Dude, where's my chamber?
Local chambers of commerce reach out to younger generation
Joshua Van Dyke wasn't even entirely sure what a chamber of commerce was or what it did before joining the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce in December.
Van Dyke, 24, and his business partner, Andy Erickson, 26, opened a franchise of Jumpin' Juice & Java in Gardner in December, and decided to give chamber membership a try, if only to help get their name out.
"We figured, 'Hey, we'll give it a shot, it can't hurt,'" Van Dyke said of the debate over whether to join the local chamber. "We'd heard good things, but didn't know much about it. Obviously, when you start a new business, there's a lot of people approaching you, telling you to spend your money on this or that. But once we looked into it and talked about it, we realized they were really out for us."
Technology junkies
Van Dyke is part of a new generation of business owners being actively courted by area chambers of commerce. Raised in an age where information is accessible in mere seconds and where face-time has been replaced by computer screen-time, some younger business owners may not see the value in traditional chamber membership.
That kind of instant gratification mentality is a mistake, said Michael Ellis, president and CEO of the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce.
"I don't think (younger business owners) are as much into the mode of casual conversation just for the sake of casual conversation," Ellis said. "They're much more into information for the sake of information, without all of the pomp or frivolity. But what some of the pomp and circumstance has provided in the past is an opportunity to build relationships, and I think that's missing now."
Faced with a changing demographic, area chambers are trying to educate younger business owners about the values of chamber membership in a variety of ways. Most have begun hosting events that appeal to a younger audience, such as speed-networking and business after hours functions, while at the same time offering educational seminars for business owners young and old.
"We have a very active business after hours program," said Dick Kennedy, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. "We usually get 200 to 300 people per event, and a good portion of them are relatively young. It's a lot of young people trying to establish themselves, and that's what networking is all about. They're finding that you don't meet one person, you might meet a dozen people."
It's about people
Technology may be changing how we do business, Kennedy said, but in the end, people still do business with other people, and that is what chamber membership provides.
"The best networks are found through people," said Kennedy. "If you take the human aspect out of it, you lose a lot in translation."
For businesses, especially new businesses that need exposure to survive, membership in a local chamber is still the best way to connect with other businesses and potential customers, Ellis said.
"The people you see that are active and engaged will ultimately be successful. They're the ones doing the important job of networking, of letting people know about themselves and of actively marketing their business," said Ellis. "The ones you don't see who are new in business ownership and who choose to stay isolated tend to be the ones who aren't as successful."
For his part, Van Dyke is very pleased with the efforts the Greater Gardner Chamber has gone to help him promote his business. He said the chamber helped him organize a ribbon-cutting event at his store's opening and has referred a number of customers to his location. He knows that is just the beginning.
"So far it's just been them helping to get our name out there, to really get it out to the local people," Van Dyke said. "We probably haven't even used it as much as we could."
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