Member Benefits

We provide many opportunities for you to get yourself – and your business – in front of more people in our community.

• Ribbon Cuttings
• Business After Hours and Business Before Hours Events
• Annual Christmas Parade
• Chamber Annual Meeting
• Committees
• Monthly Group Lunch
• Monthly Coffee & Conversation
• Frequent email reminders about opportunities to network
• Click here for more information on how to get involved!

Recruiting for your business?  Take advantage of your membership by allowing us to provide a community tour to the person being recruited or spouse/partner. We know potential residents of our community drive around the community themselves, but they do not hear the stories that make our community unique.  They will hear and see our Arts and entertainment venues, vibrant retail, and hear about our special events.   We can give a basic community overview that takes just over an hour or give a more in-depth tour focusing on their own special interest/hobbies and needs.  For example: we have set up special meetings for parents with children of special needs, so they feel comfortable in making them feel comfortable in their decision to make Emporia their home.

Let us help showcase career opportunities at your businesses by placing a link on our Emporia Opportunity website.  If you have a permanent page on your website promoting career opportunities, we can add you to the  listing of other employers who are showcasing their job opportunities.  We must have at least six businesses to add a new section to the “work” tab. To view this page, go to: https://emporiaopportunity.com/work/

Chamber Blue of Kansas is an Association Health Plan that is available to members of the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce.  This is a partnership between local Chambers from across the State of Kansas, the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Kansas and Blue Cross and Blue Shield to help small business owners provide health coverage to themselves and employees.  Contact us to inquire about this program.

The Chamber has partnered with ESU School of Business to connect student interns with area businesses. In this innovative program, student interns are pre-screened and the employer is partially reimbursed for the intern’s wages. Learn more about the internship program.

Every day, our office receives many requests for referrals for all types of area businesses and services. We recommend our member businesses.

We have many opportunities to advertise your business and to sponsor activities that will get you in front of the right clientele.

• Annual Meeting Sponsor
• Business After Hours Sponsor
• Coffee & Conversation Sponsor
• Community Guide Advertising
• Direct Marketing Mailing Lists & Labels
• Front Window Display
• Government Matters Sponsor
• Hotel Key Card Program
• Leadership Emporia Sponsor
• Leadership Emporia Quarterly Breakfast Sponsor
• Mi Negocio Academy (My Business) Sponsor
• Se Habla Español Sponsor
• Click here for more information on these advertising and sponsor opportunities!

We have many avenues to assist you in getting the recognition you need for your business.

• Tuesday Talk and Friday Shout Outs (biweekly email updates): Send us your press releases of special events or recognitions to us by Monday or Thursday of each week to be included in our membership emails, Tuesday Talk and Friday Shout Out!  Promotional flyers can be included and can be sent. Jpg format is the preferred format.
• Recognition when your business sponsors a Chamber event
• Social Media
• Listing on our website Member Directory with enhanced features

This program aims to encourage local shopping. There are over 80 Chamber members who participate in the Shop Emporia Gift Certificate program. Gift Certificates come in $25, $10, and $5 increments, and on average over $70,000 are sold per year.  That is over $70,000 being kept in our community and possibly going to support your business! (Signed agreement required; 3% handling fee applies.)

The Chamber works closely with the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas, the lead economic development organization on the Emporia Area. The Chamber provides community tours to businesses who are recruiting new employees. We promote shopping locally through various programs such as the Shop Emporia Gift Certificate program.

The Chamber has connections with Kansas Small Business Development Center, Emporia State University, and Flint Hills Technical College to help small business in the area grow. We also offer a Spanish-language business development course, Mi Negocio Academy.

The Chamber can help member businesses of all sizes in developing leaders within their companies.

• Leadership Emporia Academy
• Personalized training to fit your business needs
• Facilitation Services

We are your Chamber, and we work on your behalf on Legislative issues important you your community.

• Dialogues are a series of community political forums organized each year by the Chamber’s Government Matters Committee and the League of Women Voters.  All Dialogues are free to attend. This series of forums provide a great opportunity for the public to voice their concerns and ideas to their elected officials.
• Candidate Forums to get to know the individuals running for various offices.

Receive a call from an Ambassador introducing themselves to you and welcoming you to the Chamber. They will invite you to upcoming events and answer any questions you may have. The Chamber can be a presence for your grand opening, groundbreakings, new locations, and/or new management. Your Ambassador can help you schedule a Ribbon Cutting.

The Chamber is pleased to have these two rooms available for the public to use. The rooms are available Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rooms may be used for corporate meetings, board retreats, staff training, instructional activities, internal business affairs, seminars, webinars, etc. The rooms can be used individually or combined to accommodate a larger group up to 42, depending upon set-up. Learn more about Smart Room Rental.

The Chamber of Commerce provides authorization for Certificates of Origin for members who export their products.