Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce: Catalyst, Convener and Champion

There’s a saying in the Chamber of Commerce industry: “If you’ve seen one chamber, you’ve seen one chamber.”

Our scope of work reflects the needs of our region and our chamber member businesses. At the direction of the board and executive committee, and with the support of our members, we carry out a mission that focuses on business and community development, advocacy, and member services.

The Tri-City Regional Chamber is committed to providing the highest level of return on member investment, and has a unique and valuable role in providing the tools that business needs to succeed.

The Tri-City Regional Chamber has charted an aspirational path to be the catalyst for community development and business growth. As a catalyst for business growth, we strive to be a proven hub of information for businesses. We provide many programs and resources to businesses that create the jobs that strengthen the Tri-Cities.

In 2018, we’ll continue our innovative Economic Gardening Program, Business Development University and Meet the Buyer. Through our Procurement Technical Assistance Center, we will launch a new program; Procurement Power Hour, where government contractors/subcontractors meet with peers and procurement professionals to discuss ideas, challenges, successes to advance their achievement in the government contracting arena.

The Regional Chamber is a convener for leaders and influencers, and the community at large, fostering a culture of collaboration to address challenges and create solutions.

We recently held the first of planned quarterly meetings for the region’s business building organizations. Our goal is to foster collaboration, create awareness of available programs and resources, identify gaps and form partnerships to better serve the businesses in the region.

It takes a champion to defend business values and make bold steps forward on matters that are important to the business community. The Regional Chamber is that champion. Our advocacy efforts continue at all levels of government as we promote policies supporting job creation, retention and economic growth.

A project that exemplifies our role as catalyst, convener and champion is the Regional Vision Project, “MyTri2030.” A group of diverse business leaders formed our Regional Affairs Committee with the goal of creating a shared vision for the region and amplifying our collective impact.

We are working to build strong community support through a series of meetings with organizations, leaders, governmental entities, and individual citizens to leverage the scale and diversity of our entire region.

Soon, the community-driven project will go live with a community questionnaire available to every Tri-Citian, leader interviews, a big vision workshop and much more. The process will identify opportunities, gather insights, seek feedback, focus on a few key themes that will resonate across the region, and embrace the collaborative spirit of the Tri-Cities.

With support from more than 1,300 members, we deliver unmatched programming, host exceptional events, and advocate on behalf of the regional business community. We are a results-driven organization that continues to make steady progress with our strategic plan – Chamber 2020 focused on being a catalyst, a convener and champion for business and the region.

This story was originally published April 1, 2018 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce: Catalyst, Convener and Champion."