A Year in Review and Into 2022
When we started 2021 our theme as an organization and for our Members was “Here’s to Growing in 2021.” Did that happen, for us and for our Members?
I think so. Last month I recognized our MVPs in my article. Those individuals grew in their level of support of the TriCounty Area Chamber of
Commerce and we could not me more thankful. 20 companies are helping their employees grow by enrolling them in our 10-month Leadership TriCounty program. Those individuals are getting the opportunity to learn more about themselves, the community, and making new contacts. Their sponsoring companies grow as well with the knowledge our Leadership TriCounty participants gain about their own leadership and the skills they improve on and can take all the benefits of their participation back to their employer to hopefully make an impact on their companies bottom line.
Businesses also grew in their comfort level with networking. The TriCounty Chamber returned to in-person opportunities for our Members. Maintaining
a small cap on the number of registrations, we held events that were strictly focused on networking. There were no speakers, no agenda, just good food, good contacts, and growing – their networks and for some, their confidence in themselves to committing to this important priority for growth. Members also took advantage of the opportunity to grow their exposure and became guests on Chamber Chat on Facebook Live. Growth is a big component of being on Chamber Chat for some of our guests as well; the format and spending that amount of time focused on their success is difficult for all of us to do but we need to celebrate our successes and our guests get the opportunity to do that and brag about themselves as well as speak to a live audience. Encouraging our Members to celebrate their growth and even the smallest achievement was a focus at our 1st Annual REACH, Empowering and Connecting Women, Conference. In our swag bags (which were awesome!) each attendee received a small trophy and on that trophy
was a label that named their award “Achieving Their Potential” and we encouraged everyone to take this trophy and put it on their desk as a constant
reminder that they should celebrate all their areas of growth.
The Chamber grew with 30 New Members in 2021! Maybe not the same growth that we may have found in previous years, but we have grown in our outreach as these great companies, we are excited to add to our Membership roster, have found us. They have made the decision, for the growth of their business, to join a business advocacy organization and have their business benefit from the variety of opportunities we offer.
Our team has grown. We have a total of 4 employees and have returned to a dedicated staff person to plan our programming and events, which
are a key component of our Chamber, and our Members’ receiving value in their investment so this team Member is also charged with focusing on Member engagement. Our team has also grown professionally. The last two years have had us re-evaluating responsibilities to make sure we are maximizing everyone’s true talents as well as having to change our way of doing things and the team be willing to do so to benefit our Members’ experiences is growing every day.
Our Board has taken a hard look at who we are as an organization and has made strategic and bold moves; they have approved offering our Members a new tiered membership opportunity and have also approved a 2022 Action Plan to guide the organization’s and the staff’s focus through the next year. I look forward to sharing more details on both in future articles.
#tcaccbettertogether