“We advocate, connect, inform, and fight for business growth and America’s success.” – U.S. Chamber of Commerce Mission Statement

Look around your community: the bustling businesses, the jingling of bells as shoppers enter a store, and the aroma of delicious food emitting from the restaurants. A beautiful, cohesive community that you get to call home. People all over the country get to experience this sense of community thanks to the Chambers of Commerce. Much like how a heart beats to keep someone alive, the Chambers of Commerce works to keep cities going; without it, cities would cease to function. No matter where in the country you are, we are connected by the Chambers of Commerce and should be appreciative of all they do for society. 

As the Chief Executive Officer for the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce and executive director for the Yorba Linda Chamber Foundation, Susan Wan-Ross describes the main focus of the Chamber as “business and helping to create thriving economics. We want to make sure that our businesses stay and thrive, [and] we also need to connect the business with the community and our local government” to create a connected community. This role taken on by the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce is similar to the goal of approximately 4000 other Chambers of Commerce in the United States, mostly focusing on topics relating to networking, community involvement, government affairs, and political advocacy (Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives). In short, Chambers of Commerce are “a catalyst for business growth, [a] convener of leaders and influencers, and a champion for our community” as Susan Wan-Ross beautifully summarizes.

Although the overall mission correlates between Chambers across the country, every community has its own personality: some communities have more residential than industry and others have more industry than residential, causing Chambers of Commerce to take different plans of action. Political involvement is also a major difference between Chambers. Susan Wan-Ross shares that “We in Yorba Linda do not get politically involved as far as lobbying but will support various bills and policies. [On the other hand,] California Chamber and the U.S. Chamber are the main lobbyists and they do lobbying for all the businesses in each region.” In addition to advocating for policies that benefit businesses and the economy, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce connects its members with business leaders and government leaders around the world and provides them the resources businesses need to succeed (uschamber.com).

Keeping an entire community going is not an easy task, and there are key figures who contribute to the workings of the Chamber. Mainly, a city’s Chamber of Commerce has a chief paid staff that is governed by a board of directors, and there are ambassadors that the Chamber depends on as well. Using the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce as an example, Susan Wan-Ross explains that the “board 0f directors, [currently consisting of 11 board members], are generally business owners or significant people in the community who have influence. We keep any elected officials out of our board of directors because we want to make sure [our board] is more business related and has experience running a business so they can help mentor members. [As for ambassadors,] they are the ones who spread the word about the chamber and encourage people to check us out.” 

Additionally, the Chambers of Commerce presents significant opportunities for students to intern and learn more about their community. Anjeli Webb (11), a current junior at Yorba Linda High School, has been interning at the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce since middle school. Anjeli describes her interning experience to have taught her “to always go the extra mile, build better work habits, and be an involved citizen through establishing relationships throughout the community.” She has found a great way to give back to her community and she “recommend[s] that anyone, regardless of their age, consider volunteering or interning at non-profits and not-for-profits in their neighborhoods, whether it be to foster the economy or to gain life experience.”

Continuing on the structure and role of a city’s Chamber of Commerce, one of the most common misconceptions is that the Chamber of Commerce is part of the government. Although Chambers of Commerce work closely with the city to build relationships with potential businesses and work together to bring in economic vitality, they are private entities separate from the city. For example, one of the many events that the Yorba Linda Chamber hosts is State of the City, which brings in all the dignitaries to help connect government with the community.

Speaking of events, most of the events Chambers of Commerce put on are to cultivate community relationships and business networking. Specifically, Susan Wan-Ross highlights four of the major events the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce has, including “Yorba Days, which is basically celebrating our community and trying to bring them all together with all the different businesses… car expo [where] we have a lot of vintage cars that do the car show… Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast where we touch on the faith-based community… [and] our biggest signature event is the Taste of Yorba Linda.” 

For almost 40 years, the Taste of Yorba Linda is a great opportunity for restaurants in Yorba Linda to showcase themselves and their food. Discussing what the Taste of Yorba Linda has been like in the past, Susan Wan-Ross states that “Each restaurant has a booth [where] they can share samples of their food and then we sell tickets/admission for people to come in. We have had up to 2,000 attendees to sample some of the different restaurants we’ve had. We have had up to 75 restaurant vendors. [Also,] we get a live band [and] have a silent auction to help raise funds for our student scholarships.”

Now, there are many different networking groups across the United States, but Chambers of Commerce has always been the original way of building relationships, networking, and bringing a community together. In the world of business, economy, and community, “It is not necessarily going around trying to throw your business card around; it is meeting people and building the relationships so people can like you, trust you, and do business with you” (Susan Wan-Ross). Thank you Chambers of Commerce for keeping communities thriving.

For more information about any Chamber of Commerce in the United States: US Chamber Directory.