JACKSON CITY COMMENTARY; A LITTLE HISTORY OF CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

This has been a busy year already, and we are only in our fifth month of our fiscal year. We are often asked, "What exactly do you do as the Chamber of Commerce?" I always answer that we do the stuff that everyone thinks just happens. I also want you to know that we don't just "do stuff" or pass out maps, we make things happen, and there's a big difference between doing stuff and making things happen.

Let me give a little history on Chambers of Commerce in general and then we'll address our chamber. The first Chamber of Commerce was in Marseilles, France in 1599, where the organization was formed by the city council mainly to provide direction and promotion of area

businesses. Germany started the Chamber of Commerce movement in Europe by recognizing the need to promote trade and training for careers in commerce. Those early European chambers have little in common with the chambers of today. Although they were associated with businesses, they were also quasi-public agencies and actually had powers in respect to trade, such as; establishing codes governing commercial practices, arbitration of rules, and supervision over commercial bodies.

The oldest Chamber of Commerce in the United States was the New York state Chamber of Commerce and was organized in 1768. These early American chambers were organized to promote and protect commerce, which is still one of any chamber's main missions.

The emergence of the Chamber of Commerce as a true community organization came later as business owners began to realize that business prosperity depended on the development of a prosperous, healthy, and happy community. Today there are roughly 4,000 Chambers of Commerce in the United States and they have evolved from predominantly trying to attract new industry, to advancing commercial, retail, and civic developments as well.

Balance is the key when it comes to Chambers of Commerce. All chambers must be able to offer many programs and services that promote and protect businesses, while understanding the need for civic programs within the community.

Governmental affairs were added to the chamber missions around the world and chambers have become increasingly active on federal, state, and local levels as an interpreter of government to business and business to government. The Jackson Chamber of Commerce is a well balanced organization that continues to offer a variety of programs and services to its members, and the community as a whole.

The Jackson Chamber of Commerce was chartered in 1955 and we have changed and evolved locally, as the Chambers around the world have evolved. We have partnerships with local public and private education facilities, we understand the need for education and training to produce quality businesses and entrepreneurs in our community.

We work closely with local organizations to maintain an adequate workforce, increasingly difficult in today's economy, and we provide information and networking to the membership through our events.

The Jackson Chamber of Commerce strives to be the best at providing a return on investment to the membership and the community. We may not have every answer to every question reference business and community issues, but I can promise you that we know where to go to find any tidbit of information you may need.

As this community grows, there is a well-established need for the city government to be pro-active, as ours is, and for the chamber to continue its ascent as the ONLY organization whose mission is to promote area businesses, attract new industry, and promote the community as a viable place to live and conduct business.

It's not a difficult task though, Jackson sells itself.