Community Corner
North Canton Chamber Brings the Community Together
Community professionals unite to network and promote their businesses
Local businesses can build their network by attending monthly events like Alive After Five with the North Canton Chamber of Commerce.
“Every Chamber of Commerce has a monthly networking event,” said Doug Lane, president of the North Canton Chamber. “Ours is Alive After Five.”
The idea is to get members together at least once a month, so they get comfortable with each other. One of the ways the chamber does this is by introducing their newest members.
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"Whoever our newest members are, we try to get them to come out to this event,” said Lane. “We put the spotlight on them.”
New members like Christine Allison, founder of A Chorus for a Cause, find the chamber to be good for meeting people and community involvement.
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“We just joined in April,” said Allison. “We’ve met some nice people.”
At the events, there’s a 50/50 raffle. The 50 percent the chamber keeps goes directly toward the Hoover scholarship. Last year, they collected $500 from their members that went toward two scholarships for Hoover business students. When the scholarships are given there is definite recognition given to the members.
“It’s about building those relationships,” said Ruby Mathys, chamber member with Advertising Specialties and Printing. “They (other members) learn what you do. And the next thing you know, they’re your customers.”
The chamber tries to have this event at a variety of places. They want their venues to fulfill the needs of a networking environment, while giving their members the chance to showcase their locations.
Events aren’t always after 5 p.m. In fact, they have multiple events at different hours of the day.
“We try to move them around, so that they’ll (members) have a chance to get to the events,” said Lane. “It’s very hard for families with young kids. You’re working at the office till 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and a lot of times it’s hard for people to make it in time and get quality networking.”
Anyone who has an interest in North Canton can become a member. The price is from $100 for a nonprofit up to $375 for a big business. Prices are geared toward the number of employees at the business.