What is a Chamber of Commerce?

A Chamber of Commerce is a voluntary membership organization of business and professional people, non-profit agencies, and individual community members.  Chambers of Commerce have been in America since before the American Revolution.  During the first half of this century, the Chamber movement grew rapidly, and there are now more than 5,000 Chambers of Commerce operating in communities across the United States.

What do Chambers of Commerce Do?

Chambers may adopt different names or change their names over time to better reflet the unique needs of the communities in which they are organized.  Some Chambers concentrate more heavily on political and governmental affairs that relate to business; others are most involved in tourism promotion and information; still others function exclusively as community service organization.  But most Chambers in smaller communities wear many hats with broad goals to:

* Help businesses prosper and grow.

* Increase job opportunities.

* Encourage planned growth and development of all segments of the community.

* Contribute to a healthy economy.

* Encourage and promote private enterprise appropriate to the community's needs.

* Provide information about the area to the public.

Because Chambers of Commerce broadly reflect their communities, they have become recognized as a central source for information of all sorts about their communities.  Therefore, most Chambers perform a vital function as a community bureau for their areas.

The Membership

The Chamber is designed to allow varing sizes and types of businesses, individuals, industries, financial institutes or civic organizations to become a member.  These members, in turn, are the real owners of the Chamber because of their financial (and time!) investments.  As a result, we consider the members as our "clients."  Consequently, we service our clients by promoting and servicing their needs, which in turn meets the needs of our community.

Currently, our membership is about 300 strong, with each member having the opportunity to vote on a Board of Director.  In turn, the board of directors volunteer their time to set policies, create vision, oversee the financials, establish guidelines for the staff and assist in special projects, committees and task forces.  As business and community needs change, the Board and staff will establish specific task forces and committees to accomplish certain goals.  The common thread that runs throughout each committee and project is to create more dollars for more people and to improve the economic welfare of our community.

Your Responsibility

We urge all members to join committees and get involved.  We urge members to respond to our calls for assistance, whether it be for projects, ideas, or news articles. We urge all members to support other Chamber members, i.e., shopping at their business establishments or recommending them to visitors, etc.

Over and over again....

The Chamber has proven that by working together, we are all better. We bring together the forces of economic, industrial, small business, and community development under one roof.

Click to join the Rialto Chamber of Commerce