Highlighting member stories and feedback at the Annual Member Lunch

The Annual Member Lunch is the Chamber’s chance to show our appreciation for the work our members do every day, as well as their continuing support of our organization and our programs and initiatives for the betterment of the community.

At this year’s event, held July 23 at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center, members got the chance to hear a summary of results from the recent Chamber Membership Survey. Several members had the opportunity to tell their own stories about how the Chamber has helped them as individuals and businesses. And members learned about the ways they can connect with the Chamber and grow their own brand through this year’s Reach Campaign.

In addition to mid-year statistics about Chamber efforts that members could peruse, Chamber Chairman Logan Aguirre provided high-level results of the recent Member Survey conducted by Mostly Serious. The survey looked at several key issues, from member satisfaction and priorities to the Chamber’s COVID response.

Overall, 77% of respondents rated the Chamber as “high quality” or “very high quality,” and 75% said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their membership. The highest-rated Chamber services were attracting new jobs, legislative information/advocacy, and opportunities to increase business visibility.

The respondents also let us know that they have considered the Chamber a critical resource during the pandemic. Approximately 75% of respondents reported using some degree of Chamber-provided resources or programs related to COVID-19, and 93% of survey participants said the Chamber’s COVID-19 resources had value for them.

“These are excellent results – a great starting point for full evaluation,” Aguirre said. “To do its work well, the Chamber, its staff and its volunteer leaders must listen to your feedback and use it to inform the process of continuous improvement and strategic planning.”

While the data helps the Chamber charts its overall course, equally powerful were the stories told by individual members about the impact the Chamber has had on their business and their own lives. Three members did just that:

• Mark Walker, president and CEO of TransLand, talked about the importance of the Chamber’s advocacy work in transportation infrastructure for his business and the entire regional trucking industry.
• Sheri Walsh, owner of HIVEMINDED Marketing, talked about how the Chamber’s encouragement and support helped her through the process of starting her own business in the midst of a pandemic.
• Dee King, chief of staff with Burrell Behavioral Health, shared how the individual connections she had made through the Chamber supported her through an incredibly difficult personal experience – the death of her husband from cancer – and helped her reach out for therapy, which in turn kindled her passion for the mental health field and led her to her current job.

And those stories illustrated the value of the Chamber’s work, which members can support through the Reach Campaign. Joselyn Baldner, CEO of Central Bank of the Ozarks, serves as this year’s campaign chairman, and she introduced members to this year’s theme – Reaching for New Growth – and encouraged them to seek out opportunities to participate.

“Whether the last 18 months have brought your business unexpected difficulty or perhaps led to unexpected good fortune, the key for the future is to focus on ways to grow,” she said. “And there are few better ways to grow your business and your brand than connecting your company to the strength of the Chamber.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the Reach Campaign and how you can participate, we encourage you to fill out our online form so a volunteer or staff member can contact you with more information!