Chamber Chatter With Mary Malone — Chamber A Key Stop For Information & Data

W. Edwards Demoing, known as the leader in statistical quality control once said “ In God we trust, all others bring Data”. In today’s world data and information runs so many of the algorithms in our everyday lives. Whether it’s the ads you get along your local grocery receipt or the ads that pop up on your social media feed. These are driven by data that is highly individualized to you and your habits specifically. You can easily find information or data for business statewide in the 2023 PA small business profile by visiting https://panoramamag.link/ padata But what about more local data?

The Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce understands the importance of good and local information. It is right in our mission statement, to be kept at the forefront of the work we do and the programs we provide. The mission of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce is to contribute to its members' business success by providing them valuable information, services and networking opportunities, and by taking active measures to help them improve the business climate and quality of life in Greater Hazleton. We are currently in a data collection phase for a local wage and industry survey in partnership with CAN DO until November 14th. Future plans include a wage survey focused on small businesses in the spring. Information on local day care options and participation in healthcare community needs assessments are also elements of the Chamber work. A community profile with commute times, summary of other key community indicators can also be found on the Chamber’s website found at hazletonchamber.org.

We also understand, as noted by Chip and Dan Heath “Data is just summaries of thousands of stories, tell a few stories to help make the data meaningful”. The Chamber is home to over 600 members who have fantastic stories that make our local economy home. You can easily access them in our online directory on the Chamber website. We were lucky to highlight seven of these stories at our annual awards luncheon in October in following categories: Small Business of the Year - Keystone Ballet Academy, Large Business of the Year - Niagara Bottling, LLC, Volunteer of the Year, in Memory of Rocco Colangelo Sr. & Rocco Colagnelo, Jr is Cal Herring, Pride of Place is Hayden Power Group; Charitable Organization of the Year is Catholic Social Services and Young Entrepreneur of Year is Megan Sterenchock, Jr. owner of Stray Threads. Each of these members were outstanding examples in their category and add to the vibrant fabric of stories that make our data sing!

We also wanted to express our gratitude in this month of thanksgiving. Thanks to members, volunteers, our dedicated board and staff who make the work of the Chamber possible. We hope you take a moment of gratitude next month. Don’t hesitate to reach out at mmalone@hazletonchamber.org and we will see what networking magic we can create. We hope you enjoy the changing of the color that mother nature shows us all in the fall. We look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events or next month’s chamber chatter!