Connecting the dots & building relationships

Harriet Beard was recognized for her work on local transportation projects by having a portion of a local highway named after her. Pictured with former State Rep. Nate Walker.

Like many of you, as the new year approaches, I find myself looking to the future.  In 2020, the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce will mark its 105th birthday and I will complete my 11th year as the director. The wonderful thing about an organization that has been around that long is our history. We have a well-respected history.
 History influences the future. In my short time here I’ve seen ideas surface and as we began to explore them someone in our midst knew it had been presented in the past and whether or not the outcome was successful. Unfortunately, because of our age, most of those early leaders are no longer here to guide us. This year we lost an incredible link to our history when Harriet Beard passed. She was a wealth of information on past projects and her passion held steady till the end.  ​It’s unlikely her shoes will ever be filled. We will miss her.
​
Moving Forward
It has been suggested that as we move forward our organization do a SOAR assessment. It’s similar to a SWOT Analysis, only it’s not reflective of our past; it’s present and future thinking. SOAR stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results. I want to focus for a moment on the third letter, A for Aspirations. How does the Chamber want to be perceived? As future generations reflect on our organization, will they find it to be an organization worthy of their investment of time and resources?

I like to think of the Chamber as being the one who Connects the Dots by facilitating relationships between business and the rest of our community. Here are my own personal Aspirations for the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce:

• Problem Solver: Be seen as a problem-solver for the community. If we don’t have the answer, we’ll use our connections to help you find someone who does.
• Resource: To be the number one resource for the community to locate products and services thru our online directory and the knowledge of our office staff.
• Promoter: Actively promote and support our businesses, their products and services, events and activities.
• Partner: Work closely with other economic development partners (Tourism, City of Kirksville, Main Street Kirksville, MREIC and K-REDI) to assure we have a thriving business community as we move forward.
• Facilitator: Facilitate working partnerships by introducing and connecting businesses to other community leaders.
• Information Source: Continue to provide information to keep our members informed on local issues thru candidate forums, public meetings and seminars.
• Good Investment: Continue to provide value-added benefits to our membership. In my 14 years, we’ve added online business tools and access to health insurance to our benefits and dues have only increased $25 for general membership, less than $2 a year. 

---

Photo by Romain Vignes on Unsplash

​​I think the future looks bright and I welcome 2020 as an opportunity to serve our businesses. Are you a business owner and not yet a member, give us a call. We would love to add you to our network and help you connect the dots. Please check us out at www.kirksvillechamber.com, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at KVchamberofcommerce. 

---