by Sarah Thomack
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce received its third straight 5-Star Accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
St. Joseph Chamber Director of Communications and Marketing Kristi Bailey says they go through the accreditation process once every five years.
“They look at everything from communication, your technology that you have available, to what you do for your members, advocacy with government, our finances, really just every little thing that we do they take a look at and they judge and they compare against other chambers," Bailey says.
Bailey says the accreditation is a big deal in the chamber world.
“People don’t always understand what a chamber of commerce is or how St. Joe compares to Columbia or Springfield or Kansas City," Bailey says. "So with us being able to have this designation again just really highlights that we really do work hard for the St. Joseph community and we’re pretty successful.”
St. Joseph is one of only five Accredited Chambers in Missouri. Of 7,000 Chambers in the country, only two percent have a 5-Star Accreditation.