(June 14, 2017) — The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce has been named a finalist for the 2017 Chamber of the Year award, presented by Alexandria, Virginia-based Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, and sponsored by Indianapolis-based WebLink International.
“This honor is a testament to our community commitment, whether it’s creating jobs, helping students get prepared for those jobs, or championing our member businesses,” said Bill Kilbride, Chamber President & CEO. “We always strive for excellence and we’re honored to be a Chamber of the Year finalist this year.”
A special event July 18 in Nashville celebrates finalists for the award. To ensure the fairest competition, applicants are grouped into five categories based on: annual revenue, membership, area population and several other factors. The Chattanooga Chamber competes against two finalists for the Chamber of the Year award.
Chamber of the Year is the nation’s only award recognizing the leadership role chambers have in their communities. Those honored with the Chamber of the Year designation have demonstrated organizational strength and made an impact on key community priorities, such as education, transportation, business development and quality of life.
Chambers of commerce interested in competing for the award first must qualify by participating in a vigorous multi-stage process. Organizations entering the Chamber of the Year competition must meet minimum thresholds in at least three of five key performance areas, including net revenue, net assets, membership account retention and membership dollar retention.
Qualifying for Chamber of the Year is a rigorous process. Chambers compete based on meeting key performance criteria on the ACCE Annual Operations Survey. Qualifying chambers enter the competition with a written application addressing all aspects of organizational operation and programmatic work. Applications are scored by peer chamber executives to determine finalists.
Winners are selected from among finalists based on an in-person interview before a panel of experienced chamber professionals.
This year's competition drew numerous entries from chambers throughout the U.S and Canada.
About the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives
The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, founded in 1914, uniquely serves nearly 8,000 individuals who manage chambers of commerce. The mission of the Alexandria, Va.-based organization is to support and develop chamber professionals to lead businesses and their communities. Learn more about us by visiting ACCE.org.
About our sponsor, WebLink International, Inc.
Weblink International, sponsor of the 2017 Chamber of the Year award, is an industry-leading provider of integrated association management software. Forty percent of the top 50 metro chambers and 60 percent of ACCE Chamber of the Year Finalists have chosen WebLink as their technology provider. Learn more at weblinkinternational.com.
