Greater Starkville Development Partnership adjusts to the times
Every Friday morning, the Greater Starkville Development Partnership hosts a scheduled Zoom meeting called “Business at Breakfast,” where Partnership members meet online to network and speak with Chamber of Commerce members and to learn more about the Partnership.
Hunter Harrington is the Director of Membership Development for the Partnership, and she gave a comprehensive description on what the Business at Breakfast Zoom meetings are all about.
“One of the areas of the Partnership is the Chamber of Commerce; with that, we offer membership benefits. One of the membership benefits is networking. So, we have about 580 Partnership and Chamber members, and when we were able to gather in groups, we had networking events, business afterhours, and ‘lunch and learns,’” said Harrington. “So, when the pandemic started, we had to get creative and find other ways for our members to be able to network. So,
‘Business at Breakfast’ is a way for our members to gather every Friday morning at nine o’clock on a Zoom call, and so, we start with just welcoming everybody, chitchatting, getting to know everyone on the call, and then I give an update on what all has happened at the Partnership that week. We go around to each member that is on the call and they can either talk about what specials they have going on, what deals, if they have any events coming up, and if they need referrals or anything. It’s literally spreading business. Our goal is for members to help members and to spread business around the local community.”
Harrington said the Business at Breakfast meeting is a great tool to use for networking, especially if you want to start a new local business.
“If somebody wants to start a local business in town, we would first want them to join the Partnership,” said Harrington. “Then we can help walk them through the steps on how to open a business in Starkville and once they join, then that is essentially a membership benefit to be able to network with your fellow Chamber members, once you’re a Partnership member.”
With the coronavirus pandemic being a major reason as to why ‘Business at Breakfast’ meets via Zoom, Harrington believes it is working incredibly well.
“It’s gone really well; I’ve actually seen some business come about from the ‘Business at Breakfast.’ Various restaurants and retailers have been on there. So, I’ve definitely seen some businesses being passed around,” said Harrington. “We have some of the same members who join every week who have kind of made it a part of their weekly schedule and they’ve seen benefit from it; so, we’re happy to offer it at the Partnership. It’s fun, we like it. We have a cup of coffee, get to chat and know each other, and it’s a way for us to be able to connect with our members.”
Harrington also said that her group enjoys the ‘Business at Breakfast’ so much that a member who was on vacation one week still joined.
If you would like to become a member of the Partnership so you can be a part of the weekly Zoom meeting, you can contact Harrington either through her office phone at 662-323-3322 or email her at hharrington@starkville.org.