By Tiffany Chen

In 2018, the chamber hit two milestones when we broke the 900+ member businesses/organizations threshold and were named one of the ten largest chambers in Massachusetts by the Boston Business Journal.

With 2019 just a couple months in, we hope to continue to grow our membership. But of course, it wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated and involved members who believe in us and volunteer at events and on committees.

We want to help our members make the chamber work for their business/organization. As a new member, your membership starts immediately after you receive a welcome letter from Membership Director Lise Elcock that highlights many benefits and resources the chamber offers … but it doesn’t stop there. Our Member Services team connects with your business/organization on social media and features you in different platforms such as the chamber’s website, bi-monthly InBusiness newspaper and local publications such as the Newton TAB and Needham Times.

Beyond being featured across different platforms, we’ve found that members find more value and can better navigate their membership after attending one of our quarterly New Member Open Houses. Open to new member businesses/organizations that have joined and also to any individual representatives who have just joined the team of a member business/organization, the open houses are also a great way for prospective members to learn more about the benefits of chamber membership. It’s an opportunity to meet fellow new members and learn about different educational programs, networking opportunities and advocacy efforts the chamber offers.

“True to chamber reputation, the program was thorough and comprehensive,” said Kimberly Calvi of Boston Edits who attended a recent open house. “In that one hour, I learned just how expansive and dynamic the tools to promote my copywriting and copyediting business are.”

Another attendee of a recent open house, David Lee of Fibrenew – Newton said, “I learned that as a new member, I could take advantage of a print-out of mailing labels of all members. I targeted fellow members that could benefit from my services and sent a mailing that yielded new relationships and new business.”

In 2019, your chamber team is working hard to enhance the experience of our members starting at the click of the “Submit” button of the membership application. We are always looking for ways to improve and any feedback is greatly appreciated. A chamber membership is not a “one size fits all” – but our Member Services team of Tiffany Chen at tchen@nnchamber.com and Tara Milligan at tmilligan@nnchamber.com (or by phone at 617-244-5300) are always available to help our members find the best way to put the chamber to work for them.

Tiffany Chen is the chamber’s Member Services Manager.