Livermore Chamber — Get on Board

When I left my corporate job and started my own business, I wondered who my network of people would be. At my job, I had a 21-year collection of friends, colleagues and co-workers to hang with. What would replace that?

Someone recommended that I join the  and I'm really glad I did. In addition to a new network of people and friends, my membership has provided me with so many other benefits that are worth far more than the small membership fee.

The chamber has a staff of five enthusiastic, hard working and high energy folks who have become my friends. It has many programs that business owners may not be aware of, and they are free with membership. , the president and CEO, always is looking for new ways to help Livermore businesses succeed. She and her staff work very hard to put these innovative programs in place.

Online Connections

The chamber has a Facebook page with nearly 1,200 friends and use nuAlerts to promote members' events, announcements, special deals and promotions.

Because its website has been search engine optimized, it received more than 37,000 visits and 122,000 page views in the last year. This provides member businesses with a lot of visibility from search engines such as Google.

More than 72 percent of its traffic comes from online searches. Member get a free listing or can opt for a premium listing with additional information, and a page all to themselves for a small fee.

Joe Foos from Lanlogic, Inc. said, "The chamber is an institution that simply delivers everything we are looking for in terms of business opportunities and community involvement. Through participation in the monthly mixers and other events, our company has met dozens of new clients."

Many Free Member Benefits

The chamber is working hard to to serve its member businesses, big and small, and ultimately help their bottom line. It has developed several additional programs that are free to members.

If you need help getting connections with city, county, state or federal government, the chamber can introduce your business to the right people.

Do you do business overseas? If you need a Certificate of Origin, it is free to members, which can save your company thousands of dollars each year.

The weekly e-mail newsletter reaches more than 1,000 mailboxes, and businesses regularly list specials, promotions, events and general information.

Press releases go on the chamber website and to the monthly Business Journal, which goes out through the Valley Times & Tri-Valley Herald (a reach of about 38,000 people).

It holds many free workshops and seminars throughout the year on many topics. You can visit its online calendar of events.

Every economist and job counselor in the national press is saying the most important thing a business can do in hard economic times is to NETWORK. The chamber has many committees, mixers, events and other opportunities to keep you connected.

Some chambers charge fees for ribbon cuttings, but this is a free benefit to members. The Livermore chamber regularly celebrates new businesses with a grand opening or ribbon-cutting celebrations. Each ribbon cutting is published with a photograph in the Tri-Valley Herald and The Valley Times, as well as on the chamber website. Chamber Ambassadors and community VIPs attend, making it a fun event.

The chamber provides member businesses with free access to its professional SCORE counselors. It can assist your business with tools for better marketing, sales, finance, management and human-resource issues.

Ian Kaye from UltraCell Corporation said, "We strongly believe that the Chamber of Commerce's effort to rally local resources was the icing on the cake that helped our request (for federal funding) succeed. We have also hired companies listed on the Chamber of Commerce website to provide contracting services to UltraCell. We are convinced that the Chamber of Commerce is a true citizen who gives back much more than it asks for. We are big fans of the chamber and look forward to working with it long into the future."

I believe that everything Joe and Ian have said is true. The small membership fee is easily worth thousands of dollars, and can be worth much more. I've got new friends, fellow businesses that I regularly refer others to, and am sincerely glad that I'm a part of this community of businesses.

If you're interested in finding out more, drop me a note, or visit www.livermorechamber.org. The site lists all the benefits and has an application, too. Call the chamber at 925-447-1606 and tell Julie, Nicole, Martha, Jeanie and Dale that I sent you.