Shop Talk: Q&A with Demitrios M. Moschos, Chairman of WRCC
Demitrios M. Moschos, “D,” as he’s known, has been practicing law in Worcester for more than 30 years. He spent 12 years in city government, including a stint as assistant city manager in the late 70s and early 80s. On Jan. 1, he became chairman of the 3,000-member Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Here, as the chamber mails out bills for membership fees, he talks about the challenges now facing the chamber, the legal profession and Worcester itself.
>> Have you seen chamber members reducing their participation in the chamber?
With the severe economy, we are faced with membership drops, and that presents a challenge. The chamber is basically the only general business organization in the Worcester community. They’re not reducing the participation in person, but the smaller businesses are dropping and other businesses are reducing their contributions.
>> What challenges does the loss of members pose to the chamber?
We are membership-driven. The loss of one member hurts us. We don’t have government funding. We rely primarily on membership to work. We appreciate the budget crisis and we have reduced our budget to make ourselves more efficient, but we need to explain that, I think, in tough times, you need a chamber to be more vigorous. We need to at least have the basic tools to be an advocate for the business community.
>> What are you hearing from members about how they’re being affected by the economy?
In general, this economic downturn is the most severe that has occurred. Almost every business has been affected, including my business, law firms. This downturn has had a tremendous effect on law firms, and the reduction of legal services has been just so significant.
>> Were there changes afoot in the legal profession before the economy tanked?
I don’t think there were changes in effect, but the structure of law firms, the economic structure of law firms, was based on a model that may not be going forward. The larger firms were hiring a lot of associates and they were paying them very high salaries. Associates are not very productive in their first few years and the economy was allowed to underwrite that training. So now, you’re seeing that the salaries for associates are going to have a significant reduction. The question, and people are not addressing this issue, is how are you going to train lawyers? Who’s going to bear that cost?
>> Which of the chamber’s activities has the most impact on membership?
Well, different organizations have different needs. So, for example, our small business members, they look forward to our seminars to give them technical advice. It’s also important to bring the business community together from the point of view of developing camaraderie and developing relationships so that smaller businesses are able to interface with other businesses to see how we can support each other.
>> Three months in, what’s your favorite part of being chairman of the chamber?
Just to be able to be an advocate for the business community and to be able to help support (chamber president) Dick Kennedy and his staff so that they can be advocates for the business community. I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of this community, and this is an opportunity for me to give back.
>> What are some of the key things that you’ve brought from the legal profession and your experience in politics to the chamber?
Well, right now, we’ve been focusing our energies on the chamber budget. It’s a question of priorities, because each business has its own economic challenges and it’s our job to articulate why the chamber should be a priority for businesses.
Watch as D.M. Moschos, the new chairman of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, discusses how Worcester compares to other cities around the country.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments