David Bleiweiss, the new president of the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, is no stranger to helping out local business.

The financial advisor at Edward Jones on Front Street has been a chamber member since 2010 and has served on the chamber board for over four years. Additionally, Bleiweiss served his community as president of the local Kiwanis chapter last year.

From 2010 to 2011, Bleiweiss served as chair of the chamber’s ambassadors committee, whose purpose, he said, was “to welcome new members and build relationships with existing members.”

In his newest role, Bleiweiss is eager to continue “promoting the chamber’s value to businesses in the community” and finding out what businesses struggle with so that the chamber can help. The chamber’s two biggest goals this year, he said, are “to grow membership and increase visits to the website.” When both of these things occur, he said, “the chamber increases its voice and becomes more relevant.”

“That voice and relevance help businesses reach their goals,” he said. “We learn what their headaches are, what keeps them up at night, what the chamber can do for them, how we can open new doors.”

For small-to-medium-sized businesses in town, Bleiweiss said, connecting to the community is key to being successful. Luckily, the pedestrian-friendly atmosphere areas throughout town such as Front Street, Gilman Village and the Highlands encourage shopping at local, family-owned stores.

“The chamber continues to promote that foot traffic, whether through Pours in Stores [in the Highlands], the Wine Walk or the Beat the Winter Brews Fest,” he said.

Increasing the amount of commerce that comes from outside of the community is also on the chamber’s mind. “Traffic to our website promotes tourism,” Bleiweiss said. “As we get more traffic, that will add to our community.”

Bleiweiss is very happy to be working alongside such supportive and energetic chamber members.

“We have a fantastic board,” he said. “All types of businesses are represented, from Fortune 500 to ‘mom n’ pop’ [businesses]. We’ve got great people, great wisdom, great minds among the 18 people.”

Bleiweiss has lived in Issaquah since 2002 with his wife Gisela and two sons.