Member Benefits

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Chamber Benefits and Marketing Tools:

The McPherson Chamber of Commerce is where people come together to do business, to learn and to make our community a better place. You can devote as much or as little time as you like, but by being engaged or by getting your employees engaged, you enhance the value of your businesses’ membership and support the Chamber’s efforts to build a thriving community all at the same time.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Introduce your business to the McPherson community with a Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony, available to members only for new business, expansion or relocation. The Chamber staff will coordinate a date and time then schedule representation from the City of McPherson, Chamber Board & Ambassadors to assist in the ceremony. The Chamber will market and publicize your event to the membership through the Chamber e-newsletter, community calendar, Facebook and Chamber Business Journal. We are proud to partner with Hall’s Culligan Water that will provide 1 case of Culligan Water for your ribbon cutting ceremony.

Attend Chamber Connections
It is the place to be every Thursday. You are invited to a networking event held at a Chamber member’s business from 9:30 to about 10:15. Enjoy meeting other Chamber members and learning about their business, their products and their services. During announcements, attendees are welcome to briefly share their noteworthy news, events or specials. Remember, Chamber members are consumers too! Approximately 30-35 people attend the weekly Chamber Connections. If these people talk about your business to 2 or more people, then those people talk to 2 or more – the networking that goes on is priceless!  Check the Chamber Calendar for upcoming Chamber Connection locations!

Host a Chamber Connections
What a better way to have a “captured” audience with all the attention on you and your business! Schedule the date with the Chamber staff. We will then put it on our calendar and will publish it as often as possible.  As a host, you provide refreshments for about 30-35 people; a door prize (a gift certificate for products or service of your business would be great or a product from your business, etc). Craft Coffee, 120 N. Main will provide the host with 2 FREE carafes of coffee when you host a Chamber Connections—just call two days before and they will have it fresh & hot for you to pick up (755-5212).  Be prepared to share about your business! What should we know about – this is YOUR show, so you need to take advantage of it!  Remember, Chamber members are consumers too! They talk with other business owners, friends and family.  After you host a Chamber Coffee, your business will be featured in the Chamber e-newsletter on the following Monday with an article written by Chamber staff and pictures will be posted on Facebook.

Committee Participation
The Chamber has a list of active committees that host and plan events to address community issues for the continued quality of life in McPherson. Join in the planning and get involved.

Marketing Your Business

McPherson ChamberChecks
The ChamberCheck is always the perfect gift. The general public, industries, schools, local businesses, realtors, banks, etc purchase ChamberChecks to observe special occasions: weddings, anniversaries, graduation, birthdays, teacher appreciation, Christmas bonus, new resident/new home purchase, door prizes, etc. As a member of the Chamber you have the option to market your business on the nearly 2,000 ChamberChecks issued, valued at over $56,000 for only $25 year.

Welcome to McPherson Gift Bags
Provide the Chamber with promotional items and we will include them in the Welcome to McPherson gift bags to new residents. This service is FREE to all Chamber members and FREE to all new residents of McPherson. Think about all the services a new resident will be in the market for moving to a new community: barber, salon, dentist, doctor, insurance, bank, accountant, plumber, pharmacy, optometrist, veterinary, heating/air conditioning, mechanic, etc

Chamber e-newsletter content and Ads
Published e-newsletter every Monday. The newsletter is emailed to over 1,300 business representatives of the Chamber. It is loaded with reminders of Chamber events, Chamber Connection highlights, member news, special events as well as introduction of new Chamber members. Submit your “good news” or “special event” to the Chamber staff by Friday to be published on Monday. For only $10 you can advertise with a 6 x 2.5 ad or coupon—see Chamber staff for details.

Chamber Business Journal
Published monthly by the McPherson Sentinel and distributed to nearly 5,000 subscribers and archived on this website. This is another way the Chamber reaches out to the community to keep them informed about all that the Chamber does. We also introduce new Chamber members in this publication.

Website Listing
All members are listed alphabetically and by category on the McPherson Chamber website www.mcphersonchamber.org which receives over 1,000 visits per month. Your business is listed under 5 different categories and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the whole world to see. The Chamber website is mobile friendly and is easy to access all the information about McPherson and our businesses. Get a FREE link to your business website. The Chamber online business directory generates over 18,000 referrals a year. Get your business to stand out among others in the same business category with a yellow block background for only $50 year.

Link for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Linking your website to the Chamber website www.mcphersonchamber.org is an authoritative reference point for search engine relevancy. The Chamber website is mobile friendly, powerful and robust—so direct linkage tells Google your business site is also important by association. Creating a relationship with the other Chamber members generates word of mouth referrals, which in turn generate internet visibility.

Constant Contact Newsletter Discount
An email program that is provided to our members at a discount. If you have a customer base you wish to communicate to on a regular basis, take advantage of this member benefit. Constant Contact is what we use for the Chamber e-newsletter each week. Ask Chamber staff for details.

Be Our Friend on Facebook
“Like” us on Facebook and we will help share your business news.

*Collaborative advertising programs of the McPherson Chamber of Commerce and McPherson Main Street. Members of the Chamber and Main Street support and benefit from the cooperative effort.

  • *McPherson Where Santa Shops Holiday Promotion
    This collaborative promotion includes the Snowball Drop, Holiday Open House Weekend, Free Movies, Featured holiday TV ads, regional news print, radio, posters, Cookies with Santa and Candy Cane Cash.
  • *Television Advertising—Experience McPherson . . . . Just a short drive from anywhere
    Affordable television exposure for members of the Chamber and Main Street. Working with KAKE Channel 10, ads promote member businesses and the McPherson community. Three businesses per commercial—8 seconds per business, commercial length is 30 seconds.  Minimum of 90 commercials per month, per business. (3) month commitment per business for $375. No production charges and great exposure.

Events & Networking Opportunities

The Chamber offers a variety of signature events for members to network, stay connected, and opportunities to promote and market your business through sponsorship.

Annual Meeting
Held each fall to celebrate and to recognize outgoing board members and introduce new incoming board. Initiatives and goals of the new year are announced, as well as the President’s Award honoree who is an individual who has given unselfishly of their time for the betterment of the business community of McPherson; whose contribution to the McPherson business community shall be readily identifiable and have a long term impact.

Rural Appreciation Picnic
The McPherson Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee partners with the 4-H Fair to celebrate our Ag producers and the kick off of the 4-H Fair. The business community sponsors and prepares the grilled hamburgers and provides all the fixings for the evening. Great opportunity to get in front of approximately 400+ people by sponsoring and volunteering for the evening.

Chamber Classic Golf Tournament
The Chamber Classic is a great networking event to benefit the McPherson Chamber and its many programs throughout the year. A fun golfing experience and opportunity to connect with other business leaders on the course. Enter a team, sponsor a hole, offer a prize or golfer gift and volunteer. Held at Turkey Golf Course the first Friday in June.

Farm Forum
Each winter the Chamber Agriculture Committee organizes the Farm Forum to bring the agriculture community and business representatives together for an opportunity to hear a guest speaker regarding topics relevant to both. In addition, the Farm Family of the Year and Friend of Agriculture are recognized for their contribution in the agriculture field.

Legislative Update
It is important to stay informed about what is happening in Topeka. We invite our legislators to the Saturday morning event to hear about the issues they are facing. The free event allows constituents an opportunity to meet with their legislators. Questions will be accepted from the audience as time permits.

Professional Development

Leadership McPherson

Leadership McPherson is a professional program of the McPherson Chamber of Commerce to develop effective leaders, open minds to perspectives that surround issues facing our community, and enabling participants to become more visionary leaders. The McPherson Chamber of Commerce has provided the community based Leadership McPherson program since 1982.  Leadership McPherson class members will work with community leaders and trainers to learn leadership and facilitation skills that contribute to their personal development, motivating graduates to apply their newly gained knowledge in the community where they work, boards they serve and civic groups they belong to. Leadership at all levels is vital to a successful community. This training develops effective community leaders for the future of McPherson

Small Business Resources

Partnering with organizations such as Network Kansas, Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship, McPherson County Small Business Development , area banks the Chamber is able to seek out resources and assistance for business development.

  • Growing Rural Business Workshops—8 week series taught from professors from Wichita State University—experts in entrepreneurship, marketing, human resources, financials, etc
  • Destination Bootcamp—hosted 12 small business owners from McPherson and Lindsborg to attend on site in Longmont, Colorado. Jon Schallert, owner of Destination Bootcamp is a business coach.
  • Economic Gardening—second stage business growth assistance
  • ICE House—6 week entrepreneurship class in partnership with McPherson College
  • McPherson County Entrepreneurship Loan Program—see Economic Development section

Chamber Academy
The Chamber partners with HCC-McPherson to provide members an opportunity to invest in the education of their employees with one stop shop seminars or a training series on subjects relevant to business.

Economic Development

The Chamber is a resource for assisting in locating available property for new business ventures, relocations, expansions, etc.

The McPherson Chamber of Commerce has a loan program called McPherson County Entrepreneurship Loan Fund. Through a partnership with Network Kansas the Chamber is able to sell tax credits allowing individuals to offset their tax liability while creating economic opportunities for McPherson County. The tax credits then provides a loan pool to aid in assisting funding business startups, expansions, working capital, inventory, etc in McPherson County.

The Chamber is proud to have partnered with First Bank Kansas, Home State Bank, Peoples Bank & Trust, Farmers State Bank, Emprise Bank, Sunflower Bank, South Central Kansas Economic Development Division (SCKEDD), McPherson County Small Business Development and McPherson Main Street to support entrepreneurship growth in McPherson County.

Workforce Development Support

ACT WorkReady Certificate
McPherson School District #USD 418 drew national attention when it was the first school district in the United States to be granted a waiver from the standard testing of “No Child Left Behind” in favor of using the more challenging ACT testing to measure students’ progress. All McPherson High School students are required to obtain the state required credits in addition to a silver level on the ACT WorkReady Certificate. This is part of the school district’s C3 program to prepare students for success in College, Career and Citizenship.

In support of the school district, the McPherson Chamber of Commerce, McPherson Industrial Development Company, McPherson Learning Center (ESSACK) and representation from industry (CHS), have promoted and received support by 13 industries to utilize the ACT WorkReady Certificate in their hiring process.

October is McPherson County Manufacturing Month
The McPherson Chamber of Commerce and McPherson Industrial Development Company. partners to celebrate National Manufacturing Day which is officially scheduled the 1st Friday in October. Manufacturing Day is a nationwide annual event that invites the public into local manufacturing facilities to learn about the sector and hear about the great careers it has to offer the next generation of workers.

McPherson County is in a unique situation with the large number of manufacturers in the county, McPherson recognizes National Manufacturing Day throughout the month of October. One of the main goals of National Manufacturing Day is to get young people motivated to learn more about modern day manufacturing. Opening doors to students, educators and the general public, brings more awareness about the evolution of manufacturing technology.