Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, South Carolina

High-Impact Entrepreneurship

The Chamber has teamed up with several regional entrepreneurial support organizations to form NEXT, a resource collaborative that supports and attracts high-impact entrepreneurs and their ventures in the greater Greenville area and throughout the Upstate of South Carolina through concierge service, infrastructure development, advocacy and marketing. The organizations involved are Clemson'ys Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Greenville Tech Buck Mickel Center, the Small Business Development Center, the City of Greenville, InnoVenture and the Greenville Chamber.

To learn more about this collaborative, click here.

Entrepreneurial Resources

Peer-to-Peer and Best Practices
Advocacy/Lobbying
Community Engagement
Business Information and Resources
Events
Talent/Workforce Tools
Chamber Staff Engagement

Peer-to-Peer and Best Practices

The Chamber provides value to our manufacturers by facilitating multiple venues where peers discuss issues and opportunities facing their companies, which are listed below.

NEXT
NEXT serves as the single point of contact for accessing the full portfolio of entrepreneurial support services in the Greenville area. To learn more about this program, click here.
Staff Contact: Brenda Laakso

Information Technology Leadership Council
A peer-to-peer best practices group that meets monthly at the Chamber restricted to IT leaders in larger local organizations. This is a joint program of the Chamber and the GSATC.
Staff Contact: Becky Godbey

HR Leadership Forum
A peer-to-peer best practices group that meets bi-monthly at the Chamber restricted to leaders in Human Resources.
Staff Contact: Sandy White

Benefits Roundtable
A peer-to-peer best practices group that meets quarterly at the Chamber for HR leaders with authority over benefits programs.
Staff Contact: Sandy White

SC Council on Competitiveness (New Carolina)
Under a unique partnership, the Greenville Chamber works with the SC Council on Competitiveness to find, birth, build and celebrate industry clusters.
Staff Contact: Becky Godbey

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Advocacy/Lobbying

The Greenville Chamber partners with the Spartanburg Chamber to employ two full time lobbyists. As the voice of business in the Upstate, the Greenville Chamber advocates for a positive business climate on local and state levels.

In addition to the efforts of our lobbyists, there are several opportunities for you to get involved, which are listed below. For more information on the Chamber's Public Policy division, click here.

Environmental Committee
Leaders from industry, government and other concerned local organizations that jointly addresses environmental issues and sets the Greenville Chamber's environmental advocacy agenda.
Staff Contact: Sunnie Harmon

Transportation Committee
Leaders from industry, government and other concerned local organizations that jointly addresses transportation issues and sets the Greenville Chamber's transportation advocacy agenda.
Staff Contact: Sunnie Harmon

Legislative Committee
Leaders from industry, government and other concerned local organizations that jointly set the Greenville Chamber's legislative agenda.
Staff Contact: Sunnie Harmon

Grass Roots Network
A network of local business and industry leaders that are willing to contact local legislators regarding pending legislative actions.
Staff Contact: Sunnie Harmon

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Community Engagement

The Greenville Chamber has multiple programs to engage business and industry leaders and involve them in meaningful roles in the community, which are listed below.

Leadership Greenville
The premier leadership program in the Greenville area, Leadership Greenville involves learning about the inner workings of our local community. This eight-month program engages current and future leaders through an interactive approach to leadership development.
Staff Contact: Sandi Coan

Opportunity Greenville
Opportunity Greenville is an introduction to Greenville's leaders and institutions.
Staff Contact: Sandi Coan

Carolina First Center of Excellence
The Carolina First Center for Excellence provides the organizational structure, leadership and training needed to successfully design and implement continuous quality improvement strategies at the district, school and classroom level. To learn more about this program, click here.
Staff Contact: Tami Miller

Advantage Greenville
Advantage Greenville (AG) is a network of over 350 business leaders who meet in a variety of settings to engage and support Greenville area economic development efforts. To learn more about AG, click here.
Staff Contact: Hank Hyatt

PULSE
Professionals United for Leadership and Social Enrichment (PULSE) is a networking and learning organization for young professionals (age 22-39). It hosts numerous social and instructional gatherings. To learn more about this program, click here.
Staff Contact: Pam Freeland

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Business Information and Resources The Chamber offers on-line resources to help you manage your company, gather local market intelligence and access training, trade promotion and other services that can boost your company's competitiveness. For additional information on any of these reports, contact Hank Hyatt.

Trade Resource Guide
This guide is a comprehensive list of government, private sector and non-profit resources to assist industry in trade promotion efforts.

Annual Wage and Salary Survey
This survey is a joint effort of the Greenville Chamber and the Spartanburg Development Association to develop the premier local wage and salary survey.

Annual Benefits Survey
This survey is a joint effort of the Greenville Chamber and the Spartanburg Development Association to develop the premier local benefits survey.

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Events

The following events are held every year in order to both celebrate and assist local industry:

Industry Appreciation Event
An annual event held in accord with the South Carolina Industry Appreciation Week that honors local industry.
Staff Contact: Becky Godbey

HR Law Update
A semi-annual workshop
Staff Contact: Sandy White

International Reception
The International Reception is an annual spring event that celebrates international business and its influence on the Greenville area.
For more information on this event, contact the Chamber at 864-242-1050.

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Talent/Workforce Tools
If you are interested in recruiting top-flight talent to the Greenville area, the Chamber has several resources to help! To get more details on the Chamber's Talent/Workforce Tools, click here.

Talent Recruitment
Are you seeking to recruit the high-level talent your company needs to Greenville? Looking for a way to convince these key individuals to visit Greenville and see our great quality of life for themselves? If so, click here to find out more on how the Chamber can help! Nationjob.com Nationjob is a free service to Chamber members. To learn more check them out at www.nationjob.com.

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Chamber Staff Engagement

As a membership organization, the Chamber strives to provide excellent customer service to our members. We take both a pro-active and reactive approach through the several programs, listed below.

Industry Call Program
A unique partnership of the Greenville Chamber, the City of Greenville, the County of Greenville, the SC Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Greenville Tech and the Greenville Workforce Investment Board that call on industry leaders to address issues and engage business leadership.
Staff Contact: Becky Godbey

Greenville Works Staff Assistance
As a membership organization, the Chamber strives to serve all of our members. Becky Godbey is our specific liaison with our manufacturing community. Please contact Becky for help in getting resources, specific referrals, or general information.
Staff Contact:Becky Godbey

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