By Ron Shapiro,

Chamber Director, Owner Crown Trophy

Just about 18 years ago we opened our new business in New Hyde Park, Crown Trophy.

We needed to develop a customer base so we could pay our rent, amongst many other expenses. Always looking to develop relationships, I was invited to attend a New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting at the Inn of New Hyde Park.

I walked into a room full of not one familiar face, eager to see what this chamber was all about. I sat down at a small round table with 10 people and introduced myself. The unfamiliar became a little more comfortable.

Then they passed around a microphone to all guests who were attending for the first time and was asked to make a short introduction about myself and our new business. The opportunity to introduce myself to a roomful of strangers became a little less stressful. Somehow, I managed to handle this new encounter.

When the meeting finally ended, more than a handful of strangers came up to my table, introduced themselves, asked for a business card and wished me well. One gentleman introduced himself as the president of the New Hyde Park – Mineola Runner’s Club and said they have an annual event each June and he would like to discuss how Crown Trophy can partner with them by providing the awards.

Wow! Now 18 years later, I’m happy to say that we’ve been partners for all their annual running events and year-end dinners since that chance encounter.

What do I mean when I say the “Power of our Chamber?” We are a community of local business owners. Collectively, we provide an opportunity for our members, mostly individual business owners, to be visible. How do we do this? We provide a platform of networking, exchanging ideas and basically, doing business with one another.

But we really do much more than that. We market our members in various ways, with our website, social media, ads in local papers, newsletters and yearly printed business directory.

We are a vibrant group that cares about our community’s welfare. We raise money for local charities, we set up food donation sites for people to drop off donations during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and we have a benevolent arm where we take care of our neighbors and their families in need by providing donations and services.

I am now proud to be an insider, serving as a chamber board member and proud to do my part. I’ve been involved with many dedicated committees, membership, marketing, the annual golf outing. I work with many dedicated Chamber members, old and new, on a multitude of good causes.

So please come down and attend a monthly meeting, find out about all the other benefits available to you.

Talk to another chamber member about the benefits that they have experienced. Remember, I was once an outsider, looking in. Now I’m an insider, looking in and have not been disappointed that I took that first step.