I'm not certain why, but it seems that a good place to confront the guy from the Chamber of Commerce is during his visits to the post office. Those daily trips are sort of a social event. It's amazing all the people you can see in the mornings at the post office. It's a good thing there isn't coffee at the post office. Heck, the groups that meet at McDonald's and Arby's might move to a new location on Hudson Street.

Earlier this week at the post office, a gentleman told me how a local business owner was unhappy with the Chamber of Commerce because the chamber of commerce hadn't done anything to help his business. When the gentleman told me the business-owners name, it didn't ring a bell. When he told me the name of the business, I admitted that I knew absolutely nothing about the business… in fact I wasn't even sure where it is located. But as I spoke with this gentleman, I explained how the Chamber of Commerce actually helps businesses in Grant County that we are unaware of. You see, we work hard to get people in Grant County to shop locally, get services locally, dine locally, and even seek out medical attention locally. Everyday we speak with people outside of Grant County about relocating to this area. Everyday we work to entice visitors to come to Grant County for a vacation or a weekend trip. When those individuals ask us to make a referral, we always refer Chamber Members. If we don't have a Chamber Member that fits their need, then we pretty much quote the businesses in the phone book. So, if a business isn't a member of the Chamber of Commerce… if the business isn't listed in the phone book, we don't give them a direct referral… but we still do what is necessary to get the inquiring person to come to Grant County. And maybe, in some round-about way, if we successfully get the inquiring person to visit Grant County… that person may end up going to the business that says the Chamber of Commerce does nothing to help their business. True… this is possible!

More importantly, why hasn't this business-owner called the Chamber of Commerce to see what we can do to help their business? I'll meet with businesses whether they are a member of the Chamber of Commerce or not. All you have to do is pick up a telephone and dial our number… 538-3785.

When I was in Louisiana, I put together a leadership program. One of the activities we held for participants was a rope course. We did the usual walking along low ropes suspended above the ground, and there was a high-ropes course where each participant wore a harness and traversed across an opening between two large trees about 30 feet in the air. But the part of the ropes course I always enjoyed, was the blind-fold course. Each participant wore a blind-fold and walked along the rope holding on with one hand. Once we had the group in a certain area, we looped the rope around and tied the ends together creating a rather large circle. The group had to leave their blind-folds on while they figured out how to get out of the circle. But there was a catch… there's always a catch! You could not crawl under the rope. You could not climb over the rope. You could not untie the ropes. You could not cut the rope. AND, you have only 30 minutes to get out of the rope circle.

Actually, as you can imagine, there was no way to get out of the rope circle… unless you asked for help. The people with strong-willed personalities would stay in that circle for the entire 30 minutes if need be trying to figure out what to do on their own. But once someone said, "I need help", or, "I could use some help", we would whisper in their ear to duck under the rope because they have figured it out.

There comes a time when everyone needs a little help, but you have to be willing to ask for it. For the business-owner that said the Chamber of Commerce never helped his business, I can promise you he never called our office to ask us to help him. For less than the price of one (1) quarter-of-a-page ad in one newspaper on one day, we will help market a business 365 days a year. Call us (575-538-3785) and tell the Chamber of Commerce how we can help your business while you support the Chamber of Commerce. Working together, we can make things happen.