At an early morning breakfast meeting at the Chamber of Commerce in Wexford, Pa., the chamber’s Military Affairs Council enjoys a fresh cup of coffee while its members discuss the upcoming plans for a fall harvest festival to honor America’s brave men and women who’ve served in the military. The festival is just one item on the busy agenda that includes ways to promote veteran-owned firms in the community and outlining an ambitious initiative that pairs veterans looking for good jobs with local employers seeking military talent.

Susan Balla, the chamber’s executive director, stressed the chamber’s recognition of the value of veterans.

“Whether they’re in the field protecting us or in their business promoting economic development in or communities, the veteran community is a very special group of individuals,” Balla said. “They make excellent business owners because of their military training, their skills sets and their passion.”

Being Military Friendly Makes Sense for Chambers
The chamber of commerce as an advocate for local businesses has been around since the first chamber was founded in Marseilles, France, in 1566. The first American chamber was founded in New York City in 1768. Over the years that number expanded to more than 7,800, according to the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE).

Chambers are always looking for ways to increase the value to its members. Identifying a business as veteran-owned allows the 70 percent of American consumers who want to buy veteran the opportunity to do just that. NaVOBA sent representatives to the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) national conference last year who worked with executives from all over the country to help bring the Buy Veteran movement to cities and towns across America. There were a surprising number of chambers that were already actively promoting various programs aimed at fostering veteran-entrepreneurship, hiring veterans and promoting local veteran-owned firms.

“Veterans failure rate as business owners is much less than the traditional business owner because of their work ethic,” Balla said. “They believe in and follow a business plan. They serve as excellent mentors to other business owners. They believe in the sense of community and support their endeavors.”

Military Friendly Chambers
Lisa Johnson takes her commitment to America’s military men and women seriously. As president of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce in Bossier City, Louisiana, Johnson’s ideology permeates the chamber’s philosophy as well.

“It’s critical to keep the American Dream alive,” Johnson said. “The men and women of our Armed Forces fight for our freedom – the freedom to be an entrepreneur, the freedom to own a company, the freedom to stimulate the economy and the freedom to give back to a community and our nation.”

Johnson is by no means alone in this sentiment. Chamber executives across the country recognize how vetrepreneurs impact their communities as well as their chambers.

“At the Bossier Chamber of Commerce, we have always honored ourmen and women at Team Barksdale through awards and giving back,” Johnson said. “In recent years, we have invited the business community to join us in partnering in ways that benefit all. By offering military-friendly initiatives it shows that we are ‘boots on the ground’ for our Armed Forces.”

The Bossier Chamber of Commerce is one of 20 chambers nationwide recognized by NaVOBA as one of the 2012 Military Friendly Chambers of Commerce for its dedication to fostering veterans entrepreneurship and creating programs to promote the Buy Veteran message in their communities.

 The bottom line: Being military friendly helps chambers attract new members who are veteran business owners and highlight chambers’ efforts to support the military community.

“Chambers around the country should develop programs or initiatives involving veterans because as an organization that represents the community, our veteran population is a huge segment of the community,” Balla said. “We also need to recognize the value and skill sets they bring to the business world. It will also help veterans connect with one another, identify themselves and work as mentors to one another. Work force development is a key component to weathering the next era of business development in our communities. Veterans can be that next catalyst.”

Lyle Butler, president of the Manhattan, Kan. Chamber of Commerce echoed those sentiments.

“These men and women have given so much for our country that creating opportunities for them is a huge part of what we do,” Butler said.

The Manhattan chamber has heightened its focus on the military and veteran community over the last six years, Butler said. The chamber hired a full-time military coordinator as an integral part of those efforts. Part of the military coordinator’s job is to build relationships with military families and veterans groups in the Manhattan area.

“We want to know that these folks are transient and we want to go out of the way to get to know them and let them get to know us while they’re here,” Butler said. “We work to help [military] spouses find jobs and we make presentations to the folks who are retiring to try to encourage them to stay in our area of the country whether it’s to earn an education or helping them start businesses.”          

What are Some of These Military Friendly Programs?
As part of its Right Start Orientation, the Bossier chamber attends and presents to all new Barksdale Airmen and civilian Department of Defense personnel twice a month as a guest of the Airmen and Family Readiness Center at Barksdale Air Force Base. The Bossier Chamber also partners with the Shreveport-Bossier Tourist Bureau to inform military personnel of the multitude of fun and tourist activities associated with Bossier/Shreveport and the surrounding areas.

In addition, as part of its Air Force Global Strike Spouses’ Orientation, the Bossier chamber meets with spouses and shares information about the Bossier school system, volunteer opportunities and church listings. It also holds a quarterly job fair for all military ID holders and through its Military Relations committee is proud to present awards on behalf of the businesses in the Bossier/Shreveport area that donate to the Airmen of the Month and Airmen of the Quarter award ceremonies.

In partnership with the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, the Bossier chamber coordinates a program that allows business merchants in the area to display a sticker in their front door or window advertising they offer a military discount to all military ID holders. In conjunction with the stickers for businesses, a publication will be produced with a list of all the merchants that take part in the program. This publication will be available at the Bossier and Shreveport chambers, as well as distributed on Barksdale AFB.

Balla said that even though her chamber is not located directly near a major military base, the chamber’s military initiatives are still a top priority.

“It is certainly a differentiator for us to our members, community and our sponsors,” Balla said. “We have a Veterans Task Force that continually looks at programs we feel the veteran communities are asking for or that the community has identified as needed support programs to assist the veterans. We currently hold a quarterly ‘Transition Forward’ one-day seminar designed to assist veterans of all ages, ranks and employment status in developing good résumés, interview skills and mock interviews.”

This class is also open to military spouses and children. The program is sponsored by a veteran-directed staffing company. The program is taught by a Naval Academy graduate as well as a Marine veteran. And the chamber assists veterans in interpretation of military to civilian skills. 

“We also bring in our veteran-owned business owners to assist them in interviews and potential employment opportunities,” Balla said. “We also are trying to serve the role of a conduit to all of the programs offered to veterans in our community. We want to provide the veteran with a road map for success.”

Finding the Most Military Friendly Chambers
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to support military service members, along with initiatives like the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes program have captured the attention of the more than 3 million veteran-owned businesses and 7,000 chambers across the country.  As a result of multiple inquiries, NaVOBA, in cooperation with ACCE, conducted a survey to highlight military-friendly chambers. The chambers gracing the list stood out from the crowd in the following areas:

Aurora Chamber of Commerce
Aurora, Colo.  •  www.aurorachamber.org

Bossier Chamber of Commerce
Bossier City, La.  •  www.bossierchamber.com

Burlington County Chamber of Commerce
Mt. Laurel, N.J.  •  www. bccoc.com

Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce
El Paso, Texas  •  www.elpaso.org

Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
Miami, Fla.  •  www.miamichamber.com

Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce
Oswego, N.Y.  •  www.oswegofultonchamber.com

Knoxville Chamber of Commerce
Knoxville, Tenn.  •  www.knoxvillechamber.com

Lehi Area Chamber of Commerce
Lehi, Utah  •  www.lehiareachamber.org

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce
Manhattan, Kan.  •  www.manhattan.org

Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce
Minneapolis, Minn.  •  www.minneapolischamber.org

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Nashville, Tenn.  •  www.nashvillechamber.com

Pasadena Chamber of Commerce
Pasadena, Texas  •  www.pasadena-chamber.org

Pensacola Bay Chamber of Commerce
Pensacola, Fla.  •  www.pensacolachamber.com

Prince William Chamber of Commerce
Manassas, Va.   •  www.pwchamber.org

South Shore Chamber of Commerce
Quincy, Mass.  •  www.southshorechamber.org

Spearfish Area Chamber of Commerce
Spearfish, S.D.   •  www.spearfishchamber.org

Torrance Chamber of Commerce
Torrance, Calif.  •  www.torrancechamber.com

Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce
Quakertown, Pa.  •  www.ubcc.org

Wexford/Cranberry Chamber of Commerce
Wexford, Pa.  •  www.thechamberinc.com

Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce
Williamsport, Pa.  •  www.williamsport.org

Written by Matthew Pavelek