Top Ten Benefits of Joining a Chamber of Commerce
Beyond ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings, do you know what your local chamber of commerce is or has to offer? Read on to discover not only what a chamber is but also what we consider to be the top ten benefits of joining your local chamber of commerce.
What is a Chamber of Commerce?
An organization of businesses within a community, a chamber of commerce operates as a 501(c)6, which means they do not operate for profit and none of the net earnings benefit any private shareholder or individual. All of the money a chamber of commerce raises is funneled back into the community it serves. The first chamber of commerce, the Chambre de Commerce founded in Marseille, France in 1599, was a collection of local businesses coming together to address the issues and challenges they were facing.
While chambers of commerce work to promote the business community as a whole, there are significant benefits to being a member of your local chamber of commerce. Here are what we consider to be the top ten benefits of joining your local chamber of commerce!
Networking Opportunities
One of the most often-cited reasons for joining chambers of commerce is the networking opportunities they are known for providing. In fact, when the first chamber of commerce formed, it was a collection of business members getting together to address their collective issues and concerns. Chambers today exist for largely the same reason. From monthly networking events to an annual gathering of the entire membership, chambers offer many opportunities for business leaders to connect and work together to solve common issues.
Like many local chambers, the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce offers members a variety of opportunities to network. Between Business After Hours, Women in Business, and Young Professional events, there is no shortage of opportunities for business and community members to regularly network with other professionals. Our Annual Dinner Meeting is the largest gathering of our members each year, seeing more than 800 people in attendance at its 2023 event. During the Annual Dinner, the Chamber honors individuals and businesses for their commitment to our community. Each of these events creates a community among our members, offering a welcome environment for members to connect and grow together.
Targeted Marketing Opportunities
As an organization formed for the purpose of promoting the interests of its business members, your local chamber of commerce provides several outlets for targeting marketing opportunities. From newsletters (both printed and digital), email campaigns, and social media platforms, chambers of commerce offer their members many opportunities for getting the word out about their businesses.
The Wooster Chamber offers its members many promotional opportunities. Our monthly printed newsletter provides updates on what’s happening around the Chamber and with the businesses within our community and is distributed to 24,000 homes within Wayne County. Members are not only regularly featured in our printed newsletter, but they also have the opportunity to place ads that will connect them with the community at large. We also send weekly email blasts to our members, featuring updates on upcoming events within the Chamber, and our members are welcome to share updates happening within their businesses, from upcoming events to major professional promotions or just using the space to remind members of the services they provide.
In addition to our printed communications, the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce promotes businesses by featuring them in Loyal to Local, a customer loyalty program that encourages people to shop at local member businesses during the holidays. This year’s program is set to kick off on Monday, November 20 and continue throughout the holiday shopping season.
Community Involvement
As a community organization, a chamber of commerce will provide its members many opportunities to get involved with the community. In fact, this is often a reason businesses decide to join their local chamber—they see this as the most direct way of giving back to and supporting the community that supports their businesses.
The Wooster Chamber is heavily involved in promoting the community interests of the Wayne County and surrounding area. By hosting several community-wide events each year, including Woosterfest, the Wayne County Home & Garden Show, and Lemonade Day, the Wooster Chamber draws tens of thousands of visitors to the local area each year, promoting local businesses and encouraging entrepreneurial endeavors. Members are invited to get involved in these local events, whether through providing sponsorships or by volunteering to join the committees that work tirelessly to put these events on and make them a success year after year.
Professional Development
As an organization dedicated to business growth, a chamber of commerce is keenly focused on helping businesses—and business professionals—thrive. To support this effort, chambers provide opportunities for professional development, through things like leadership classes, seminars, and even mentorships.
The Wooster Chamber is invested in its members’ professional development, tying this to its community involvement as well. The Leadership Wooster program was created in 1996 in an effort to train leaders who would build a stronger community. Through a series of ten targeted classes throughout the year, Leadership Wooster helps develop stronger leaders who are keenly connected to the Wayne County area. Separately, the Chamber offers an Educational Series of seminars touching on a variety of topics related to business development and operation. Each of these provides endless opportunities for members to grow as professionals and connect with others in our community.
Money-Saving Programs
Chambers of commerce originally organized – and continue to operate – under the notion that a group is stronger than the individual. By pooling their buying power, members of chambers of commerce are able to take advantage of money-saving programs for things like health insurance, energy rates, and workers’ compensation programs. In some cases, these money-savings programs can save individual members tens of thousands of dollars each year.
The Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce provides many opportunities for its members to enroll in these money-savings programs, including:
Chamber health insurance (Chamber Saver Program and SOCA Benefit Plan)
In addition to this, the Wooster Area Safety Council provides eligible businesses the opportunity to save 3% on their BWC premiums by attending monthly meetings focused on all aspects of workplace safety.
Gaining Credibility as a Business within Your Community
The chamber of commerce is often the first place community members call when they’re searching for reliable and trustworthy businesses to provide goods or services. Because of the vetting process for becoming a member of a local chamber of commerce, which often includes an application and interview followed by presidential or board approval, the public has come to recognize members of the local chamber to be ones who they can rely on. For this reason, most chambers field dozens of phone calls each week seeking recommendations for local goods or service providers, and by being a member of your local chamber, you not only gain credibility as a trustworthy business but you also benefit from referrals to community members seeking your services.
Business to Business Referrals
Speaking of referrals, businesses within a chamber of commerce tend to rely on other member businesses for goods and services. For example, a company looking to complete building renovations will often reach out to contacts they’ve made at chamber networking events to get bids on the project.
Business Services
Chambers of commerce routinely provide business services that are often overlooked but which add significant value to their membership. Here at the Wooster Chamber, for example, we offer a myriad of business services that are invaluable to our members, including complimentary conference room access for meetings of up to 30 people, notary services, and import/export certification.
Gaining a Voice in Public Advocacy
In their earliest form, chambers of commerce were a coalition of traders who joined together to protect themselves from common threats, including robbery and abuse from governing bodies. In similar fashion, today’s local chamber of commerce uses its collective voice to enact change at the government level, advocating for businesses and the surrounding community. Such advocacy may include things like lobbying for zoning changes to allow more residential property to be built, allowing space for a community (and its businesses) to grow.
Here at the Wooster Chamber, our collective voice led to the creation of the Downtown DORA, a designated public area where alcoholic beverages can be purchased in a designated cup from permitted establishments and carried within the district. This collaborative effort supports and promotes downtown restaurants, retail operations, and public utilization, as it encourages people to spend time downtown, taking in all that Wooster has to offer.
Promoting the Community in which You Live, Work, and Play
By joining your local chamber of commerce, you gain access to a great number of services that directly and significantly benefit your business. But you also support an organization that is working tirelessly to promote and grow the surrounding community. Without the support of its members, your local chamber of commerce—and all of the benefits, services, and advocacy it provides—would struggle to survive. Chambers of commerce strengthen their surrounding communities, creating a space that fosters unity, growth, and progress.
Join Your Local Chamber Today!
To learn more about the benefits and services the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce provides, contact the Chamber team or visit: https://www.woosterchamber.com/member-benefits.