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A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CHAMBER'S SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS PROCESS... Just like the sun rises and sets, every year at this time the Kansas City Star does its annual puff pieces on the Chamber of Commerce's "Small Business of the Year" awards. And every year the story is exactly the same and sounds as if it was written by the Chamber's PR staff. Unfortunately for readers, they only receive the positive aspects of the story. For instance, the real reason for the Small Business Awards program was developed was as a tool to recruit new members. Each year the Chamber asks its existing members to nominate as many companies as possible for the award (generally a minimum of three). Those nominated companies are then sent a letter from the Chamber congratulating them on the honor of being nominated for the prestigious award. The companies are then encouraged to complete the required information to be considered for the Top 10 Award. At that point they are also told they must join the Chamber before they can be considered for the award. If they don't join the Chamber, they cannot receive the award no matter how successful they are. Another aspect that is never mentioned in Chamber stories is that many firms now hire a professional public relations firm to complete the extensive application process. In addition to the costs of joining the Chamber, many firms also find themselves spending hundreds of dollars to ensure their applications are competitive. Overall, the Small Business of the Year program is a great way for some small companies to receive recognition for their business success. However, for the majority of them they are simply caught up in a costly Chamber of Commerce recruitment program.
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