By Carol Smullen
Orange Chamber of Commerce
Carol Smullen
The Orange Chamber of Commerce is not your parents’ chamber.
If your parents owned a business, they probably belonged to the local chamber. It was one of the first things they did when they opened. People knew that was how business was transacted. There was only one way to network: in person at gatherings. The chamber offered those activities.
Today, there’s a lot more to running a business than simply attending a networking event.
You may think you no longer need the chamber. If you haven’t looked into chamber membership recently, you may be surprised how much it’s changed. Chambers still welcome a new business by hosting a ribbon cutting and they still hold events that connect people. But chambers are now taking a more personalized approach to serving you and helping you see membership as an investment in your business. The chamber lets the community know you are open for business.
The Orange Chamber is directing web traffic to its members, using strong web and social media to promote events and drive traffic to member websites through their unique website. Orange Chamber members administer their own listing. Members post events, employment opportunities, updates, photos, videos, sales and contact information on their listing 365 days a year.
At the state level, the Orange and Milford chambers partner to provide a forum for members to interact with our state legislators. These sessions ensure the needs of businesses are addressed. The next “Morning Jolt” with legislators will be at 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 27 at Eli’s in Orange.
The Orange Chamber will also host one of the town’s first selectman debates at 6:30 p.m. at Grassy Hill Country Club on Oct. 23. This is a great opportunity to hear, first-hand, the candidates’ ideas on the future of Orange.
The women’s networking group West Haven and Orange Women in business, or WOW, as well as the “Morning Jolt” coffee and conversation with area business professionals are two of the more traditional networking opportunities in which the chamber offers for face-to-face relationship building.
The chamber is a useful source for what is happening in Orange. Check out the business and community calendar on the chamber’s website at orangectchamber.com. Community agencies and not-for-profits post their activities there.
If you’re already a member of your local chamber, thank you. Please spread the word that chamber membership is beneficial.
For information on all chamber activities, email director@orangectchamber.com.