The Levelland Chamber of Commerce will be holding their volunteer recognition luncheon Friday at 11:30 p.m. in the Sundown Room at South Plains College. It is an annual event that focuses on recognizing award winners such as the Lifetime Achievement, Citizen of the Year, Business of the Year, Educational Professional Award, Medical Professional Award, Oil Professional Award, Keep Levelland Beautiful Hero, LEAP Member of the Year Award, Marigold of the Year and Ambassador of the Year. Chamber of Commerce President Mary Siders explained that this luncheon is a way to celebrate and acknowledge the hard work done from the volunteers of all the chambers affiliates. “We are recognizing a volunteer within all our organizations and affiliates including the awards for the top three industries within the community,” said Siders. “This is a way to recognize those who were nominated by their peers as they are selected from a committee of local businesspeople.” Once the winners are selected from the applications pool, the luncheon provides a way for the chamber to stay thank you to the volunteers for their hours of service for their contributions to the chamber and the as well as the community. The majority of people that volunteer or lend their assistance in a variety of ways are part of the chamber with a few exceptions.
“Not everyone who is volunteering their time and effort is a part of the chamber, however, we are continuously working to engage those individuals who have volunteerism on their mind,” said Mary. “Our volunteers make this chamber. They see a need and go out of their way to fill the need. The responsibility for the chamber is to look at problems or issue and determine the needs for that scenario. The formation of tasks forces begins and essentially, that group brainstorms and creates solutions of those guidance.
Siders explained that the staff of the chamber itself is only tasked with leading those efforts and putting the chamber in position for the solutions and ideas of the volunteers to be successful.
Volunteer hours are valued at $24. If all the hours are multiplied that this community benefits from then that equals the economic impact it saves taxpayers each year.
Events such as the community wide clean-up have saved taxpayers nearly $30,000.
“Volunteers allow us to more than we could ever do with paid staff,” said Siders. “There isn’t anything that we do without volunteer assistance, guidance or leadership.”
The chamber is membership based which means people pay to belong to the group. Those volunteers help determine their goals, direction and essentially help achieve those goals.
Siders explained that the chamber surveys businesses and asks what they would like the chamber to be doing or what they should consider. “We may not be able to implement every single idea that we receive, but we definitely use that information to determine our goals to better the community,” said Siders. “Every year our 21 elected board of directors who are elected and volunteer their time to lead our organization, they put together a strategic plan and come up with the Chamber of Commerce Plan of Work each year.”
The plan that is presented and implemented by the Board of Directors is made and enacted upon every third year in the fall. This year for the chamber, they are currently in the process of their first year of their plan of work.
“We do this every year when board members are transitioning on,” explained Siders. “Any Chamber of Commerce member and one of their employees or associates is always eligible for board of directors.”
Additionally, any chamber of commerce member business, their employees are eligible to be on any of the committees. Siders says that a lot of the businesses part of the chamber like to have representation on all the committees.
“The great thing about the chamber is you can be molded to fit the need of the community,” said Siders. “If there is a need in our community and they bring a unified effort to solve that issue, that is something we do.”
For the plan that the chamber of directors has put in place are focused on making sure there is a strong foundation.
Memberships in the Chamber are a way for individuals and businesses to have a stake in business community.
Siders says involvement and investment are essential to the growth, revitalization and sustainability of a promising business climate and quality of life.
Additionally, the plan points out that when Hockley County prospers, everyone benefits directly. The chamber is a part of the area and can only succeed with others. Siders also added that the goal of the board is to collaborate and have citizens working toward the future with commitment and unity.
The Levelland Chamber of Commerce is a service institution and a 501c6 nonprofit business organization. It provides a medium through which people can take effective action for the progress of Levelland.
Funding for the Chamber is through membership and event fundraising. One of the bigger events to focus on the funding portion of the chamber is the Cotton & Crude Festival.
Get involved with the Levelland community by serving on a Chamber of Commerce committee. Whether it meets once a week or month, serving on a committee offers your business the opportunity to grow by being involved with other local business owners, along with playing an active role in the community.
Committee’s included in the chamber include the Marigolds, Ambassadors, Keep Levelland Beaufitful, Cotton & Crude Fair and Music Festical along with other leadership growth groups.
The Marigolds were formed in 1976 and acts as the women’s division of the Chamber of Commerce. This progressive group of ladies meets monthly, and projects include decorating of county courthouse grounds at Christmas, meeting Santa Claus and Christmas on the Square, serve as hostesses at Chamber events and fundraising for their goals and projects.
The Marigolds have also endowed a scholarship at South Plains College for a Levelland High School female senior who will attend SPC. This amazing and very motivated group is a fun, exciting and committed group to enhancing the quality of life. They meet the second Thursday of every month at noon with a great meal.
The Ambassadors group meets quarterly and assists with ribbon cuttings and ground breakings. They assist in membership relations and serve as host, hostesses at numerous chamber events.
The Keep Levelland Beautiful Committee (KLB) meets the third Monday of every month at noon. Levelland is an active member of the successful and proven beautification program Keep Texas Beautiful and structures local program as such. The mission of Keep Levelland Beautiful is to improve the community’s appearance through partnerships, education, and action!
The Tourism and Lodging Committee meets the third Wednesday of each month at noon and assists in distribution procedures of occupancy tax supported events in Levelland.
Levelland hosts over 40,000 plus guests annually. These guests bring in new dollars and economic activity to our community which means lower taxes for citizens and businesses.
The Cotton and Crude Street Fair and Music Festival is the communities’ annual festival, formerly known as Early Settlers Day.
The fall of 2021, the Chamber of Commerce leaders revamped, ignited, and moved the dates of the former summer event to a September weekend.
This event is planned by volunteers and task force meet as needed. Contact Chamber of Commerce to receive information on being a part of the annual Cotton and Crude Fest.
The Agricultural Committee meets monthly as needed on determined dates. Their goal is to create awareness of the significant impact of the agricultural industry in our area.
They host a pre-harvest producer appreciation Shrimp Boil before harvest every fall. They also plan, implement, and host a local agricultural awareness tour every other year that enables attendees to tour local facilities and experience hands on science and technology.
The Ag Committee has endowed a scholarship at South Plains College for future agriculture professionals. The chamber is committed to the development of creating new leaders to fill leadership roles on community boards and committees. This is done through the YELL Program and LEAP and a biannual program called Leadership Levelland.
Every business and/or organization must be doing their part to develop new leaders. Members can capitalize on the leadership opportunities within the Chamber of Commerce.
The Young Emerging Leaders of Levelland (YELL) group of Levelland High School students includes sophomoresseniors that meet during their school lunch hour once a month.
The program runs September through April coinciding with the school year. The purpose is to engage students and challenge them to take charge of their lives while giving back to their community.
They elect their own officers and plan their programs and community service. Meeting presentations include scholarships, student loans, financial aid, banking, credit card use, fraud, organizational skills, job interviews, resumes and professional development. Community service projects include food drive, toy drive, donation of special needs for local animal shelter, faculty appreciation, campus clean up and community wide highway litter prevention with Keep Levelland Beautiful. The Levelland Emerging and Active Professionals (LEAP) was formerly known as Young Professionals which meet every third Wednesday of the month at noon. This group, formed in 2011, elects their officers and Executive Board that determines plan of work, programs, networking, professional development, and programs. They are an outreach group of the chamber and purpose is to develop the next generation of community and business leaders. Additionally, Leadership Levelland is an eight-month course, tuition based held every other year. Attendees will participate in a mandatory team building retreat initially followed by eight-hour class day each month. Class days are made up of professional development including time management, life balance, goal setting, personality studies, human interaction, and leadership skills development.
The afternoon portion includes meeting community leaders and industry tours showcasing local educational facilities, economic development, law enforcement, local judicial process, medical industry, oil field and energy manufacturing and agriculture. Class is concluded with graduation celebration for attendee and employees.