Bill Wydra, Jr.'s Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Presidency began in July 2011 with one goal in mind-to grow the Chamber membership to 1,000 members. Bill's plan began early on by designing a Membership Incentive Plan that was launched initially to the Chamber Board of Directors and then to the entire Chamber membership. The Membership Incentive Plan awarded current members added bonuses when signing up a new member to the Chamber. The most impressive bonus is the drawing of a 7-day cruise that will be announced July 13, at the Chamber's Annual Golf Outing at Mountain Valley Golf Course. Everyone who sponsored a new member into the Chamber has an opportunity to be chosen for the cruise. Excitement has grown from the moment the Chamber launched the incentive plan.

In March the Chamber via Bill's leadership made a decision to engage a nationally renowned company, Chamber Development Services, led by Joan Testa of Bedford, TX, for assistance to achieve our goal. Unlike other companies, Chamber Development Services works to educate chamber newcomers to the value of belonging to a Chamber of Commerce. The focus is retaining the members that join the Chamber. This decision paid off in early April, when the Chamber, in conjunction with Chamber Development Services launched a 2.5 day membership drive event. Thirty-six volunteers made up of Chamber Board of Directors and other Chamber members reached out to recruit 112 new members, bringing the membership total to 935.The membership drive momentum didn't end in April, but continued through Bill's last day of his presidency, June 30, 2012. In that time, 65 more members joined the Chamber, totaling 177 new members. Our Chamber goal was reached when Knoebel's Amusement Park, a vital part of our community for 86 years, became our 1000th member!To put this accomplishment into perspective, the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) has compiled the results of their 2011-2012 Operations Survey. A total of 263 Chambers nationwide took part in this survey. Of those participants, 92 Chambers are comparable to the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce with membership ranging from 700-1,200 members. The survey results show that the national average of members joining a chamber quarterly is 39.6 and the national average of growth in one year is 158. The Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce brought in 177 in less than 3 months for a total of 273 during the 2011-2012 Chamber year, blowing away the ACCE benchmarks.