The short answer, as I mentioned, is money.
The long answer is money, and time, and an application.
I looked into what it takes to join a Chamber near me and found out that for a small business with between 31 and 50 employees, you pay about $650 a year to be a member. For that money, you get benefits including an invitation to a yearly awards banquet, a copy of a directory of local Chamber businesses, and a weekly networking meeting.
That price fluctuates nationwide — in New York, it’s $500 to join; Kansas City, $525; Dallas, $430; Minneapolis, $871.
Let’s go further into the racket. Those Chambers, in turn, can pay a fee that ranges from $699 (members ) to $1,199 (non-members) fee to be “accredited” by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Only 249 of the 7,000 nationwide Chambers have decided to do this recently — which might sound shocking until you dig into the details of what, exactly, accreditation by the USCC really offers: almost nothing.
The U.S. Chamber will prepare a press release and recognize your status on its Web site. In the weeks following your Accreditation, you will receive a letter from U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue, a personalized Accreditation certificate, and access to marketing materials to promote your successful Accreditation. Also, your chamber will have the distinction of being one of the nation’s leading chambers of commerce.
You also get ranked in a five star system, though only 3, 4, and 5 stars are ever awarded.
This is basically a way for the U.S. Chamber to draw more money from its local and state contingents without, in any way, increasing their influence on the USCC as a whole. It’s sort of brilliant, from a money-making perspective, but also completely misleading. How does a nationally accredited Chamber of Commerce differ from a non-accredited CC? One filled out the application and paid the fee; the other probably didn’t.
Jenn, you make some true statements in your post above, and they are: it costs money to join the chamber, the fee for membership may vary depending on geographic location, and the USCC also offers an Accreditation program. The rest of your post is false.
First of all, there is no application to join the U.S. Chamber of commerce; the application is only for chambers who wish to apply for Accreditation, a voluntary process. Secondly, there is not a “5 star” system for ranking; as clearly stated on the Accreditation website, rankings given are Accredited, Accredited with 3 stars, Accredited with 4 stars, or Accredited with 5 stars. Thirdly, while earning accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “gets” you the tangibles that you mentioned in your post, what you fail to mention is the value of Accreditation; Accreditation enhances leadership development, provides a measuring stick with which to evaluate the quality of the chamber, provides direction for the chamber board and staff, helps chambers develop a realistic program and scope of work, promotes upgrades in chamber bylaws, policies, and procedures, develops pride in the organization, helps with membership development, and ultimately, brings prestige, respect, and recognition to the chamber receiving the distinction.
One of the excellent advantages of living in the USA is that freedom of speech, of opinion, exists and is encouraged. However, freedom of speech is radically different than misrepresentation of facts.
Tinsley, I appreciate your comment, though I stand by my research and my post on this subject. At least for my local chamber, there is certainly an application process. And I believe I was clear in establishing that the star-ranking system has four levels of accreditation, as you’ve mentioned.
As for the benefits to be received… that’s a subjective argument. I certainly respect your point of view and what sounds like your experience with the Chamber. I don’t believe that those benefits are necessarily enough to justify the cost, but I can understand that sometimes, for some organizations, they certainly are.