Harry York has been the chief executive officer of the Reno-Sparks Chamber since 1994. Before that, he served for 13 years as executive vice president of the Concord, Calif., Chamber of Commerce. He worked eight years as an assistant to a California state legislator and as both an appointed and elected official himself, including six years as a school board member in Concord. Under York’s leadership, the 1,700-plus Reno-Sparks Chamber has grown to be one of the region’s most influential public policy organizations.

What do members get from joining the Chamber?

The No. 1 reason members join is for networking. We provide great contact and connection opportunities for our member businesses. I often say that I don’t buy insurance from State Farm; I buy from a State Farm agent. It gives our members an opportunity for one-on-one meeting with another business so it’s not just their name and their widget they’re selling or making; it’s the trust that goes along with that.

How do you know whether the Chamber’s networking events are effective?

Let me give an example of a guy who opened a shoe store. He came to one of our good morning breakfasts and said he was brand new and in need of some services. He found a real estate broker, an insurance agent, he got a printer to work with him … he made five or six contacts. He put together a team to get his doors open. It definitely works.

What’s on your legislative advocacy agenda?

We are currently working on some water issues, looking at the future consolidation of the local water agencies. We think the bureaucracy of the various governmental agencies is a stumbling block, so we’re trying to make the whole process a lot simpler. We’re also looking at housing costs and the possibility of developing some workforce housing. We are there every session to watch out that our businesses don’t get hit with any new taxes and that possibly we can look at rolling back some others. Now, the other side of that is we will also be advocating for our education system, that it gets properly funded — whether K-12 or the university and community college system. We will be there working with them side by side.

Why are you so interested in education?

The workforce is currently our members’ No. 1 concern — trying to find skilled workers. Almost all our contracting companies are short of employees, even with a slowing down of the housing market. We are working with the governor’s office to develop a matching program where, for example, if IGT wants to put up $25,000 for an education program and it meets certain standards, the state will match that $25,000.

What are some other areas your members are concerned about?

Health care costs and access to health care are the second biggest concerns to our businesses. We watch the things that our members say they’re concerned about — education, health care costs, housing costs and water — so, that’s where we spend our time.

Some people feel the region is developing too rapidly. What’s your opinion?

I think the economy takes care of that. I’m not sure we [at the Chamber] can look at managing that because it’s already slowing down. You had a rush for three or four years with a spike two years ago, and that’s backed off in population growth. The housing market has certainly gone flat in terms of sales. I think the market takes care of it.