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Frequently Asked Questions
One-Minute Membership Assessment Survey
Schedule an Appointment
Join Now
Chambers of Commerce: The Basics
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A chamber of commerce is an organization of businesses seeking to further their collective interests while advancing their community, region, state, or nation.
Business owners in towns, cities, and other territories voluntarily form these local societies/networks to advocate on behalf of the community at large, economic prosperity and business interests. Chambers are not affiliated with any governmental entity (federal, state, county or local) , and are lead by local, private business leaders. |
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What you need to know about Chambers before you join one: Click here
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Chamber missions vary, but they all tend to focus to some degree on:
- Building communities (regions/states/nations) to which residents, visitors and investors are attracted; promoting those communities
- Striving to ensure future prosperity via a pro-business climate; representing the unified voice of the employer community; and Reducing transactional friction through well-functioning networks.
- Most are led by private-sector employers, self-funded, organized around boards/committees of volunteers and independent
- They share a common ambition for sustained prosperity of their community/region, built on thriving employers
- Most are ardent proponents of the free-market system, resisting attempts to overly burden private sector enterprise and investment
- Local businesses are voluntary-paying members of a chamber (nonprofits, quasi-public and even public sector employers also sometimes pay dues to belong)
- A board of directors sets policy for, and guide the workings of, the chamber. The board or executive committee then hires a chief executive (various titles), plus an appropriate and affordable number of staff to run the organization
- While most chambers work closely with government, they are not part of government although many consider the process of appropriately influencing elected/appointed officials to be one of their most important functions