Effingham County Chamber Named Finalist for Industry Award

The Effingham County Chamber of Commerce has been named a finalist for the 2017 Chamber of the Year award, presented by Alexandria, Va.-based Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, and sponsored by Indianapolis-based WebLink International.

Finalists for the award will be celebrated at a special event Tuesday, July 18 in Nashville, Tenn.

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. To ensure the fairest competition, applicants are grouped into five categories based on: annual revenue, membership, area population, and several other factors.

The Effingham County Chamber has qualified in Category 1, along with Des Moines Downtown Chamber, Des Moines, Iowa and O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries, O’Fallon, Missouri.

“Qualifying for this award during our Centennial Year has even more meaning for the Effingham County Chamber. It is due to the dedication of our Board of Directors, volunteer teams and Chamber professional staff that we have qualified for this prestigious award. Past Chamber Board Chairman Jeff Fritchtnitch and I will be traveling to Nashville to conduct the final phase of the selection process. This in-depth interview will focus on the Chamber’s strategic objectives and future focus,” according to Chamber President & CEO Norma Lansing.