You don’t have to be a big business to be part of the chamber of commerce, says Chamber of Commerce president Megan Perry.
That was the gist of the message delivered to Barrhead Chamber of Commerce members Feb. 15 by guest speaker Kristine Bryant and Perry agreed, noting it is important the public is aware of the benefits apply to all levels of commercial enterprise.
“One of the things we are doing is focusing on the reason we have a chamber and the benefits that go along with it. I believe it is important to know the reasoning behind an organization like this and what it can offer, not just to business people in our community but for everyone,” Perry said, adding she believed not everyone in the area might know what the chamber has to offer.
For her part, Bryant agreed.
“We wanted to provide information to our membership on what the chamber does, whether it is on a large scale, provincially, with Alberta Chamber and how that impacts us here, or locally with the Barrhead Chamber, and we wanted to focus on what membership locally entails for those who are already part of the organization but are not entirely certain what the benefits are,” Bryant said, adding the idea was to turn current members into advocates for the organization.
The Chamber of Commerce is an investment into the community’s current amd future state.
“We are a business community working together versus individual owners standing alone on important issues that affect the entire community,” she said, noting the value of membership is that it allows for individual voices to be heard on issues that can affect the entire business community, whether at a municipal, provincial or federal level.
“I haven’t had the pleasure of speaking to the members of the chamber like this before, regarding all of the different benefits the organization has to offer. We have excellent resources at our fingertips and we are a group that, if you have questions and we don’t have the answers straight away, we can and will find them out for you.”
Bryant said it was a fantastic turnout.
“The more attendance we have at these meetings, the more value that each of our businesses in the different sectors of our community can get from it as well and through them, we as chamber executives can gain a better understanding of what the needs of our community and chamber members are,” Bryant said, adding without the sponsorship support of the business community, programs such as the Blue Heron Support Services, Victim Services and FCSS might not function the way they do.
“Our community would be vastly different. All of those programs hold a very special place within our community and with that, that provides our chamber membership sponsorship opportunities for those events. It allows marketing of your businesses and gets the name out there, in addition to networking opportunities as well.
“Membership provides strategies to grow your business. We’ve brought in marketing experts, safety experts, et cetera, so that you can find ways to grow your business. When we do this, it is together as a group rather than as individuals. The bigger picture is about coming together and working towards solutions that benefit us all,” she said.
Bryant noted in addition to supports and networking opportunities, the chamber also provides savings and discounts to its members.
“A vision that we have as the chamber, which again, is part of everybody’s membership here is, if we have new businesses coming to our municipality, we as the chamber can be a great resource in showing all of the amazing opportunities present, so that these new businesses can see the value of why their business would thrive in our community. It is everybody working together on that standpoint.”
Whether the issue is provincial or federal, whether we are working on health care issues, transportation or zoning issues, Bryant said being a member of the chamber is vital in having a voice in the discussions.
“These are issues that don’t affect just the municipality, they affect our businesses as well. A mass of voices together versus one person can make a vast difference,” she said, adding being part of the chamber means access to a myriad of speakers with diverse backgrounds.
“Whether the speakers themselves are out-of-town or locally, we are able to bring in specialists to provide our membership with invaluable expertise to benefit from.”
Bryant said the chamber is updating its website.
“We are looking at adding options like an event calendar, so that anyone can submit any event going on at their business or as a general community event, whichever, and it would be on our main page,” she said, adding directories and reminders are also planned for the site, in addition to other details not yet finalized or disclosed.
124 different chambers advocating on the behalf of members.
“That is the advantage of being a part of the Alberta Chamber base. You are directly connected with all sectors of the community, with our municipalities and our businesses and whenever an issue comes up, the answers are readily available. It’s everyone working together towards common goals. I can’t say it any better than that,” Bryant said.
If you are interested in joining the Barrhead Chamber of Commerce, or require more information, go to http://barrheadchamber.ca/
