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2 » THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2004
THE SEA COAST ECHO • CHAMBER EXPO
Joining the Chamber is the Best Marketing Decision I Ever Made
BY JODY COMPRETTA Owner, Patients Choice & President, Hancock Chamber
In 1997, I walked into the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. I had been invited to attend a Member Services Committee meeting. I really did not know what I was walking into and in fact, I was not really sure what the Chamber was.
This meeting was the first time I met Ramos McMillan, a Chamber member. The
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topic for the committee discussion was whether or not the Chamber should sponsor a Business and Industry Expo.
The members of the Committee expressed concern about whether or not the business community would support the event. They were worried about taking the financial risk. Most of all, they worried about failing. As I sat there listening, I said to myself, this is exactly the outlet I have been looking for. It is a place where ideas
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are openly discussed. It is a place where all who participate are taken seriously, no matter how old you are and what size company you represent. I immediately and enthusiastically engaged in the discussion.
From that_ moment on, I have been actively involved in the Chamber. I joined the organization and began to learn about the role the organization plays in economic and community development. I learned about what the Chamber does to help preserve the environment that surrounds and fosters growth for local businesses.
As an individual responsible for marketing the company I worked for, I quickly learned, it was difficult to get to the people I need to talk to, until I attended my first Business After Hours. There, people were relaxed and open to meeting me, giving me the
time of day. I was one of them. The conversations were not always about business, and what the Chamber did for me was allow me to develop relationships with people on a different level.
As I threw myself into the Member Services Committee that I had literally walked into, the plans for the Expo started to come together. We planned to hold the Expo at the Holiday Inn (now Coast Inn & Suites) in Waveland and had hoped thirty businesses would sign up to participate. Today, seven years later, we have had to take over the Hancock County Civic Center to accommodate the more than 95 businesses that are participating. It is an annual sell-out with close to 1,000 consumers attending.
During the early years of planning the Expo, I looked forward to the meetings. I was so enthusiastic that my friend Ramos brought a gavel in to shut me up. It was all in good fun. I loved it. PimoB mentored me and gave me confidence. And, then I met other community leaders who also took me under their wing-Jon Ritten, Teri Wyly, and Dusty Rhodes, to mention a few. They are business leaders who took time to teach me the ways of business in our community. My parents had always taught me well, and this was just the next step I would take to become a successful individual and businessperson.
I continued to work diligently on the activities of the
Chamber. What I began to realize was that I had what it takes to start my own business. During that same time, Dusty Rhodes asked me if I would accept an appointment to the Chamber Board.
Now I was on the Board of a business organization that today represents 750 members and more than 5,000 jobs. I was then tapped as Chairman of the Ambassadors Committee, a sub-committee of the Member Services Committee,' as I continued to work at furthering the mission of the Chamber.
The Chamber provided me with access to contacts and relationships. The Chamber provided me with exposure to the leaders of the community and the State. In short, the Chamber gave me a marketing advantage over those who had not joined and actively participated. I knew then, if I continued to fully participate, I would one day realize my dream of owning my own
In 1999,1 was elected vice president of the Chamber and in February of 2000 I hac the courage to start my owr business. The name of m3 company is Patients Choice Inc. We are a medical equip ment and supply companj providing a wide range o products: oxygen and respira tory services with a pharma cy for respiratory medica tions, durable medical equip ment like power wheelchair and hospital beds, and dia betic supplies. In Januar 2002, we opened anothe location in Foley, Alabam; and this year we acquire one of our competitors an are merging that acquisitioi
I attribute a large part 1 the success of my company 1 the doors that the Chamb< opened for me. The Chambi allowed me to demonstra that I care not only about tl growth of my business and my success, but I also ca about the growth and succe
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