As a business owner, you’re always looking for new ways to market your business, network with other small businesses and make strong connections with the people in your local community. While owning your own business is a full-time job and the thought of adding another activity to your already busy schedule can seem like a lot, joining your local chamber of commerce can offer numerous benefits with no added stress. A study conducted by The Schapiro Group found that consumers were 80% more likely to purchase goods or services from a company that is a member of the chamber of commerce. Not only that, when you join The Chamber you can stay up to date on important happenings, trends and issues within your local community. If we haven’t convinced you to join yet, here are six more reasons why you should join The Delaware County Chamber of Commerce in 2020.

​Name: Theresa Council-Smith
Hometown: Philadelphia
Company: Independence
Position: Manager, CFID Support team
Length of time you have been with you company: 24 years in March, but I also did an internship in 1996 when I attended LaSalle to get some Finance experience.

Briefly describe your journey, noting both personal milestones and obstacles you may have faced along the way. 
My journey started at LaSalle where I admitted through the Academic Discovery Program which provided counseling, tutoring and an abundance of personal and career focused advice.  Through this program I was awarded a scholarship which included books and tuition.  I would then apply for internships and I was given the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the Finance area at IBC.  I graduated with a degree in accounting and worked in various jobs doing auditing/finance work.  Then I worked at Mercy Health Plan that was later acquired by Independence to become Keystone Mercy Plan.  I transferred to Independence to work in the Medical Cost area, Data warehouse area then I went to the Corporate Financial and Investigations Department under the Internal Audit department.  I have been in this department for over 17 years.  My personal milestones have been experience gained through strong leaders who trusted my work and opinions/suggestions over the years.  This allows me to gain confidence to suggest or try new theories without the fear of being wrong.  I have always been encouraged to continue learning and gaining experience.  Some obstacles were not always being fully staffed and the abundance of work that needed to be done, but I was always the type of supervisor/manager that would work along side my coworkers to complete tasks. This takes away from the supervising aspect of my job, but it has always been my philosophy to not ask of other people what I wouldn’t do myself.  All work is the reflection of the department.

Leadership Delaware County '20

Name: Jessie Robinson
Hometown: Wallingford, PA
Company: Children and Adult Disability Educational Services (CADES)
Position: Director of Development
Length of time you have been with your company: almost 2 years

Briefly describe your journey, noting both personal milestones and obstacles you may have faced along the way. I attended college in Washington, DC and lived and worked there for about 12 years. I worked in communication, legal marketing, party planning, and catering. I loved it all and was quite the party girl at the time. I returned to Delco to get married and have children (my sister is a midwife here and I couldn’t dream of having anyone but her care for me through those times). My new husband was shipping out with the Army to his second tour in Iraq so it was important to be with my family. When I returned to the workforce after the birth of my first child, I became the Executive Director of a local synagogue, having worked my way into the position through the administrative assistant role originally. It was at this point that I realized I loved nonprofit work. It made me feel way better than I ever had from work before. I felt like I was making a difference. I left that position when my second child was born.  I took a long break from working outside of the home to raise my children. Fast forward six years, I was staring down the barrel of a divorce realizing I needed to get a full-time job again. My youngest was attending CADES for their pre-school program and I heard from the Director of the program that they were looking for someone. I went in for an interview and the rest is history.