By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The Great Bend Chamber of Commerce celebrated 100 years of service in
2021. Going into the next 100 years, the chamber is taking a hard look at its
services and programs to make sure they are meeting their members and community’s
needs.
Great Bend Chamber CEO Megan Barfield said as businesses evolve, the chamber is
working to stay relevant and viable.
"We want to go through our programs and identify how much they are being utilized, how much staff time is going into them and if they excite the staff," said Barfield. "If we're not excited about a certain program, event or service offering, that's going to come out in the delivery of it."
The chamber has spent time visiting with the Ambassador program and their
executive board to get their views and perception of the chamber. Barfield said
there will be a survey coming out later this year that will be available to the
public. The survey will allow citizens to provide constructive criticism or
services they would like to see provided.
Barfield noted one observation already taken from the feedback is the need to
improve communication on existing services and their availability. She would
also like to see more clarification on who does what between the Great Bend
Convention & Visitors Bureau, Great Bend Economic Development and the chamber.
"Our three separate entities like to think that while our day-to-day tasks and programs differ from each other, the goal of each of our organizations is to create a business-friendly environment and prosperous economy," said Barfield. "How do we do that but communicate what each one is doing? That is probably one of the biggest struggles because it's easy to lump us all into one."
The Great Bend Chamber has 565 businesses or individuals as members.