Message from the President – Member Survey Results

Why Members Join: Honoring our Obligation to Community

The final “Top 5 reason” our members told us they choose to support the Chamber’s mission is: an obligation to support the community.

I recall when we prepared the survey, we had internal conversations about the word obligation and whether it carried a negative connotation. Synonyms that came to mind included duty, commitment and responsibility — yet I concede chore and burden are also technically synonyms. In the end, when we fulfill an obligation, duty or even a chore, we feel a sense of dignity, accomplishment and, most likely, we learn something important from the people with whom we worked.

The bottom line is that I’m grateful obligation landed in the top five. It tells me Chamber members want to be part of the special mission of advancing our community — together. I do believe we all share an obligation to support the community that has supported us: to not take our freedom for granted and to maintain our relationships through the ups and downs.

The single most important element that makes a chamber of commerce work is the fact that we are a group of individual business and community leaders who voluntarily choose to pool our time, talent and dollars to celebrate the wins and take on the next challenge. Your voluntary commitment to the Chamber allows us to work independently from government as bipartisan advocates for the common good.

Please note, I said we work independently from, not in conflict with, government. While we will never agree 100% on every issue, we don’t shy away from bringing all sides of an issue to the table. Some of the most dedicated Chamber members I’ve known over the years include those who have disagreed with the position taken by the Chamber. The greatest leaders embrace the opportunity to hear views different from their own. We stay under the tent and don’t take our ball and go home.

The tools of our work include networking, community promotion, professional development, agribusiness, the Young Professionals Network (YPN), public policy advocacy, ribbon cuttings, recognition and more. I assure you, we thrive in all of these areas compared with most chambers across the nation.

I often have the opportunity to gather with chamber CEOs from coast to coast, and I’m routinely asked, “How is Sioux Falls having so much success?” As a guy who has only been here six years, I tell them I’ve never lived in such a solution-focused, community-minded environment. We have over 900 members of YPN because business leaders know they have a duty to impart the simple, effective principles that make Sioux Falls great.

As our community continues to grow rapidly, I see our collective obligations expanding regionally. Excellent examples of regionalism already exist. Our chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, school systems and government entities have solid relationships. Forward Sioux Falls is a nationally renowned and proven community growth partnership. Our universities, financial institutions, health care systems and manufacturing operations all draw talent and customers from a wide radius. We have an obligation to manage that regional growth with the same vigor as the generations of South Dakotans who came before us.

Over time, the challenges change, but the principles remain the same. In a time of political polarization, the relationships we build with fellow Chamber members serve as vital bedrock for the business and community decisions we will make to determine our future.

Member Survey Results

Top five reasons businesses choose to be a member of the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce:

1. Networking opportunities

2. To market and grow their business

3. Public policy, advocacy and legislation

4. Education and professional development

5. An obligation to support the community