and dream big.

Q: Having been both a member and a leader, what insights have you gained about what businesses truly need from a chamber? 

A: Businesses need chambers to listen, lead initiatives that drive success and advocate for policies that support economic growth and quality of life. Our work to grow the economy by attracting business and investment is vital to creating a bigger customer base and bringing talent to the region.

Q: How do you see the Greater OKC Chamber supporting both startups and established corporations in meaningful ways? 

A: I am a strong believer in the member networking opportunities our chamber offers, which benefit both startups and corporations. I see great value for our member and investor businesses in our government relations initiatives and the Chamber’s ability to connect them to policy decision-makers. There is value in the programming of our events, both large and small, which share important information about the issues and opportunities our community faces.

Q: Beyond membership numbers, what does true engagement look like for chamber members, and how do you foster that? 

A: I have a dedicated membership team of six people who work every day to help our members and investors engage through new member recruitment, renewals, investor upgrades or sponsorship and advertising sales. I encourage every member to attend as many events as their schedules allow and stay up to date with e-newsletters and other publications distributed by the Chamber. I invite our members to communicate—whether positive or not—their experiences and views with me, our membership team and the larger Chamber leadership team so we always know whether expectations are being met. Engaging with the Chamber is about engaging in our work, staying informed, sharing the interests of the business community, voting and contacting your legislator.

Q: Looking ahead, what opportunities excite you most when it comes to growing and strengthening the Greater OKC Chamber’s impact? 

A: Right now, the opportunity for members to invest in Forward OKC VII really motivates me. It is such an exciting time for our region, with the new NBA arena, LA28 Olympic Games events, the multipurpose stadium, new retail and companies expanding or moving here. I want every member to feel they are a part of the momentum of our next five years, and Forward OKC VII provides critical funding for initiatives in our five-year strategic plan. Even though the OKC region is riding a wave of success, we now compete against a different level of cities and regions—even while our former competitors work to replicate our success. It will take all of us working together to make continued progress. Forward OKC VII is an easy and meaningful way to be connected and play a vital role in OKC's future.

Q: Are there any new initiatives or strategic directions that you believe will bring even greater value to current and future members? 

A: From the big-picture perspective, our Chamber’s willingness to tackle hard topics—like criminal justice reform, our region’s education system, workforce alignment, capacity and growth—is critical. Each of these issues impacts our quality of life, our success attracting new jobs and investment and the ability for our existing member businesses to grow. From a closer view, maintaining a membership that reflects our community means providing opportunities and information to help employees network and grow, and offering a program of events and activities to keep our business leaders informed and excited about the community and its potential.

Q: For businesses that are considering joining, what would you say about the benefits of being part of the Greater OKC Chamber? 

A: There will always be opportunities to showcase your business to new and long-time members through networking events. You’ll have the opportunity to be well-informed about what’s happening in our community, what’s coming and what we need to focus on improving—and you can be as engaged as you choose. No matter your involvement, your dollars help improve the business climate of our region. You are behind the success of our work in economic development, advocacy, visitor development and more, as we make this a better city every day. Dollar for dollar, there is no better investment than a Greater OKC Chamber membership for every employee or leader of any type of business in our region.

Q: If people want to become a member, how do they do so? 

A: Please email me at [email protected] or call 405-297-8948. I, or a member of my team, will respond right away to get you connected with us. Thank you.