Nordonia Hills Chamber of Commerce

To promote our members through education, leadership and communication between businesses, government and our community.

Monday, June 08, 2009

Why is our Chamber like a paper clip?

There are many ways to visualize the Nordonia Hills Chamber. I've often thought of us as a tree, with the trunk being the office, the branches are the different categories of membership and the leaves are the members.

But what about a paper clip chain? That's a new "Chamber visual" for me. Actually, my chain isn't that neat row you're thinking of; it's more like the mess in my paper clip bowl. But they're all attached! Now think about it a moment. Think about all the connections you have, not just the one-to-one long chain, but all the paper clips that might be linked to you and the ones linked to the others. Think about the connectivity - the connections - you have out there: other Chamber members, online and face-to-face networking groups, your neighborhood, your church. (Are you using them to your full capacity to benefit your business? Are you turning those connections into sales and increased business? No? We can talk about that later!)

And think about the "connectivity" of our Chamber. Each of our 300+ members is a link in that paper clip chain. (And our members don't just come from Nordonia Hills; we have members from all over Northeast Ohio!) When a person inquires about a particular type of business, we refer only our members because they are vital to our chain. If we refer non-members, there is a "dis-connectivity" because we've broken the chain.

Our events are brimming with "connectivity". Our monthly meetings are driven by "connectivity" - as each of you stand to introduce yourself, you're becoming connected to everyone else in the room. At a ribbon cutting ceremony, you can connect with the movers and shakers in our community. On our event committees, every person will develop a relationship with others on the committee and will "connect" weekly or monthly. All our events and programs add to the chain. But the chain only continues and connects if you choose to be involved and use those connections.

We are currently just over 300 members and as we gain new members, not only does the chain grow, but so do your connections. So I ask that you not only get involved with the chain, but also add to the chain. Ask the businesses with whom you do business if they belong to our Chamber. If not, send them our way.

Together we can make the chain continue to grow and offer more connections to you. There are many links to our community chain and our string of connected NHCOC clips only grows if you choose to be involved and stay connected.

Those are my thoughts. I welcome yours.