Chamber working to increase value for member businesses

Published in the June 26 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By John Horner

John Horner

John Horner

Your Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors is excited about doing everything possible to make memberships more valuable in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. We appreciate the support from members, and seek to ensure that your membership is a screaming good value you wouldn’t want to be without. Toward that end, we are always looking and listening to understand how we can better help one another. The reasons people join vary greatly depending upon their type of business and personal concerns. In our discussions we have come up with six areas, which between them seem to cover most people’s interests.

Promotion: Just about every business is looking for ways to increase sales through increased customer contact and engagement. Your chamber website (morganhill.org) receives more than 10,000 unique visitors a month and the member directory is very popular. Additionally, we hand out thousands of printed directories and member business flyers to visitors in our offices and at tourist venues throughout the area. We also promote your business at our events and are looking at ways to do more. Some of the ideas we have been talking about are a member-to-member discount program, a new tri-fold targeted at out-of-town visitors and an upgraded smart phone friendly web presence. If you have ideas and/or the time to help us, let me know.

Information: We keep you in the know about local business related issues through our emails, newsletters and presentations and conversations at our many events and committees. Our monthly Economic Development Committee meeting, for example, always features updates from city management, business Realtors, residential Realtors, educators and more about the latest developments from their field of expertise. There is no other single place you can go to get that breadth of information, and the opportunity to engage with local decision makers.

Government Relations: It’s no secret that government actions affect the overall business climate and the fortunes of particular businesses. Your chamber is actively engaged in following these issues, reaching out to members for input and voicing the business community view on the matters of the day. Together our voice is stronger than it could ever be as individuals.

Working Smarter: Ongoing business education seminars are a core way we empower members. Just last month 18 members had the benefit of an all day Franklin/Covey “Five Choices to Extraordinary Productivity” seminar at no cost. This course typically costs $400-$500 per person. Your chamber had an unusual opportunity to offer this at no cost, and we did so. We have assembled a working group tasked with designing and implementing a year long series of talks and mini-seminars designed to give you maximum return on your time investment. Most will have some modest cost involved.

Social Opportunities: Many chamber participants come to make some of their best friends through the connections available at our many functions. Many of the most accomplished and interesting people in the area show up, and they enjoy getting to know one another.

Community Involvement: This one is my favorite because it was my primary motivator to join the chamber several years ago. For me, business done right is a kind of a calling. Building and directing a business can be one of the most fulfilling activities in a person’s life. Being a good business citizen, for me, means finding ways not only to have a successful business, but to enable the rest of the community to live up to its potential as well.

Different people have different reasons for joining the Chamber. Hopefully the reasons I’ve laid out here strike a chord with you. Which combination of those factors most appeals to you? I and the rest of your board would love to hear your thoughts.

John Horner is the CEO and president of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce. Reach him at (408) 779-9444.