What is your definition of a chamber of commerce?
By TANYA DORAN
Executive Director, Greater Riverview Chamber
By most accounts, a community’s chamber of commerce is an organization aimed at furthering the interests of local businesses, a kind of network, if you will. A chamber advocates on behalf of its members and the entire business community with local and state governments.
Most chambers have boards or executive councils that set policy and hire a president, CEO or executive director who runs the organization and selects a staff.
As executive director of the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, I can tell you these definitions are true, yet they don’t reflect the full essence of a chamber of commerce. We are so much more.
In Riverview, we operate under the leadership of an unpaid board of directors that includes 18 community leaders who give of their time generously. They serve as mentors, sharing their experiences, knowledge and talents.
Our chamber is like a family. It grows, develops and supports all its members in good as well as challenging times. We do our best to help each other stay focused, motivated, feel supported and ultimately find success.
Our focus is on relationship building, which reflects our core values: diversity, integrity, leadership, teamwork and fun. We host a monthly membership meeting luncheon, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, ground breakings, open houses and anniversary celebrations. Basically, we’ll use any excuse we can find to celebrate one of our member businesses.
And we offer all kinds of educational opportunities for businesses to learn how to operate soundly, provide great customer service and offer quality services and products. We also encourage them to give back to our community.
The chamber encourages people who live and work here to intentionally spend their money locally. It’s so important to support our local businesses. There is a hard-working owner behind every one of them, someone who works long hours to serve their customers well. These folks have children who go to school with our children and attend our churches. In every way, they’re part of the community. Our support is what keeps them open.
The Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is conveniently located in the Boardwalk of Riverview office complex at 10012 Water Works Lane in Riverview. We’re open to the public and welcome visitors.
For more information about the chamber, “like” and “follow” TheRiverviewChamber Facebook page, visit us online at www.RiverviewChamber.com, email info@RiverviewChamber.com or call 813-234-5944.
We’d love to hear from you. If you have any ideas for topics you’d like to have addressed, e-mail director@riverviewchamber.com.