Chamber Members,
Wow can you believe it is May already? Well again there were a lot of things going on at the Chamber last month. We had 10 new members join the Chamber in April, The Women’s Seminar and Expo was a huge success, The events committee is in full swing of planning the Golf Tournament, and the Chamber Luncheon was amazing. I would like to personally express my deepest gratitude to all of you who participated in the Luncheon.
For those of you who were unable to attend let me give you a quick recap. We had almost 70 people there to discuss the Chamber. There were a few questions posed to the group that I hope got people thinking about our area and our local businesses. One question that was asked was: “Do you view the Chamber of Commerce an Asset to your company or just a transaction?” As we had the discussion I hope that all of our members view the chamber as an asset. We want to be an advocate for each of our members to help grow your businesses. As the discussion went on we talked about 5 core competencies of what the Chamber of Commerce should be and do. They are: 1. Economic Development 2. Representing Business in Government 3. Promoting the Community 4. Provide Business Contact Opportunities (Networking) 5. Political Action. We discussed that there was a survey taken across the country and these 5 things were the major objectives of what Chambers should be. So we asked, “How are we doing?” We really wanted to know and would like to know from all of you who were unable to attend. The one area that we discussed that we were and are lacking in is #1 Economic Development and increasing the Local Economy. So that is where our discussion led and we had some really great feedback and ideas of where we needed to go and improve on.
One of the main concerns at the luncheon was why we had no participation at the Chamber Luncheons with any of our local government officials like city council members, mayors, and county commissioners, and if we were participating in the city and county government meetings. Well I’m glad to inform you that our Government Committee is working on becoming involved in those meetings. If any of you are interested in being part of the Government Committee our committee chair would welcome your help.
So the other question that we talked about and asked everyone to answer on an index card and turn in at the end of the meeting was this: “Besides the Economy what challenge in your business keeps you up at night?” We got many responses and it is my goal to be able to help in some of those areas.
The book I’ve been reading lately has really made me realize that our thoughts and what we are thinking control what the outcome is. I recommend to anyone to read “The Secret”. If you are struggling with things in your business or life that just seems to keep getting worse or not any better, the thing you must change before it will is your thought about that particular thing. Negative thinking will continue to bring you the things that are negative, so we must change our thinking to positive thoughts.
We at the Chamber would really like and appreciate any and all of your feedback to your answers to the questions above. Please take the time to call or email the Chamber Office with your answers or any other things you would like to discuss or see the Chamber do. It is my great honor to be the Chamber President and would like to give my deepest thanks to all of you who support and participate in our great Community. My hope is that you all have the most amazing year in your lives and businesses. Have an amazing May.
