Support Your Local Chamber Day: 7 ways to say thanks that the chamber can use
The third Wednesday of October is Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day. Donuts are nice. Here are seven thank-yous that also make the chamber better at keeping local businesses in business.
Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day falls on the third Wednesday of October (October 21 in 2026). The most useful thank-yous: bring chamber staff on your next business visits, share the themes you are hearing (never names), boost their posts, calendar next year's proclamation, tell them in writing what helped, bring a non-member to a mixer, and feed the staff.
What is Support Your Local Chamber Day?
It is a yearly day to thank the chambers of commerce that show up for local business: the ribbon cuttings, the mixers, the phone call when an owner does not know who to ask. The American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) observes it on the third Wednesday of October. In 2026 that is today, October 21.
For anyone running business retention, the chamber is usually the partner with the most owners on speed dial. So the best thank-you is one that makes that partnership stronger.
How can an EDO or city thank its chamber?
1. Take them on your next three visits
Invite a chamber staffer or volunteer to your next three business visits. Owners see two organizations that talk to each other, and the chamber hears needs first hand. Steal it for your town: send the invite today with three dates on it.
2. Share what you are hearing
Send the chamber a short summary of the themes from this year's visits and surveys: workforce, permits, parking, whatever keeps coming up. Themes and counts only, never names. Steal it for your town: one page, three themes, sent before Friday.
3. Put their wins on your channels
Share the chamber's ribbon cuttings and new-member posts on the city and EDC pages for the rest of the month. It costs a click and puts their news in front of people who follow the city, not the chamber.
4. Calendar the proclamation for next year
ACCE suggests asking your city or county for a proclamation and notes it usually takes a few weeks to get on an agenda. If you missed it this year, put it on the council calendar now for Wednesday, October 20, 2027.
How can a business owner thank the chamber?
5. Tell them one thing that helped, in writing
An email that says “the introduction you made in March landed us a customer” is something a chamber can put in front of its board. Specific beats nice.
6. Bring one non-member to the next mixer
The fastest way to grow a chamber is a member who brings a neighbor. Pick one owner you know who is not a member and bring them to the next Business After Hours.
What if you only have five minutes?
7. Feed the staff
Breakfast tacos, a tray of coffee, a box of pan dulce. Chamber teams are small and their days are long. Drop it off, say thank you, and leave. Then post a photo with #ChamberStrong, the tag ACCE uses for the day.
Why does this matter for business retention?
Most of the plays in this library work better with a chamber in the room: business visits, ribbon cuttings and recognition, shop-local gift cards. A chamber that feels like a partner, not a vendor, picks up the phone when you need forty owners in a room. Today is a cheap day to earn that.
Pair it with: the business visitation program, the easiest place to bring the chamber along, and the Business After Hours mixer, the chamber's home turf.
Questions directors ask
When is Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day?
The third Wednesday of October each year, per the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. It was October 21 in 2026 and will be October 20 in 2027.
What hashtag goes with it?
ACCE uses #ChamberStrong.
Can a city issue a proclamation for it?
Yes. ACCE suggests asking your local government for one, and notes it usually takes a few weeks of lead time to reach a council agenda.