Chamber seeks $150K from small businesses

A new effort of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce seeks to get small businesses more involved in planning economic development initiatives, while asking the firms to help pay for them.

The new campaign, Take Stock in Huntsville/Madison County, seeks to raise $150,000 from area small businesses toward the annual goal of $1.5 million for the chamber's Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative. That program, unveiled by the chamber in September, seeks to position Huntsville at the top of the South's high-tech cities, pitting it against Austin, Texas, and Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

"We want to be recognized statistically and by reputation as the leading technology-based region in the South," David Hargrove, the chamber's vice chair of investor relations, said Thursday. "We can't do it without small businesses."

It takes the involvement of businesses and organizations of all sizes "to aggressively seize opportunities in space and defense" while also diversifying the local economy, Hargrove said.

Ronnie Boles, chairman of the Take Stock campaign, said the program gives small businesses the opportunity for different levels of involvement. A response card for the Take Stock program gives a company a choice of an annual commitment of 50 cents a day, $1 a day, $1.50 a day or any amount it chooses.

Karen Stanley, the chamber's vice chair of small business, encouraged small businesses to get involved in the organization. About 90 percent of chamber members are small businesses, she said. "Together, we can make a difference."