The Value of our Chamber
A Message From Karen Crowe, The 2010-11 Board President
The past year has been an interesting adventure for all of us in the business world. Fortunately we are here to tell the tale, relishing in our success with a just a few bumps and bruises. Many of us as business owners have been taken to task to reinvent our businesses to create more value for our clients. As your new Chamber President I am taking the Board to task to find ways to create more tangible value for our members.
I am very excited to have the opportunity to serve as President of the Greater Maple Valley/Black Diamond Chamber. As a Chamber member I always thought that being part of the Chamber was important. It provided validation for my business, a way to network with local business owners and an avenue to become involved in the business community. As a Board member I see that there is so much more value to being a Chamber member than I ever imagined. Now it is my turn to share with you the value that I believe your Chamber has to offer.
We are a business association. with the purpose of providing value to our members, while encouraging residents to see the value of supporting Chamber members by Buying Local. Value is defined as “worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor”. As a member of the chamber you may be aware of some of the valuable resources available to you. Whether it is new networking opportunities, visibility on the new website, advertising, legislative awareness and representation, or using one of our Affinity discount programs. These benefits are well and good but if members don’t see the value then they aren’t useful.
This year we are taking value to a new level, to our residents. To continue being a successful Chamber we need to show residents the value in supporting our local businesses. If as business owners we are successful through support from our residents, we are able to grow and give back to our community, thus completing the circle.
There are several opportunities through the Chamber to encourage our residents to Buy Local:
- Many people look to the web to find resources for their needs. Our Chamber site is one of the few that has an enhanced search engine optimization, increasing the likelihood that a resident is going to call you, like so many of our Chamber members have already seen.
- Local business directories with Chamber Member information are also available in many locations throughout the greater Maple Valley and Black Diamond area.
- The upcoming Business Expo on September 18th at the Maple Valley Farmer’s Market (Rock Creek Elementary) where you will have an opportunity to talk directly with residents about your business and services.
The Chamber will continue working on new and exciting, valuable benefits for you. We want to be a valuable asset in every local business, not only so you can say that you belong to the Chamber but because of what value you “get” from the Chamber.
I look forward to working with you in the upcoming year.
Karen Crowe
EnviroSpect Northwest
Added on 07/09/2010
by Chamber blog
