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St. Charles Chamber Structure

Vision Statement
The St. Charles Chamber of Commerce will be the primary business resource connection for businesses and business people in St. Charles.

Mission Statement
The St. Charles Chamber of Commerce is an inclusive and active membership organization that helps its members grow their businesses, their business knowledge, and business connections.

The Chamber is governed by a board of 11 members, a salaried executive director, and an additional staff of five.

The Chamber is composed of four committees:
The Legislation & Education Committee informs fellow members about legislative issues/projects on three levels: city, state and national, and educates members with topics that are useful to Chamber businesses.

The Small Business Committee addresses the issues relating to the creation and profitability of small businesses with less than 100 employees.

The Membership Committee helps the Chamber increase new membership and develops existing members while keeping the many services of the Chamber in the forefront of members’ minds. The four LEAD$ networking groups are sub-groups of the Membership Committee and are made up of non-competing member businesses for the purpose of expanding their business through weekly networking meetings.

The Women’s Business Council Committee acts as a network for a more effective exchange of ideas among women in the community and the business or service organization they represent through monthly luncheon meetings.

Each of the above committees has a chair and co-chair, meets monthly, and has a Chamber staff member who acts as liaison.

The Ambassadors Club is made up of members who serve in an honorary capacity as official public relations representatives to Chamber members. This club reports directly to the board, has a spokesperson, and a Chamber staff liaison.

Annual events produced by the Chamber are the Charlemagne Awards Dinner in January, the Business-to-Business Expo in the spring, our Annual Golf Outing in August, and the State of the Chamber FREE All Member Breakfast held every November.

The Chamber offers a gift certificate program. Gift certificates can be purchased in any denomination over $10 and can be redeemed at over 135 participating merchants. This program is available to Chamber members.

The Chamber’s technology is state-of-the-art. The website at www.stcharleschamber.com offers visitors 24-hour access to the Business Directory, event calendar, general Chamber information, and the monthly newsletter. The Home Page also provides easy, one-click links to important websites around the St. Charles area. All members are entitled to free links to their email and business website. Each member listing in the Business Directory is directly linked to Mapquest for instant maps and driving directions clients.

The St. Charles Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization representing only dues-paying member businesses. It is not a government body and does not receive any federal, state, or local tax dollars. The Chamber is totally funded by member dues, sponsorships, subscription services, and fundraisers.

Membership Has Its Privileges
Referrals:
Each week hundreds of phone calls are received asking for referrals and information on St. Charles businesses. We always refer our members first!

Networking:
Participation in monthly and quarterly activities of the Chamber such as:
• Monthly Mixers After-Hours Business
• Monthly Women’s Business Council luncheons
• Access to our weekly LEAD$ groups
• New Member Programs
• Annual state of the chamber

Member Breakfast
• Business-to-Business Expo
• Annual Paddlewheel Riverboat Outing
• Annual Golf Outing
• Annual Awards Dinner

Marketing Services:
• Broadcast e-mails to chamber members
• Residential and Business Greeter Programs
• Event sponsorships
• Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Consultations
• St. Charles Chamber Gift Certificate Program

Web Presence:
www.stcharleschamber.com
The Chamber website offers a free listing in the Business Directory, free email link, free URL link, 24-hour coded access, on-line registration, and email reminder service for all Chamber events and programs. The members-only section allows access to membership lists and labels.

Publications:
Chamber publications include business mailing lists and labels, phone lists, a monthly newsletter, local map, business listing, and advertising opportunities in the St. Charles Profile Magazine. Information Source:

The Chamber provides a clearinghouse of information on a variety of topics relevant to business and community, most of which are free to its members.

Education:
Committees work hard to provide valuable programs and workshops, members, including business issues roundtables, and business tours.

Monthly Newsletter:
Each month over 1,300 business contacts receive our newsletter. The Business Calendar, Current Events, New Member listings, and FYI, and are included in each newsletter.

2008 MEMBERSHIPBENEFITS PACKAGE

Membership Benefits:
• Membership lists and labels available online in many formats
• Telephone referrals
• Member prices at all Chamber seminars and programs
• Access to monthly Chamber Communiqué by mail, email or website
• Member-to-Member broadcast emails
• An opportunity to display your business brochures in our office
• Members-only advertising privileges for annual community/member publications
• Free listing in the www.stcharleschamber.com business directory
• Free email link & URL link on the Chamber website
• Free map link to your business via Mapquest on the Chamber website
• Calendar online registration for Chamber events and programs
• Totally secure credit card payment online, by phone, or in person for any Chamber service, program, or event
• Free personal email reminder service for all member events from the website calendar

Programs and Networking Opportunities:
• Women’s Business Council
• LEAD$ (Referral Groups)
• Business-to-Business Expo
• Annual Paddlewheel Riverboat Outing
• State of the Chamber FREE Member Breakfast
• Host Business After-Hours
• Residential and Business Greeter Programs
• St. Charles Chamber Gift Certificate program
• Annual Golf Outing
• Annual Awards Dinner
• And more!!