Membership drive, what can we do for YOU?

Spring has sprung (hopefully) and we at the GCC along with our membership group have kicked off a membership promotion Blitz. We have decided that for Spring, any new member who joing on or before May 31st will recieve 2 free months free of this years membership and a FREE insert into our newsletter, (which is a $100 value). Why you ask? Well, the last few months we have seen a large influx in new members, and frankly want to keep them. In these troubled economic times its more important than ever that Small businesses recieve more bang for their buck. We know that as a member there are various discounts that members can receive and are entitled too, including advertising, networking events, promotions, health insurance, and more. But most of our members dont take part in many of these benefits. So we are going to put out there, member or not, what do you want to see from us? More advertising specials? More events? More visits from Chamber staff? Let us know! We know that businesses are changing. What can we do to help you with these changes, and how can we improve our customer service? Please comment! We will try our best to implement your ideas!

With the business climate ever changing we have seen signs and symptoms all over the region, from the small businesses, to corporate ones, from schools to parks, everyone is cutting back. Now, with health care reform, small businesses especially are looking closely at this newly passed legislation to see how it will affect them. What do you think of the Health Care Reform Bill and its effect on small businesses? how about our community as a whole?

Help the Guilderland Library Celebrate National Library week!

To celebrate National Library Week (April 11 to 17), the Guilderland Public Library, in cooperation with the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, is offering an opportunity to drive more business to your store. It will encourage patrons to shop at your store and get a discount (the amount of which is entirely up to you, but we suggest 5%) simply by showing you their Guilderland Library Card.




The Library will promote this effort by:

• Placing a prominent "Show your Library Card at these local stores, and get a discount!' on its website; the graphic will click right through to a dedicated page listing all participating stores. If you have a website, your store name will be linked to your website.

• Displaying posters throughout the Library showing all participating stores' names

• Giving your store an 8 1/2 x 11 promotional sign to display in your front window: During National Library Week (April 11 through 17), show us your Guilderland Library Card, and get a discount!

If you would like to participate in this program, please let me know by Friday, April 2, so the Library can prepare all promotional material.



Contact at the Library is: Mark Curiale, curialem@guilpl.org, phone 456-2400 x 12.

New Blog, and Discounts for Members!

The Member to Member discount brochure has been updated! Stop in the chamber and pick one up today, or go to http://www.guilderlandchamber.com/m2m.html. Lots of new money saving discounts! Just say you’re a member, or bring the brochure to places offering discounts including the American Safety’s Council’s online defensive driving course where you can save 10% on your auto insurance!The GCC is also now using the email service Constant Contact. As a member you are entitled to some great discounts using this service, with up to 25% off! Constant contact is great for businesses who have an email news letter or news blast! And if you think that isn’t enough to keep us busy, in addition to Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter, we have also resurrected our chamber blog!Look for more updates on here. I will be updating this blog a few times a week. Have news that you want to share? Let meknow and I will also blog about it! Have an interesting topic, or Idea? We will talk about that too! Be sure to check back often!

First Friday Breakfast

We have changed the name of our Small Business Group to First Friday Breakfast. This new name better reflects the state of the group. We encourage all members to participate in this fantastic program.