There are countless reasons to join not only this Chamber of Commerce but any similar business and industrial advocacy group. The funny thing is that many businesses join Chambers across the country and renew year-in and year-out but never take advantage of everything that these organizations have to offer.

As the paid executive for the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber, the idea that businesses are leaving Chamber benefits on the table every year scares me. I firmly believe that there is a lot of value in a Chamber membership but if a company doesn't take advantage of the benefits, they might not remember that value.

I do not have a complete history of our Chamber but in its 90+ year history, I believe that at 900 members, the organization is larger, or close to being as large, as it has ever been. With that being said, more than 70 percent of the businesses in this parish still do not belong to the Chamber. That figure boggles my mind because for as reasonable as our membership investment is, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

For those who are not familiar with the Chamber, we are a non-profit, business advocacy organization. The Chamber is not a government agency. We do not receive any sort of public dollars for the work that we do. We are the voice of the business community whether it is at the local school board or parish council level or all the way to Washington, D.C.

Over the years, the Chamber has advocated for coastal protection and restoration, quality education, pro-business legislation and public responsibility at all levels of government, infrastructure improvements, and quality of life issues such as beautification and recreation opportunities.

Most businesses can join the Chamber for less than $300 per year (membership investments are based on the number of employees at a company) and 95% of your dues are tax-deductible as a necessary business expense.

Chamber members are represented locally, in Baton Rouge and in Washington, D.C. by the paid Chamber staff including a lobbyist in Baton Rouge as well as the countless volunteers that serve as advocates on a regular basis.

Members are promoted through company listings in our annual membership directory (six thousand copies are published annually), on our Web site (averaging more than 25 thousand pages accessed per month) and in our monthly newsletter (20 thousand copies inserted in The Courier). Each member receives their own mini-Web page that can be found by internet browsers such as Google. Members can submit press releases and articles (including photos and video) to run on our Web site or in our newsletter.

If you are already a member of the Chamber, we certainly appreciate your support. Please take advantage of everything we have to offer. If you are not a member of the Chamber, there has never been a better time to join than now. The next few years will be extremely political and the Chamber is well-positioned to make sure that the voice of businesses and industry are not lost in the mix.

To find out more about how valuable a Chamber membership really is, please call (985) 876-5600 or visit our Web site at http://www.houmachamber.com/.