Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Big Deal: Campbell Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Betty Deal celebrates her fifth year on the job Dec. 1.
Public Citizen
The Real Deal
There's nothing that Chamber Executive Betty Deal can't handle
By Susan Wiedmann
Since Betty Deal became executive director of the Campbell Chamber of Commerce in 1995, membership has risen from 250 members to 720 members, due largely to her enthusiastic efforts. Her current goal for the growing city is to have 1,000 Chamber members by the end of this year.
Considering Deal's vibrant personality and marketing skills, it's not an impossible goal.
"It became a joke here for awhile that if you weren't a Chamber member, don't go into the Chamber because you would leave the office a Chamber member," Deal said of her reputation in the Campbell community.
A native of Charleston, S.C., she was only 14 when she was told by doctors that the severe curve of her spine would probably cause her to be crippled by the time she was 21, and that she may not live to see 25. Complicated surgery was the only possible option, and Deal spent the year following the operation in a South Carolina hospital in a body cast. She attributes her stubborn personality to her ability to walk shortly after the cast was removed.
"I think you can do what you have to do, if you have the faith that you can do it," Deal said. "And the courage to go through the trials to do it."
In 1955, Deal moved to Hanford in Kings County, with her family, then settled in San Jose in 1969.
She worked in customer relations in the electronics industry until 1992, when her company laid off Deal and other employees.
That experience led her to open her own insurance business, join the Chamber, and rise quickly to her current position, that she calls the best of her working life.
Her people skills, confidence and marketing talents developed early on. One Christmas season, a 7-year-old Deal informed her father, a salesman, that she could also sell things. Economic times were tough then, and her father thought he would teach her a valuable lesson.
"He told me if you think you can do it, go do it. So I put some items in my bicycle and went out and sold almost $1,000 worth of merchandise," Deal said. "It shocked my father."
Having survived her family, Deal, who is divorced, enjoys going to the theater and concerts with her friends and traveling. Although she is a nonswimmer, she was so impressed with the beauty of Hanauma Bay, Hawaii, that she wanted to snorkel in the deep end of the famous fish-filled waters. Her instructor warned her that most nonswimmers flee after putting their heads in the water, despite flotation devices and human guides. But Deal amazed him and stayed in the deep water, loving the experience, and she has since gone snorkeling again.
Deal is now finalizing preparations for Campbell's Oct. 21-22 Oktoberfest, one of the Chamber's five annual events from which some of the proceeds go to local charities. She cites the assistance of her small part-time staff, the Chamber's board of directors and numerous community volunteers.
"People ask me what is so great about Campbell," Deal said. "I tell them it's the people."
Campbell, California
