The Switchboard

Some days working at the Chamber is a lot like the picture above. I think that is because many people do not understand what the Chamber is or does. Because we are a private membership organization, our primary function is to support our member businesses, and attract industry to our area; but everyone who works in our office takes time to try to answer every question and help each person who walks through our doors - members and non-members alike. In November of 2008, we answered over 800 calls and helped the 90+ people who stopped by needing some type of information.

Many times we act like operators, looking up phone numbers and referring consumers to our members. If we don't have an answer to their question, we try to direct them to someone who does. But there are questions that we cannot answer. Let me give you a couple of examples. Today we received a call from someone who wanted to move to Canada and thought we could tell her how to do that. Last year around Christmas, a caller asked if we knew of any organization that would put up Christmas lights on the outside of her house because she wasn't able to do it herself. Not a silly question. But she had one stipulation - they needed to bring the lights with them because she had none. And one of my favorites was a call we received from a student who missed the bus and wanted to know if we could pick him up and take him to school.

The Chamber is an interesting place to work. We learn something new every day by taking time to find the answers to the many questions we are asked. We are committed to helping others succeed. That is one of the reasons I love my job. As they say, find a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life.