And finally, a more fundamental question:
Why are chambers important?
“We are the voice of business. We are the
advocates to promote and protect busi-
ness, and we’re very active in supporting
good legislation and opposing bad legis-
lation.” “We can help with regulatory problems,
provide education for business owners
and their staff, advocate for them at city
council or even state and federal levels,
and so many other services.” “We are supporting families. The busi-
— Laurel Brent-Bumb, El Dorado County
Chamber of Commerce — Angela Perry, Elk Grove Chamber of
Commerce ing a lifelong dream to be their own
“Chambers are like an insurance pol-
icy. You never know you are going to
need them until you do. Example:
A member construction company
never thought they needed to be
certificated as a minority-owned
business. And then came the
downturn in the economy, when
suddenly their private company
business was drying up — and
they needed to get public con-
tracts to replace their private
company business. We helped
them get certified and connected
them to all of our member companies
that had supplier diversity programs.
Because of our help, they grew from
$300K-$400K per contract to $2 million to
$3 million per contract.” business is to provide better opportu-
“I’m hearing from businesses, ‘I
have projects I can’t do because
I don’t have enough bodies to do
the work.’ I’ve got communities
that are falling further behind,
that are being priced out
of their neighborhoods,
that are saying we really
need access to careers
and not just jobs. Having
a gap is unacceptable. The
beauty of what a chamber gets to
do is you sit in the middle, and I
hear both sides, so we’re able to
convene those conversations and
make real change.”
— Amanda Blackwood, Sacramento
Metro Chamber of Commerce
— Pat Fong Kushida, Sacramento Asian Pacific
Chamber of Commerce
nesses that we work with — whether
established by immigrants, or started
as a second act, or by someone fulfill-
boss — the main reason they are in
nities for their families.”
— Cathy Rodriguez, Sacramento
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
“We don’t just host mixers and ribbon
cuttings! We are a full-service chamber
— regional advocacy and influence with
our own PAC with an eye on workforce
development and housing. We aren’t your
grandparents’ chamber.”
— Robin Trimble, Rocklin Area Chamber of
Commerce
Jeff Wilser is the author of “Alexander
Hamilton’s Guide to Life.” His work
has appeared in print or online in GQ,
New York Magazine, Esquire and Men-
tal Floss, among others. On Twitter
@Jeff Wilser.
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