We are members of multiple Chambers of Commerce and regularly attend chamber events. There is a lot of good that comes out of chamber activities, but I am regularly disappointed by the chamber’s inability and/or unwillingness to address political issues that impact small businesses.
Local Chambers of Commerce have an opportunity (and in my opinion an obligation to membership) to do everything they can to increase commerce in the communities and markets they serve – but from my perspective seem to spend a vast majority of time and resources focusing on membership business card exchanges. Nice, but this relegates local chambers to only a fraction of their potential for making a real impact on local economies.
What companies of all sizes, from Walmart and Microsoft to Jane’s Antique Store on Main Street need is political stability. And right now in the United States we do not have it. We do not have stability and clear focus at the national level, state level, or city/local level. The idea that Chambers of Commerce, representing all businesses that participate in local commerce (even multi-national corporations) feel that they cannot or should not try to influence politicians into making decisions that make business conditions and markets more stable is a real missed opportunity for all of us.
Regardless of whether you are a liberal or a conservative, vote Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green, Libertarian, or have another affiliation, we can all agree that political and economic instability is bad for business. Right now, our governments (national, state, and local) are making it more difficult for business to make commitments into the future. We (all companies of all sizes) do not know what our future liabilities will be for taxes (income and investment), staffing (healthcare, third party participation…), or energy (emissions) – among the many other items that impact our businesses. And from what I can tell the local Chambers of Commerce are doing nothing to influence this. Again – I am not saying local chambers need to take specific political positions, but certainly working with politicians to get to a stable playing field should be in the scope of any organization presenting itself as a champion of commerce.
By standing on the sidelines, our local chambers render themselves impotent. They prove that they are not capable of leading an organization of small and large business owners and stakeholders, and that they are not fully committed to the growth of commerce in our communities, states, and nation.
