You may have read in the newspapers in
the last month that we, as your Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce,
were recently honored by the United States Chamber of Commerce with its
highly coveted "5-Star Accreditation". There are currently over 7,000
Chambers of Commerce in the United States. Of these, only 295 are
designated as "Accredited" by the U.S. Chamber. There are four levels of
accreditation: Accredited, 3-Stars, 4-Stars, or 5-Stars. The final
rating depends on the chamber’s ability to successfully meet detailed
criteria, including accountability, financial transparency, employee
involvement, political advocacy, and community involvement. Needless to
say, just being accredited is an accomplishment. However, we were
extremely honored to learn that we had obtained the highest level of
accreditation possible!
Only 13 other Chambers in the country
are 5-star accredited and we have become the first in Michigan to
receive this honor. All I can say is a big "THANK YOU!" to our
membership, our public and private Shiawassee Economic Development
Partnership investors, our Chamber Ambassadors, our volunteer
committees, our Board of Directors, and our region as a whole for
allowing us to serve you! If you didn’t have the faith in this
organization that you do, we surely wouldn’t have been awarded this
prestigious recognition. This award is truly reflective of the 5-Star
Region to which we belong.
I also want to recognize the rest of
the Chamber Team. These are the folks who answer the phones when you
call, organize the member benefit packages you use, recruit new
companies to the area and help the ones here grow, push the envelope on
new technologies our community can use, put together our newsletter and
other publications, and put together the events that help bring
recognition to your company. If your membership is the gasoline, they
are the engine that makes the Chamber go. We are blessed to have such
dedicated workers.
I want to keep this award and its
meaning in perspective. Yes, it is a prestigious award not many receive.
However, we cannot rest on our laurels. We still have a big job in front
of us. Our local economy is getting stronger, but we need to do more.
Companies don’t locate to a community because they have a great Chamber
of Commerce. They come because it is a good place to do business. Our
job as a region has to be to create the environment in which it is an
outstanding location in which to do business. Many of our local
governments have already taken steps to identify incentives they can use
to help lure companies here. We, as your regional Chamber of Commerce,
must do a better job of telling YOUR story of success. It is only
through your triumphs that we can build a culture of success as a
region. As you celebrate your successes, we would like to know about
them so we can celebrate with you and make sure are recognized in our
various publications. You can always call us at (989) 723-5149, or feel
free to email them directly to me at jborgstrom@ shiawasseechamber.org.
Together, we can build the culture of
success we need to make our region thrive! -Joe Borgstrom
