The River Region Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 10-year anniversary from 6 to 10 p.m. June 20 at the Cypress Lakes Country Club in Destrehan.

Anyone interested in purchasing tickets, can contact the Chamber office at 985-359-9777 or visit riverregionchamber.org.

The Chamber is proud to have served St. John, St. James and St. Charles parish businesses for the past 10 years and is excited to see what the next decade will have to offer. The hard work of our staff and members is to thank for the chamber’s many accomplishments that has brought it to this milestone.

The Chamber has been recognized by the United States Chamber of Commerce for its overall program of work and resulting benefits to their members, as well as being named Louisiana’s Mid-Sized Chamber of the Year in 2012. The Public Policy Committee has taken action on issues such as the National Flood Insurance Program, tax renewals, and federal legislation that affects the various businesses of the River Region.

“Our priority from the beginning was and still is to make a difference in the future of the region by being the unified voice of business,” said Past Chairman Conley Dutreix.

Under the direction of Ms. Chassity McComack, the Chamber has continued its mission to “Grow, Strengthen and Unify businesses in the River Region.”

“It continues to be an honor and privilege to serve you for the first “10” years and look forward to working more closely with our local and surrounding parishes in forging greater alliances that will strengthen our voice and visibility,” Executive Director Chassity McComack said.

The Chamber’s vision is to build relationships to impact and improve the quality of life through strong leadership that advocates a pro-business environment in St. Charles, St. John and St. James parishes.

“It took the dedication and will of strong leadership on all levels of the organization over the past 10 years to insure that it properly provided for its membership in offering programing, education and support of business friendly legislation,” Past Chairwoman Chesley Cashio said.

The Chamber recently celebrated its second graduating class of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) on May 22.

This nationally recognized program directs youth between the ages of 11 and 18 on how to build their own businesses from scratch and graduate as CEOs.

Graduates also receive a one year complimentary membership to help grow and maintain their newly formed businesses.

Chamber members encourage new businesses to join and become a part of the largest business organization in the region. Get involved with one of the chamber’s committees, networking events and lunch ’n learns to help your businesses grow!

Led by Chamber volunteers, Chamber committees support business success in a variety of ways, such as advocating for legislative issues regarding business climate, schools, organize business seminars, networking events and general membership meetings, and oversee ribbon cuttings and encourage member to member commerce.

Since social media has become an integral part of today’s business world, RRCC is working on getting more followers on its Facebook and Twitter pages. Making sure the community, as well as our members, is informed of upcoming events is important for our businesses’ exposure and support.

The River Region Chamber of Commerce thanks all its past and present board of directors and members for helping reach its goals and building it up to where it is today.

The Chamber strives to give its businesses what they need and without the support and hard work of the volunteers on the board and committees, it would not be possible. Here’s to 10 great years with many more to come.

Meredith Keating

River Region Chamber of Commerce