The Mason City Chamber of Commerce.
The Mason City Chamber of Commerce is the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives Chamber of the Year.
The organization represents over 9,000 professionals who work for more than 1,600 chambers around the world. Mason City Chamber CEO Robin Anderson says the award represents the pinnacle of achievement. Anderson says, “We were judged on our program of work, how we run our chamber of commerce as a business, financial strength, the membership retention, those types of things.”
The award recognizes the leadership role chambers have in their communities and honors those who have made an impact on key community priorities, like workforce attraction, infrastructure, economic prosperity, and quality of life. Anderson says last year was the first time they applied for the award and she credits the hard work of her staff. She says all chambers fill out surveys every year that benchmark them against all chambers in the country, with the top finishers being invited to apply for Chamber of the Year.
“It’s actually a good exercise in making sure that you are maintaining your mission alignment and maintaining your financial practices and those types of things,” she says. “It’s a good exercise, win or lose, but man, it feels great to win.” In the final round, the Mason City Chamber competed against leadership from the chambers in North Tampa, Florida and Zionsville, Indiana.
(By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City)