For people who own a business, the only people who really understand what they're going through are other people who own businesses. It doesn't matter if one deals with crane deming and the other with hand knitted sweaters, two business owners can find common ground and work out a way to help each other survive. This is the principle behind chambers of commerce, which bring together not just a pair of business owners but a whole city full. The subject of our discussion today is the Chamber of Greater Omaha.

The mission of the Chamber of Greater Omaha is to increase business investment and employment in the Omaha, Nebraska area for the benefit of all who live there. This means that whether you're a poor tradesman who fixes VCRs or a scientist with multiple patents from your work in SRED (scientific research and experimental development), the chamber is working for you. How do they do this? By providing resources to potential new business owners and promoting Omaha to investors.

If you join the Chamber of Commerce, you get a place in their listings which will make you more visible to anyone who's looking for a local company to buy industrial vehicles from. You also have the opportunity to participate not only in the governing of the organization and determining the direction it should take, but also to attend workshops, seminars, and dinners which could provide you with valuable information and contacts that will help your business. They even have an app to help you browse all the programs and benefits that the Chamber of Greater Omaha offers its members.

In order to foster the next generation of business owners, the Chamber of Greater Omaha has made efforts to bring business education to students and to bring career re-education to former tray packers who have seen their career paths dry up before their eyes or be shipped overseas to China. Some of the programs they currently have in place are Principal for a Day, Corporate Leadership for Educators, and the Greater Omaha Young Professionals organization.

You may think that only big businesses with huge profit margins and Alpha ETFs for their board of directors can afford to belong to a chamber like the one on Greater Omaha. This is not the case. The Chamber makes special efforts to include and foster small businesses and non profits. Membership fees are as low as $330 per year and are 90% tax deductible as a business expense.