Chamber Member Benefits INCREASED VISIBILITY : MEMBERSHIP puts Your Business on the tip of our tongues! The Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce processes over 20,000 inquiries in our office each year requesting information about various products, services and professions in the entire county. Your membership means that your business is referred first. Our motto Do Business With Chamber Members - They Support Our Community is reinforced with our policy to refer Chamber members first. KICK START PROGRAM: This program puts NEW MEMBER COMPANIES out in front of the membership with four fast-paced efforts! UPON JOINING -You’re invited to attend your first “Wake Up Lapeer” as our guest FIRST MONTH -You prepare an article, 100 words or less, about your company for our newsletter. Your article also appears in the Chamber View page of the LA View newspaper the following month. Circulation 34,000 SECOND MONTH -insert a double sided, 81/2 x 11 flyer, B&W or color, about your business in our newsletter. Normally this is a $75.00 service. You pay only $50! A $25 savings (700 piece mailing) THIRD MONTH -you receive a lead list of chamber member companies in the form of mailing labels or an Excel spreadsheet. You can use this prospecting tool to send your company brochure and a business card out to fellow business owners. Promote a new product line, new location, grand opening, business or charitable event! ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY: We publish a Lapeer Area Profile and Member Directory annually, a favorite with Realtors, tourists and newcomers to our community. Chamber members advertise in our directory and find a great audience of interested folks! Six thousand copies are distributed throughout Lapeer County each year! WEBSITE PRESENCE: This website is another wonderful way to gain valuable marketing exposure! Member businesses are listed on our website with important contact information, including e-mail addresses and links to members websites. This website is the best business site emanating from Lapeer Michigan and it's available for your business! Keep watching our site for new features and updates! Coming Soon! NEWSLETTER: Our monthly hard copy newsletter Business Connections showcases our new members with articles about their businesses, provides important information about the community and seeks to keep local businesses informed. It also serves as an additional promotional tool for members, providing a venue with reasonable advertising rates and an educated, interested audience. NEWSPAPER VISIBILITY: Chamber View in the LA View! The first Thursday of every month you'll find an entire page in the LA View dedicated to the Chamber. Taken from our Business Connections newsletter, featuring articles about our new member businesses, renewing member announcements, business and marketing tips, events, and more! E-NEWS: In addition to our Business Connections newsletter, each month we publish the Chamber View E-news. This handy E-newsletter focuses on our members. It contains important reminders for upcoming Chamber and Chamber member events and community annoucements! CHAMBER REFERRALS: The Chamber office provides a literature and business card rack to display members business cards, brochures and literature. The Chamber office is host to a significant number of walk-in inquiries every day. GIFT CHECKS: Our Chamber Checks are another way that we promote your business while we keep the bucks in Lapeer! These gift checks, which can be redeemed at participating member businesses, are available in $10, $15, $25, and $50 denominations. They're great for holidays, for employee recognition, or as door prizes at events and meetings. There's no transaction fees! Chamber Checks are available for purchase at the Chamber of Commerce office. SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES - Sponsoring events, programs, educational seminars, Lapeer Days events all generate more visibility for your company or organization. Membership in the Chamber offers a number of these opportunites from sponsoring Wake Up Lapeer to an event or entertainment during Lapeer Days. Sponsorships generally include advertising in Chamber publications as well as through local newspapers, radio and television including Channel 19, the city's cable channel, signage at events and distribution of promotional items, information and product. Sponsors realize the importance of giving back to the organization and community. These activities positively effect the community increasing community appreciation and respect, customer loyalty and generating increased awareness of and new interest in their company. NETWORKING : The Chamber plays host to a variety of social events allowing the mingling membership a relaxed atmosphere of introductions and information. including: THE AMBASSADORS CLUB - Ambassadors welcome the newest members of the Chamber to educate, involve them in the Chamber and to reinforce the value of Chamber membership. They act as representatives of the Chamber at functions and events and actively promote the Chamber through their community involvements. Ambassadors participate in and provide much needed and appreciated support for activities such as Wake Up Lapeer, Ribbon Cuttings, Business After Hours and assist during Lapeer Days and other Chamber events. WAKE UP LAPEER - The THIRD THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH, 7:00 AM, AT MOTT COMMUNITY COLLEGE - LAPEER CAMPUS AT 550 LAKE DRIVE. The Chamber offers this valuable monthly meeting to chamber members, civic leaders, and community organizations to come together to share valuable information, important local news and to network business-to-business. A fast paced agenda featuring busines updates from our sponsors, news from the City, County, Chamber and several non-profits organizations is featured each month. Attended each month by 75 - 80 Chamber business members. A full buffet breakfast is included in the nominal registration fee. Wake Up Lapeer Sponsorship Opportunities: BASIC sponsorship at $66.50 includes: -3 minutes to speak -Your promotional information in the WUL bags -Your company listed as a sponsor in all promotion of WUL -Your presentation video taped and aired on local access channel 19 four times a day for 30 days reaching all of Lapeer County - Breakfast BASIC PLUS: $86.50 -everything in the Basic package PLUS: -a 30 second “fly-on” of your business card at the end of the video -increased name recognition of your business and Wake Up Lapeer sponsor. -Audience members tuning into the broadcast late still see your name and contact information and have time to record it for future use! PICTURE-IN-PICTURE: $200.00 -everything in Basic Plus package AND: -a photo background of your company, building, staff, even, etc. -your three minute Wake Up Lapeer commercial framed within the frame. A “Picture-in-Picture -brief consultation to make sure your photos reinforce your message -use your own photos if you prefer ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET - This is the premier community event of the year! Each year two remarkable individuals are nominated by their peers and selected to recieve the Male and Female Citizen of the year award. This award recognizes these individuals for their extraordinary contributions to our community through volunteer efforts and contributions that enhance the quality of life in our community. The banquet is accompanied by fine food, entertainment and an evening of great fun! RIBBON CUTTINGS & GRAND OPENING CELEBRATIONS - We take pride in celebrating the achievements and growth of our members. Chamber staff, members and Ambassadors assist members to schedule ribbon cutting ceremonies at their business and promote these events to our membership. BUSINESS AFTER HOURS - • It’s a sponsorship opportunity offered and supported by the Chamber of Commerce. • It’s a community based promotion of your business. • It’s a chance to showcase your business, a new location, a special program or anything about your business you want to promote. • It’s a Marketing Opportunity that over 700 businesses, including members, city, county and township officials will be invited to attend. LAPEER DAYS FESTIVAL & annual Parade - The premier festival of Lapeer County! Nearly two dozen community groups offer fund raising opportunities, which combined with spin-off revenue creates a minimum of $500,000 income that stays at home in Lapeer County to work for the community all year long. Visit lapeerdays.com for more information. Sponsorship opportunities for Lapeer Days are available. Sponsorship increases your company's visibility, name recognition, Community loyalty and helps our community grow and prosper. For sponsorship information go to www.lapeerdays.org EDUCATION : Education receives high priority for our members. The Chamber conducts several workshops and seminars each year available to our members at a nominal expense in time and money. We work hand in hand with many resources in presenting these programs as well as seeking speakers and outside consultants to assist in such programs as Customer Service, Marketing, Leadership and Team Building. We look for every opportunity to assist our members in successfully operating their businesses. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT : The Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce takes pride in its community projects including the Citizens of the Year Awards, Lapeer Days Festival and the Light Up Lapeer Christmas Parade promotion. Actively involved in the community, the Chamber serves as a facilitator on the city, township, and county levels to improve infrastructure, plan for community growth, and enhance the business climate. It also works to attract, retain and promote business, tourism and travel. We assist in easing the demands on businesses by representing our member’s interests in regional, state and local affairs. Our contract with you is placing your perspectives and interests in the forefront. You are the Chamber --Local businesses, merchants and industry. COST SAVINGS : MEMBER-TO-MEMBER DISCOUNTS: One way businesses support one another is by utilizing each others'' services. A Member-To-Member Discount program, with many businesses offering special discounts to Chamber Members, is a valuable benefit to our members. HEALTH INSURANCE OPTIONS: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network programs provide members with the best possible rates to their individual businesses. For further information please call the Chamber. The Chamber actively seeks additional cost savings programs available only to Chamber Members. OFFICE PRODUCTS: The Lapeer Area Chamber has partnered with OFFICE DEPOT to offer their members great office supply discounts. To utilize Office Depot as your choice office supplier, they are offering you a start-up package you can’t pass up! Contact the Chamber office for information on how you can enroll in this member benefit program! ADVERTISING DISCOUNTS: Members can advertise in the Chamber's Business Connections Newsletter. This very targeted mailing is an effective yet inexpensive benefit to promote business-to-business. Ad rates start as low as $39! Contact the Chamber office for complete advertising rates. Save 25% on your advertising dollars when you advertise in the LA View on the Chamber View page every first Thursday of the month. This valuable savings is available only through membership in the Chamber! REFERRAL REWARDS FOR MEMBERS - The Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce offers our loyal members a way to earn DISCOUNTS ON MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL when they refer new members to the Chamber! It’s our REFERRAL REWARDS program. Refer up to five new members annually and SAVE UP TO 50% off of your dues and continue to enjoy the benefits of membership. Site design and contents © 2000 Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce. All Rights Reserved. For information pertaining to site content please email: staff@lapeerareachamber.org. For problems with the web site please email: webmaster@lapeerareachamber.org.