Local Business Association Helping Charleston Businesses Thrive - Essay Sample

Introduction

Charleston chamber of commerce is a local association of businesspeople in the east of Illinois whose main interest is helping further the business interests of local business people in the area. On behalf of the other business people and stakeholders in the area, it advocates for a better trade environment, security for its members and better support from the local government and non-governmental organizations. It serves as the link between the members and the local authorities as well as other foreign business partners. The sole mission of the association is to help both small and large business grow in a safe and business-friendly market. It requires funds to run it managerial activities where the funding is sourced from member registration fees as well as money paid by members on attending seminars and training sessions held by the chamber of commerce. Any business whether small or large needs to have a communication network between the suppliers and its customers and all these are handled by the chamber of commerce. Also, in some cases, the association can lend money to its members to help them boost their businesses. It is the work of its members of the board to ensure that it remains focused on its goals and missions and that it abides by the local government laws (N.Y. Chamber of Commerce, 2010).

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Charleston is a beautiful city with an attractive environment which has attracted more investors into establishing different kinds of businesses in its environs. As a result of increasing demand for a body to represent these businesses and to air their problems to the right authority. More people have developed positive feeling concerning the importance of the body to the local business people. Initially, several groups were against its establishment arguing that its presence would limit the freedom and trading rights for them. With time they started to see the importance of the association and cooperated as well (Bergman & Bond, 2011).

Charleston business structure has changed a lot for the good of its members since the local chamber of commerce was established. The body faces several challenges including opposition from some people and also financial constraints. As the business community expands day by day, more resources are required to serve all the members. Considering the fact that the body's source of finance is limited, similarly, its services get limited too. The registration fee is a challenge to many especially those owners of the new and young businesses. Most of these small business operators feel that the fee needs to be subsidized to fit every member. The body maintains that it has done its best to set the fee as low as possible to accommodate all its members without any problem. The misunderstanding between these two has remained a challenge to the working of the body (Bhasker, 2013).

Charleston is found in an area with rich fertile soil and for a long time, it has been a leading source of agricultural products. It has been a leading source of soybeans and corn. The agricultural business has been thriving well over the years and more investors both local and international have invested in agriculture. The presence of the state university has helped in research on crop decreases and pests. More than 4 million soybeans bushels and 15 million bushels of corn are produced from the country every year with Charleston being the leading producer. The intervention of Charleston chamber of commerce has helped find a market for the produced agricultural products and also negotiated for better prices on behalf of the farmers. Locals are happy about the same and more farmers are ready to cooperate with the organization to better their business (Bergman & Bond, 2011).

According to previous sensor demographic data, the town has a population of around 22,000 people. It is also situated in close proximity with other metropolitan areas. Therefore, it has been a suitable place to establish any form of business as there is a market for goods and services. The spirit of cooperation cultivated by the local chamber of commerce has helped bind the community together and also helped businesses grow (N.Y. Chamber of Commerce, 2013).

From the above analysis, the society under study expects more from the chamber that it has already gained. There is a lot missing in the profile according to these results and therefore, a need to update the information is necessary. The audience needs to know exactly what plans does the body have concerning the future of the people. This is not clearly outlined in the community profile on the organization's website (Classe, et al., 2014).

Transparency in the way resources are used in any organization is key to its success. Many details are missing in the community profile about how the body uses its resources. Without transparency, members lose trust with the body and chances are that, they won't cooperate in case their support is needed. A more detailed breakdown of how the chamber utilizes its resources need to be published on the community profile (Bergman & Bond, 2011).

The new version that I am proposing would ensure that members develop more trust in the body and community members would be ready to cooperate. Successful commerce chambers usually uphold transparency on all their activities.

References

Classe, J. G., Thal, L. S., Kamen, R. D., & Rounds, R. S. (2014). Business Aspects of Optometry E-Book: Association of Practice Management Educators. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Bergman, L., & Bond, S. (2011). SCC (Stockholm Chamber of Commerce) Arbitral Awards, 2004-2009. Juris Publishing.

N.Y. Chamber of Commerce (2010). Annual Report of the Corporation of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York.

Bhasker, B. (2013). Electronic commerce: Framework, technologies and applications. New Delhi: McGraw-Hill Education.

Schniederjans, M. J., & Cao, Q. (2012). E-Commerce Operations Management. World Scientific.