The 2016 Crawfish Boil event wrapped up with a whopping 450 plus in attendance, with ticket sales soaring close to 600.

This has been and continues to be the LARGEST attended event this Chamber has ever hosted. While we may have the philosophy of “if it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it,” we want to always keep open minds and stay open to suggestions to improve.

Whether you’re an attendee for the last few years or just attended for the first time this year, we’d like to hear your suggestion on how we can continue to grow this fundraiser for the Chamber. Currently, this event and the annual Golf Tournament are the only two fundraisers held to help operate your local River Region Chamber.

Email your suggestions to me at chassity@riverregionchamber.org. We’d love to hear from you!

The first official networking event took place last Wednesday at the Louisiana Federal Credit Union training room in LaPlace.

Special thanks to our hosts Louisiana Federal Credit Union and Petra’s Restaurant. For those that didn’t get a chance to attend, it was called “Chamberita,” to follow the Cinco de Mayo theme. TJ and his team designed an amazing array of Mexican fiesta refreshments, complimented with a variety of adult beverages enjoyed by just about everyone.

There were over 50 in attendance that took advantage of this networking event to leverage building some tri-parish relationships to help enhance awareness and growth of their services. Be on the lookout for the next networking opportunity to take place at 5:30 p.m. July 14 at the St. John Theatre. Additional details can be found on the Chamber website at riverregionchamber.org.

We are excited to welcome Acadiana Cinemas to the River Parishes! The official ribbon cutting took place Friday at the theater location in LaPlace. What a great addition to our tri-parish area.

We know a lot of folks drive out of the parishes to see a movie, but are truly excited that now they don’t have to.

We have to not only give kudos to the parish and owners of the cinema, but also to Sheriff Tregre and his team for their part in helping this business get off to a good start by providing training to the cinema staff to ensure a safe, enjoyable environment for visitors.

This is the type of collaboration and partnership we want to see between local law enforcement and the business community. If you haven’t visited yet, please take the opportunity to do so. You need to see the upgrades that have been invested into this local business.

Have you liked us on Facebook yet? Help us reach 1000 — facebook.com/riverregionchamber/.

There are multiple avenues to ENGAGE in your Chamber.

The first thing is to join. We do pro-rate your membership based on level by full-time employees.

You can contact us at the Chamber to find out your investment level. Secondly, is to attend the Chamber 101 Orientation to find out about all the benefits so you can select which paths work for you. Thirdly, use your voice by serving on a committee or taskforce.

Visit riverregionchamber.org/pages/Committees for a breakdown on what area would fit your time and talents best. If unsure, give us a call and we’ll help you figure it out.

Thank you to our past and current members for believing in the mission to “Grow, Strengthen and Unify Businesses in St. James, St. John and St. Charles parishes.” We look forward to helping you grow!

Chassity McComack is executive director of the River Region Chamber of Commerce. Email her at Chassity@riverregionchamber.org or log onto riverregionchamber.org.