For this month’s Meet-Your-Metro, we’re featuring Andrew Fernino who is celebrating his one-year anniversary with Team Metro. A spirited presence in our office, he’s held many informal titles including fashion icon, office Spotify DJ, amateur cowboy, Mr. Positivity, and (more officially) Public Policy Coordinator. In May, he took on the role of Member Services Coordinator. In this role he supports our member businesses, ensuring they get the most out of their membership. “Additionally, I am always looking for businesses that are not currently part of our Chamber to try to grow our member base to build a stronger and wider network for the betterment of our regional business community!” adds Andrew.
Part of a fierce duo
Andrew works within our Member Services Department, an extremely vital part of our organization. This team acts as every member’s concierge to our organization and provides resources that can enhance a business’s growth and exposure in the region. “We help connect businesses to each other for their mutual benefit and provide spaces and events that allow our members to come together, network, and gain a sense of community while sharing a common goal of business development and prosperity,” explains Andrew. Working alongside Member Services Manager Madeline (Maddy) Barbour, they can provide a positive and fun experience for our members, making personal connections with everyone they engage with.
Andrew, with Maddy, is also responsible for hosting amazing member events like our Referral Roundtables, Membership Orientations, and After Hours Mixers. Our recent After Hours Mixer, which was hosted at our office on September 6th, is one of Andrew’s favorite experiences from his first year on the team. “I really enjoy creating a fun and welcoming environment for our members to come and network with each other. I love our office space, so it was really cool to invite everyone there and share a great evening with our staff and our members alike.” shares Andrew.
Goals for membership in 2024
Because he is relatively new to his role, Andrew has big goals for Member Services’ potential in 2024. “Maddy and I have some big goals for 2024 in the Membership Department. Since coming into our roles at around the same time – both coming from different departments within the Chamber – we have taken it upon ourselves to really ask our members what they would like to see from their Membership Team in the future,” explains Andrew.
“Because that is what we are at our core – we are here to serve them. So, we have been taking stock of our members’ wants and needs and are going to try and address those things in our offerings to them over the next year. For example, we held our first Lunch & Learn event a few weeks ago after hearing our members ask for some curated educational programming that might benefit their businesses and professional development. It was a really big success and I see us having more of them in the future.”
With member services being operated by newer team members like Andrew, who have experience with other areas of the Metro Chamber life, fresh ideas, and open perspectives, it’s a great time to engage as a member. “I think that it’s a really exciting time to be a member of the Chamber because Maddy and I are open to doing different things and curating experiences that we are hearing members want that maybe they haven’t gotten in the past,” says Andrew. “We want to know how best to serve our members and will strive to address those wants and needs in the next year as best we can.” Through many of the new curated experiences, Andrew has shown that the new Member Services team is ready to bring forward positive change.
He truly is Mr. Positivity
If you haven’t had a chance to connect with Andrew, he would love it if you did!
“I want to hear from you! As part of the Membership Team, Maddy and I get out to as many events as we can, network, and let people know we are here to serve them. But we can only cover so much ground so we want to make sure our members know that our lines of communication are always open and anytime they have an idea or a question about membership we would love to hear from them.” Andrew shares. “It’s always a joy to talk to our members and we want them to feel comfortable reaching out to us for anything because we all want the same thing – to see Sacramento’s business community grow and thrive! And I am here to serve you.”
Got ideas, thoughts, or feedback for the membership team? There’s no better way to “meet-your-metro” than through connecting directly, so Andrew invites you all to send him an email anytime at afernino@metrochamber.org!