If you’re a small business owner, being a member of your local chamber of commerce is incredibly beneficial. It provides you with many contacts, and prospective clients for whatever business you may run. Indeed, that’s the primary mission of a chamber, to link up businesses in a community and provide ways to help them grow.
This reasoning was at the very heart of today’s event, put on by not one, but three local chambers. The Duneland, Hobart, and Portage Chambers of Commerce came together for the third year running at the Portage South Shore Leadership Center to present their members with the “Power Your Potential” event.
“Today is put on by all three chambers, this Is our third year doing a combined event. We think that doing these combined events is great for us to get to learn more about each other’s chambers,” said Nancy Simpson, Executive Director of the Portage Chamber of Commerce.
Simpson rightly believes that by combining chamber events, such as todays, it helps their respective members by consolidating three similar events into one larger gathering.
“By combining the chambers, it helps them meet other members of other chambers. It gives them a fresh new group to network with,” stated Simpson.
Given the close proximity the towns have to one another, it makes sense that they would partner with each other as often as they can.
“Events like these are an excellent idea, because we’re so close to the other two chambers, and for us to network with the other businesses that we’re already doing business with,” said Lisa Winstead, Executive Director of the Hobart Chamber of Commerce.
Today’s theme was “Power Your Potential,” and focused on realizing personal potential through speed networking, offering head shots, and inviting two motivational speakers; Leslie Plesac, and Harry VandeVeld.
“We find that our membership enjoys motivational speakers and their stories; where they were successful and what lessons they learned in life, and how they can apply it to their lives,” stated Beth Luncsford, Marketing Director for Duneland Chamber of Commerce.
With 80% of the chambers’ members being small businesses, this combined event gives the chambers a low cost way to pull from their membership.
“They get a chance to speed network and go to a seminar that they might otherwise have to travel for, and an opportunity to get lower cost headshots,” said Maura Durham, Duneland Chamber President.
If the positive feedback that the chambers receive is any indication, these types of events are likely to continue and thus, provide an ongoing benefit to chamber members, and to the chambers themselves.