Vienna Business Association Makes Own Roots After Split from Tysons Chamber

It's only been 10 months since the Vienna Business Association (VBA) split from the Tyson's Regional Chamber of Commerce, but the group has already gained traction in establishing its own identity.

Immediately following the split from the Tysons chamber last fall, former chamber members from Vienna formed the VBA as a way to help local businesses thrive in the town of Vienna.

Now, the group plans to organize Vienna's Halloween Parade and the annual Oktoberfest — both duties previously assumed by the Tysons Chamber — and add more events to the town's list of annual festivities.


Current board members D.H. Scarborough, James Cudney and Kathy Georgen recall the split as scary and unpredictable, but cited the immediate support the VBA received from Vienna's political and local business leaders at its first meeting as the reason for the board's young success.

"The nice thing about that meeting was not only was it business leaders from the town of Vienna, but it was also the political leadership as well," Cudney said. "All of a sudden, it just gave you this sense that this is going to work, and there are some people extremely committed to making this successful."

Scarborough, who said TRCC was boxing Vienna members out in some aspects of the organization, said the VBA applied for and received a charter from the state of Virginia, after which it drafted a set of bylaws for the organization and named a nine-member Board of Directors.

Cudney, one of those board members, praised the board for being "an excellent crosscut of the business community.

"We've had over 300 people come to our meetings and be excited about the things that we do. So the groundswell support was very apparent," Cudney said.
Since the split, the VBA has continued to grow as its own entity. What started as a small handful of local businesses has blossomed into 85 dues-paying members that form a major portion of Vienna's local business community. 

"Just the overwhelming support and the number of times we heard 'finally, something for the small business people,' and 'I was beginning to feel so left out and so ignored,' and by saying that you've got a lot of people who were willing to do a lot of stuff, even though they're busy," Georgen said.

The VBA's members meet once a month to discuss topics and issues relevant to the group, and once a month the VBA hosts a mixer at one of the member's businesses.

Cudney said funds raised from Vienna's Oktoberfest festival and Halloween Parade  will be used as seed money for new events in the future.

One of those new events is First Night, a New Year's Eve event to be held for the first time this December. According to Cudney, First Night will "create a family-friendly atmosphere for New Year's Eve." 

"The new VBA is very small business-centric," Cudney said. "We don't have tremendous overhead, and that's one of the things that happens with a chamber."

Cudney says he thinks the VBA gives a voice to small businesses in the area, and helping to bring about a sense of community throughout the town. 

"The enthusiasm that everybody is sensing is because small business in the town of Vienna is working with other small businesses," Cudney said. "It really is this whole community sense of, we're building a great organization and we're developing great events and mixers and the ability for our businesses to grow."