By Myles Barker
Debi Bray has always identified herself as a big talker, but ever since she became the CEO for the Madera Chamber of Commerce, she has become more of a listener.
Bray, who has been the CEO for over 20 years, said she tries every day to better the Madera community and promote wellbeing within the business community. She does this by making herself available and answering any questions people may have, especially visitors and those moving into the community from out of town. She is also a regular host for a variety of workshops and seminars that educate Madera’s small businesses on laws that can affect them.
“The thing that bothers me the most is when there are laws that impact the small-business person and they don’t truly have the means of working within the parameters of those laws and the costs that are associated with them,” Bray said.
“They are the most vulnerable, and because of that we try to come in and help provide those educational workshops to make them aware of what they need to do because the consequences of cost — if they don’t do those things — can be devastating.” ...