IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — Your town or city chamber of commerce can be a great resource to network to help boost business sales and get some visibility.
The Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce is hosting an event next week in honor of women-run businesses around town.
Alice Willis is the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce president and an HR and payroll specialist with Encompass Employee Management.
“What we try to do is we all drive around, our board members, we see a new building coming soon and we go in,” said Willis.
Willis has been to just about every business in town. She knows how a chamber membership can help businesses grow. It brings people together and that’s good for business. She’s been to so many ribbon cuttings in Irondequoit that she’s lost count. On Thursday, the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce is hosting a “Women in Business“ networking event at Murph’s.
“Especially in a small town like Irondequoit, you really do get a lot of benefit from working together,” Willis said. “You might think they are a competitor of yours, but there is a lot of synergy that you can get. You learn that from coming out to our events. You never know who you will meet.”
Evans Bank branch manager and chamber vice president Brighid Simonds will be there.
“I always leave these networking events with so much information,” said Simonds. “There’s so much going on in the business world in the town, in the county and in the state. There are lots of special programs for businesses that not everyone is always aware of them. So just being very collaborative as a community is really, really beneficial and very important for the growth of the town and the businesses.”
Photographer Tiffany Ritchie is celebrating her one year anniversary at her studio on Titus Avenue in Irondequoit. She’s been a professional photographer for 12 years and she’s also a member of the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce.
“I figured because I live and work and know just about everybody in Irondequoit, why not be part of the chamber and broaden my horizons to different businesses?” Ritchie said. “I just thought it was a great idea.”
There are 60 businesses in the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce, and 16 of them are women-run.
The Women’s Networking Event is open to Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce members and non-members for $5. It’s Thursday, March 16 at Murph’s Pub from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Register online at Irondequoitchamber.org.