In an ever-changing business climate, the Levelland Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Program continue to promote new and existing businesses by adjusting to their needs and giving them the tools to be successful. By doing so, they help to promote the city’s growth and prosperity.
“Our first priority is to assist our Chamber of Commerce members in being profitable, being lucrative, connecting them in the community and really assisting them as another marketing arm of their business to be successful,” Chamber President Mary Siders said. “We provide ways for businesspeople to network to get to know people because people in small communities like doing business with people they know.”
The Chamber, established in 1957, has a total of 275 members. It runs a number of programs including the Ag committee, an ambassador program and Keep Levelland Beautiful. It also hosts events and contracts with the City to manage tourism and lodging, which helps fund projects to bring people to the community.
The Ag Committee’s goal is to show how the agriculture industry impacts the area. To do this, they host a Shimp Boil for producer appreciation before the harvest, host an agriculture awareness tour every other year, and give scholarship money to SPC for future agriculture professionals.
The Ambassadors help to develop a good business climate. They work and promote Chamber events and help Chamber members stay informed and involved.
Keep Levelland Beautiful is an organization with an aim to beautify the city through removing trash and encouraging the use of decorative items including plants. One way they do this is through a community cleanup every April and October where members of the community volunteer a few hours to pick up trash where it is needed.
“Our return on investment for our cleaning efforts has been sizeable because we’ve been awarded the Governors Community Achievement Award twice,” Siders said. “We already have one of the $160,000 mosaic monuments, and we’re going to be breaking ground on another one in 2027, which is another $160,000. That’s $300,000 that TxDOT is giving our community to do a beautification project and probably not one that we would be able to budget out of the general fund.”
The Chamber also promotes shopping local because, as Siders said, “Local dollars stay local.”
“Small business owners live here, and they employ here,” Siders said. “They truly have an interest here. They want to continue to see our community prosper, so they’re the first ones that are willing to give back. Another advantage is the personal touch. You can’t go anywhere in Levelland and buy a gift where they don’t offer to giftwrap it for you or go that little extra mile.”
Another program dedicated to supporting the community is the Levelland Main Street Program. Established in 1998, the program has led to Levelland being recognized as a Nationally Accredited Main Street City for over 25 years.
“The goal of the Levelland Main Street Program is to revitalize and preserve the Levelland Main Street District by attracting visitors and unique businesses, creating inclusive quality-of-life events and promoting our historic integrity,” Main Street Manager Kelly Hancock said. “This is accomplished through the nationally recognized Four-Point Approach—Design, Economic Vitality, Organization, and Promotion—supported by strategic transformational strategies.”
The program supports local community and business in a number of ways including renovating sidewalks, increasing signage for wayfinding and decoration and contributing to the city’s identity as the “City of Mosaics” with their collection of mosaics. To acknowledge their work, the Downtown Mosaic Handrail Project was recognized by the Texas Downtown Association.
Main Street also hosts events on the square to attract visitors and community members, which is one way they promote shopping local. These events include the Christmas light festival on the square, Cork & Keg, lemonade day and Ladies Night Out. They also host food trucks every third Thursday from May to September.
According to Hancock, Main Street works with businesses, nonprofits and community groups and “support[s] entrepreneurs with resources, information, and tools to help them succeed.”