You’ve seen it in newspaper columns and press releases, a Henderson County Chamber of Commerce “tag-line” which briefly describes the organization. You will find it at the end of this column as well.
We hope that this column will go a little further in depth as to who the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce is, and just as importantly, who they are not.
One common misperception about the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce is that they are part of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and/or the United States Chamber of Commerce. This frequently occurs during election season when the North Carolina and US Chambers become active supporting legislation and candidates. The truth is that local chambers of commerce are completely independent of the State and US Chambers. Not only are they independent, but their mission is dramatically different from the missions of the State and US chambers. Those groups are almost entirely focused on legislative affairs whereas the local organization’s mission is primarily focused on economic, workforce and community development.
The North American Free Trade Agreement would be an example of legislation that the US Chamber supported but the local Henderson County Chamber of Commerce did not. Immigration Reform would be an example of where the two partially agree – the local organization concurs that reform that addresses border security and workforce needs should be addressed sooner rather than later. But they have elected to wait for proposed legislation before endorsing any specific, detailed proposals. Unemployment Insurance Reform was an example of where their goals were in strong alignment with the NC Chamber – and the two worked together to enact reform that allowed the state to pay-off the massive debt it had accrued to the federal government during the recession, put North Carolina’s unemployment Insurance program on sound financial footing, and ended federal Unemployment assessment charges to North Carolina businesses.
Another misconception is that the Chamber is an arm of local government. Although the organization enjoys a very good working relationship with local governments, they do not receive any funding from governments or tax dollars, unless those entities choose to join as a member. The Henderson County Chamber of commerce is an independent not-for-profit business association. The “Not-For-Profit” means that they pay taxes just like any for-profit business but their members can benefit as their investment in the Chamber can be deducted on their taxes as a business expense.
The members of the Chamber are what drive the organization. There are nearly 1,000 members who contribute their time, treasure and talents to help the community remain a great place to live, work and run a business. More than 80% of members are small businesses (with 5 or less employees) and all members have a stake in the future of Henderson County. Members support allows the organization to do things in our community such as honor high school students at the NC Scholars Luncheon, welcome new teachers to our community at the New Teacher Breakfast, honor Henderson County’s teachers of the year, host the Junior Leadership Program (for High School juniors), Co-Host the Vision Henderson County Leadership program, provide small business counseling, recognize businesses/individuals for success in sustainability, education advocacy, community leadership and much more. Member support also helps create networking opportunities, Leads Groups, Trade Shows, workshops/seminars, industry specific programing and a host of team-building events.
In short, local Chambers of Commerce exist to support the business community, both small and large. And in doing so, their goals and activities reflect the desires of their local business community, first and foremost.
Written by the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce.