Kristin Urbach has been executive director of the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce for three years. She’s quickly made her mark as a strong organizer, marketer, fundraiser and connector.
She’s credited with broadening the scope and ramping up the size of the Taste of the NK Chamber, for example, partnering with R.I. Airport Corp. in the annual event to put local food and beverage companies at center stage. Attendance quadrupled, she said, with a 300 percent rise in revenue.
Whether building partnerships for Chamber projects or fostering connections for others, Urbach is known for linking like-minded people who would benefit from knowing each other.
“I have a unique opportunity to hear from businesses and communities about what they are seeking. I make a point of connecting people,” she said. “It’s something I learned in developmental leadership in Washington, D.C.”
Now those skills and others are hard at work back in her home state, improving the local business community.
A graduate of Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich and Sweet Briar College in Virginia, Urbach was director of human resources for The American Enterprise Institute, a political think tank, where she worked for 10 years.
“At AEI … I was instrumental in hiring White House and ambassador staff for scholars,” she said. “It’s where I was really able to develop my leadership skills.”
She rose through the ranks in the Junior League of Washington during this time, becoming its president in 2007 (and mobilizing hundreds of league volunteers to renovate a school library during her term). Then it was on to roles in health care, sailing and health care technology.
Urbach served as The George Washington University Hospital’s director of service excellence in Washington, D.C. There she oversaw patient-service programs for a facility with 1,900 employees and more than 800 physicians. Her achievements there include increasing volunteer hours, piloting an emergency-room, sign-language video system for the hearing-impaired and setting up a hospitalwide foreign-language interpretation program.
She went on to lead member services at the Bristol-based United States Sailing Association and product marketing for a global telehealth company, before starting at the Chamber in 2015.
Along the way, Urbach said she learned a few things about being organized and being effective, in whatever role she is serving in.
“I am a multitasking, list person,” she said. “I do my homework.”
The Chamber represents more than 400 businesses in South County, nearly all of them small businesses, Urbach said. Along with her team, she has increased Chamber revenue significantly, including gains in annual golf-tournament revenue and in membership.
Though the Ocean State and the nation’s capital seem very different, there are similarities, Urbach said. “In both areas – D.C. and Rhode Island – there [is] a very engaged group of political officials. People are proactive and wanting to improve.”
Though Rhode Island is diverse, D.C. is more so, she said. She works to find ways to bring in more ideas and professional-development opportunities to connect people.
Though her previous work experience has helped her to master goal-setting, strategizing and plan implementation, her volunteer time with groups such as Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee’s Small Business Advisory Council keeps her in tune with local small businesses. Urbach co-hosted McKee’s televised Small Business Forum, complete with an expert panel, in 2016.
“She understands the issues facing Rhode Island’s small businesses,” wrote McKee in support of Urbach’s nomination for Providence Business News’ Business Women program. “She is willing to take a stand on their behalf and look out for their best interests.”
‘She understands the issues facing Rhode Island’s small businesses.’
LT. GOV. DANIEL MCKEE
Urbach has also led a Shop Small campaign in the community and was a part of the press conference on the initiative this past year with state and local officials.
In terms of the Chamber, she is leading its efforts to help create an offshore wind-energy career pathway.
A talent pipeline is a priority, Urbach said, especially with Deepwater Wind recently announcing 50 permanent and 800 construction jobs to be created with its Revolution Wind project. Ports in North Kingstown and Providence will share in the work and related jobs.
The team at the Chamber secured an R.I. Department of Labor and Training grant last August, to help ready a talent pipeline for wind-energy work. The funds will cover the cost of hiring economic developers and a curriculum designer to set up an Offshore Wind Technology certification program. It will also pay for wind-energy career outreach in schools.
“We support Real Jobs RI to develop … job opportunities for the offshore wind-energy sector in the state,” she said.
