(AVON, Colorado – June 2, 2015) – Vail Valley Partnership (VVP) was recently announced as a finalist for the 2015 Chamber of the Year by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). Chamber of the Year is the nation’s only award recognizing the dual role Chambers have in leading businesses and communities. Chambers honored with this designation have not only demonstrated organizational strength, but also have made an impact on key community priorities such as education, transportation, business development, and quality of life.
Chris Romer, President and CEO at the VVP said, “Vail Valley Partnership is honored to be recognized by ACCE as a finalist for ‘Chamber of the Year’. The award recognizes excellence in operations, member services, and community leadership – three areas the Partnership continues to focus on with our programming and service offerings to the Vail Valley business community. We are humbled to be acknowledged by this national recognition of our efforts, as it validates our member-centric approach to the community we serve.”
There are only three finalists chosen out of 33 applicants, and participation in the process was by invitation only. To qualify for the award competition, applicants must complete a survey and meet minimum thresholds in at least four of six key performance areas including net revenue, net assets, reserve funds, membership account retention, and membership dollar retention. The Chamber of the Year award involves a multi-stage process, which includes Dynamic Chamber Benchmarking, application and interview. During the first two stages, chambers compete against the numbers. As finalists, they compete against other Chambers within their category.
Vail Valley Partnership offers numerous signature programs which help highlight the Vail Valley as a community, such as Vail Valley Economic Development and Lodging Quality Assurance. These signature programs, in addition to member marketing benefits, networking programs, customer service initiatives and collaborative programming help raise the profile of the Vail Valley as a location that is business-friendly and open to entrepreneurs, as well as being a world class vacation destination.
The two other finalists for Chamber of the Year were Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce in Texas and Coastal Alabama Business Chamber in Alabama. The winner of the 2015 Chamber of the Year competition will be announced at ACCE’s Annual Convention on August 11-14, 2015 in Montreal.