Be sure to save the dates for our 2024 PACP events:



2024 Chamber Day at the Capitol

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Capitol & PA Chamber Offices

Harrisburg PA

2024 PACP Chamber Professionals & Leadership Conference

Monday - Wednesday, October 28 - 30, 2024

Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square

Lancaster, PA

PACP was pleased to announce the following award winners for 2023 during our

Chamber Professionals & Leadership Conference held in Bedford, PA in November:



2023 Keystone Award Recipients

• Bernard Dagenais, The Main Line Chamber
• Susan Williams, Venango Area Chamber

2023 PACP Chamber of the Year

• Indiana County Chamber - Under 700 Members

PACP Accredited Chamber

• Indiana County Chamber - Mark Hilliard

Pennsylvania Certified Chamber Executive (PaCCE)

• Gina Suydam, Wyoming County Chamber

Sally Haas Memorial Conference Scholarship

• Rhonnda Claiborne - Central Bradford County Chamber

Chad Amond Conference Scholarships

• Jodi August - Greater DuBois Chamber
• Debbie Gillette - Chamber of the Northern Poconos

2023 Service Awards

35 Years of Service

• Sandra Berkebile - Somerset County Chamber

25 Years of Service

• Debra Orner - Cambria Regional Chamber

15 Years of Service

• Beth Black - Grove City Area Chamber
• Jennifer Tiffany - Cambria Regional Chamber

10 Years of Service

• Doug Keeter - Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber
• Gina Suydam - Wyoming County Chamber

5 Years of Service

• Amy Bradley - Cambria Regional Chamber
• Tessa Byham - Venango Area Chamber
• Samantha Chivinski - Schuylkill Chamber
• Karen Groh - Lebanon Valley Chamber
• Gina Grone - Northside North Shore Chamber
• Brooke Mendoff - Lebanon Valley Chamber

Congratulations to all of our 2023 PACP award winners!

To see photos from the 2023 PACP Conference, please click here.

Wednesday, December 6 - 10:00am

Grant Writing 101

Anissa Starnes, YGM Total Resource Campaigns

In this webinar, Anissa will provide you with the basic knowledge and understanding of how to find potential grants to apply for, how to reach out to build relationships with Grantmakers, and ultimately craft a grant application that will be successful in securing funding. We will walk through the basic best practices of these three steps in the grant life cycle: research, relationships, and writing. We hope this will help you feel more confident as you seek grant revenue for your chamber. During this webinar you will learn:

• The key elements of the grant life cycle;
• Why some grants do not receive funding;
• How to determine which Grantmakers are a strong fit for your organization;
• How to best tell “your story” on why you need the funding; and
• How to use your research and relationship efforts to customize your grant applications.

CLICK HERE to register for this hour-long session. The meeting will be recorded and shared with the full membership after the session if you aren't able to join us that day.

PA Chamber Annual Dinner - December 14

We are excited to announce that Pennsylvania’s own Academy Award nominated actor, director, writer, and producer Bradley Cooper will be the keynote speaker at the 39th Annual PA Chamber Dinner on December 14, 2023 in Hershey, PA. Additionally, and for the first time in PA Chamber Annual Dinner history, the program will include a special musical performance by another Pennsylvania native – award-winning, multi-platinum recording artist Gabby Barrett. Click here for more information.



1099 Self-Employed Tax Credit

Was your business affected by COVID-19? You may be eligible for a 1099 Self-Employed Tax Credit (SETC). To find out more, please click here.

FREE WEBINAR

By all indications, the 2024 election will once again be a highly emotional, highly divisive event. As the voice for business in your community, your Chamber needs to encourage the business community to participate in elections, but you likely want to stay above the political fray. Lumin Strategies will be hosting a free webinar, “Navigating the 2024 election: 5 ways to cut through the divisiveness to improve your community.”  According to a recent Edelman survey, the public trusts business more than non-profits, government or the media.  We’ll discuss ways that your Chamber of Commerce can capitalize on that trust to educate your members and the public on important issues and offices as well as the role that you can play in building trust in our elections.

Date: December 13, 2023

Time: 10:00am EST

Via Zoom

CLICK HERE to register

Lumin Strategies helps Chambers of Commerce develop impactful, revenue producing, public policy programs.  We are currently enrolling for our 2024 Advocacy Framework program.

I wish you and your families and chamber teams a very Merry Christmas! I wanted to take a moment to just say thank you to those who have supported Starfish Partnerships in 2023. I really appreciate you. I am excited about the partnership with your association for 2024 – the “All Things Chamber” Program. This is a digital course which includes modules on Governance, Operations, Membership, Events and Programs, Community and then a final Extras module. This program is full of knowledge I wish I had when I began my chamber career almost 29 years ago and some of what will be included, took me years to figure out! I have packed as much content into each 1-hour module as possible. At only $195 per chamber, with $100 of each sale supporting your state association, this is truly a project of love for the chamber profession. This program is my way of giving back and saying thank you for what has been and continues to be a great chamber career for me. If you would like to schedule a time to chat to see if our programs and facilitation are a fit for your chamber, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me easiest by email at teri@starfishpartnerships.com. Check out our website at http://www.starfishpartnerships.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Linked in – all @StarfishPartnerships. We will be posting our 2024 programs soon so stay tuned and be sure you are receiving our monthly e-newsletter – check your spam folder if you haven’t seen it!   I share helpful content for you and your chamber as well as let you know about upcoming programs.  

The Chamber is excited to welcome Alison Martin, Director of Membership Engagement, to the Chamber team. Alison joined the Chamber with 20 years of client service, membership and relationship-based experience. In her role with the Chamber, she will be responsible for membership and business development, corporate sponsorships, and the Chamber CRM system. Click here to read more.

The Chamber will host their Holiday Party on Thursday, December 14 from 5:00-7:00pm at People's Light. The Chamber will be partnering with the Chester County Food Bank to help those in need this holiday season. They are asking each guest to bring one canned good donation.

Partnering with the Bucknell SBDC, Ben Franklin Partnership, the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, and various local internet service providers/information technology firms, the Chamber has organized an annual Innovations Summit for the past five years. These summits are used to better understand an emerging innovation or trend and then to attempt to capture what this new idea or process might mean for/to Chamber members. Summit focus areas have spanned from rural broadband to rare earth minerals and from in-land ports to environmental justice. On December 15^th Chamber members will wade into the topic of Artificial Intelligence or AI. Presentations and break-out sessions will be led by academic, educational, entrepreneurial, and industry thought leaders. Presenters have been challenged to move beyond concepts and demonstrate applications that might be adopted or avoided by Chamber members whether they be large, mid-size or small. Registration is available here.

In October, the Chamber celebrated Women’s Small Business Month with our Fall Forum, titled "The Journey of Successful Women Business Owners." Explore more about the inspiring stories of these talented business owners by clicking here. The program was available both live and online, as we continually strive to expand our library of online resources for the benefit of our members.

The Chamber is pleased to welcome Quinn Kirby as their new Manager of Strategic Initiatives.

The Chamber's 2023 Executive Leadership Class recently graduated! These individuals have successfully completed the program, demonstrating their dedication to professional development and leadership excellence. Click here for more details.

The Chamber recently held their Veterans Breakfast, creating a conducive environment for camaraderie and reflection. Read more about the event here.

The Chamber held its 3rd Annual REACH Conference on Thursday, November 9. The Conference featured three speakers who spoke about the conference’s theme “Be Authentic” and offered inspiration to the more than 110 in attendance to strive to be true to themselves and not change to fit in. The REACH Committee chose to live the philosophy of REACH and have our event make an impact. TCACC asked conference attendees to participate in a very important and commonly overlooked collection for those throughout our community that are experiencing “period poverty,” the inability to afford toiletries and items such as tampons and pads. Items are being distributed to three identified organizations to make an impact in the community.

The Chamber will host a Holiday Open House on December 14 at the Chamber Building.

The Chamber is also hosting our annual Shop & Win Contest, sponsored by Bluestone Laundromat. This holiday season, when you spend money at any Chamber member business between Black Friday and Christmas Eve, and you mail your receipt with the entry form to the Chamber, you will be entered to win $500 in Chamber Gift Checks. There will be TWO winners this holiday season! Two entries will be drawn the first week in January; receipts must be received by January 2^nd to qualify.

2024 Social Media Trends to Drive Organic Growth

In the ever-evolving world of social media, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for marketing professionals, especially those working with chambers of commerce, associations and economic development organizations. As we step into 2024, the social media landscape is poised for significant changes. For marketing professionals seeking organic growth, adapting to these trends will be essential. Click here to read the full article.

Are Your Grassroots Influence Tactics Working or Wilting?

Results from the 2023 Grassroots Influence Pulse (GRIP)

We created the GRIP research in 2013 to determine trends in grassroots influence tactics, and most important, what’s working (and not) regarding those tactics. This research is important because it provides the pulse of grassroots advocacy tactics —– what worked in 2016 may not be effective today. It’s also important because we know that you are evaluated in part on your advocacy results. It helps you educate your board, advocacy committee, or government relations committee on the most effective grassroots advocacy tactics, which allows you to then measure what matters. Click here to read the blog.