Chamber of Commerce Best
Practices
Greater
Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce
Our Business Is To Help You
Build Your Business
By Jimmy Johnson, Executive Director
FOCUS STATEMENT
The Greater Seminole Area
Chamber of Commerce is an association of business and
professional people who work together to build the
community in an organized way to ensure progressive,
orderly development, effective government at all levels,
and to maintain a positive climate for a sound and
expanding economy.
Each Chamber of Commerce is
as individual as the community in which it is located
and typically exhibits the same personality. With a
population of nearly 20,000, the city of Seminole is a
small town compared to the neighboring cities of St.
Petersburg and Clearwater. Seminole, however, has a big
heart and is known for being both warm and welcoming.
The Seminole Chamber and Seminole city government work
in tandem to be progressive and offer the best services
possible to businesses and residents alike.
We, at the Chamber office, are fond of saying, “Everyone
is someone to us.” We strive to ensure that each
“customer” who contacts us is treated with the utmost
courtesy and receives the personalized assistance he or
she desires. Seminole is quickly becoming a destination
city, and we are happy to provide information to
tourists, vacationers, and newcomers. Sharing our
community’s information gives us the opportunity to
promote Seminole with its low taxes; low crime rate;
shopping; excellent schools, including St. Petersburg
College; joint-use library; post office and city hall;
state-of-the art recreation center; beautiful parks;
proximity to the beaches, and much more.
Residents often stop by the Chamber to say hello and
catch up on the news, since the office at 8400 113th
Street N. is the hub of the community and the
“communications central” for all commerce in Seminole.
We respond to more than 2,000 requests annually for the
names of local businesses, professionals and services,
as well as local data on business activities and
opportunities.
Since 1962 we have been the
catalyst organization that facilitates advancement for
greater Seminole’s economy and quality of life. The
Chamber maintains close contact with our government
officials at the city, county and state levels to
address the business community’s issues and concerns in
a timely manner. The Chamber supports local schools
through donations of time, talent and scholarships.
A community tradition for years, our annual Kids
Appreciation Day event on the last day of school at the
city park helps our youth welcome the summer in a
positive way, while applauding them for their efforts
during the school year. Educators are thanked for their
dedication at an annual Tribute to Teachers breakfast.
We cultivate special
relationships throughout the greater Seminole area,
inviting businesses and organizations to become members
and cherishing them as they remain in our association.
We know our members by name, which is a benefit of being
a small, but mighty, Chamber. A core group of our
long-time members were founders of the city of Seminole
and instrumental in its incorporation in 1970. Their
wealth of wisdom and steadfast support is sincerely
appreciated as the Chamber continues to grow its
membership/business population. Thanks to a Business
Assistance Partnership (BAP) with the City of Seminole
and Pinellas County Economic Development, the Seminole
Chamber is able to offer one-on-one counseling to all
businesses, focusing on at-risk and start-up businesses,
and furnishing them with a business plan, marketing plan
and resources for financial assistance. The BAP program
also serves as a tool to determine trends in the
marketplace and offers business owners contacts to a
pool of pre-screened employees and training programs.
Many tangible and intangible benefits are realized upon
becoming a Seminole Chamber member. We help businesses
build a solid foundation to increase their business
success through our projects, events, workshops and
after-hours socials. All of these provide ideal
networking/marketing opportunities. An ongoing calendar
is posted on our Web site:
www.seminolechamber.net and in our monthly
newsletter. Our Chamber-sponsored Business Leads &
Skills Development Workshops facilitate learning and
mentoring. We encourage all our Chamber members to
become involved by joining one of our committees:
Ambassador, Chamber Champion Award, Economic
Development, Tribute to Teachers Breakfast, Golf
Tournament, Kids Appreciation Day, Membership, Seminole
Stampede, and Newsletter. Their input adds flavor, and
their participation helps to maintain solid
relationships within the community. Moreover, committee
participation is an opportunity to demonstrate
leadership. Each of their successes is our success.
Our Board of Directors and Officers are elected directly
from our membership. Our members carry the torch
forward, knowing that “Each of us is better at some
things than others, but none of us is better than all of
us working together.”
Jimmy Johnson is the
Executive Director of the Greater Seminole Area Chamber
of Commerce. For additional information, contact the
Seminole Chamber at (727)392-3245 or online at
www.seminolechamber.net.
Published August 2007,
Volume 1, Number 5,
Bay Area Business Magazine
back to top |
