12 Reasons Your Business Belongs in the Berkley Area Chamber

By Nicole Hudson,

Vice President

Membership & Growth Committee

Hudson Collective

A New Chapter for the Woodward Corridor

Ask any Board member of the Berkley Area Chamber of Commerce why they joined and you will get a different answer. But ask them why they stayed, and you start to hear the same things. The relationships. The visibility. The sense that their business is part of something bigger than its own bottom line.

1. Visibility and Exposure

Andrew Creal  —  President · Events Committee Chair · Taft Law

The Chamber puts your business in front of the local community, not just strangers on the internet. the internet, but the local customers who are already invested in shopping on this corridor, the community leaders who make decisions that affect your business, and the fellow business owners who are actively looking for partners and collaborators they can trust.

This is concentrated local influence. Your name in the Berkley Bullhorn. Your logo on Chamber events. Your business in the conversations that happen when community members ask each other for recommendations. No algorithm involved. Just the right rooms, the right moments, the right people.

2. Credibility and Trust

Arjola Karroca  —  At-Large Member · Flagstar Bank

When a business joins the Chamber, it is saying something about itself. The businesses that are embedded in their community, that show up at events, participate in Chamber programming, and sponsor corridor initiatives get noticed in the communities they serve. The Chamber serves as a stamp of credibility with residents and fellow businesses alike.

3. Your Community Is Your Growth Strategy

Nicole Hudson  —  Vice President · Membership & Sponsorship Committee Chair · Co-Creator of Level Up

Sustainable growth for a small business does not come from a bigger advertising budget. It comes from being genuinely embedded in your community. The relationships that generate referrals, the collaborations that open new doors, the trust that turns a first-time customer into a loyal one. Community is not the soft part of your business strategy. It is the engine.

The Chamber is the infrastructure that makes that embedding happen deliberately, not accidentally. It creates the moments where you meet the person who refers you. The events where your name becomes familiar before your pitch does. The network where your reputation precedes you into every new conversation.

Nicole knows this from the inside. She is launching and co-hosting the Chamber's podcast, has helped develop Level Up, the Chamber’s networking series that has drawn standing-room crowds and introduced hundreds of businesses to each other. Level Up is not just an event. It is what her growth strategy looks like in practice.

4. Events, Sponsorship, and Programming

Ken Pringle  —  Executive Director

From Berkley Art Bash to State of the Cities, the Berkley Area Chamber creates the moments that matter. Events where your business gets seen, where connections get made in person, and where the community comes together around something worth celebrating.

The Chamber has revamped its sponsorship structure to maximize value for our members. There are so many ways for businesses to invest in Chamber programming and get real, measurable visibility in return.

From the podcast to Berkley Street Fest being relaunched and significantly expanded, a signature event reimagined for a broader corridor audience with a bigger footprint than ever before. And more programming is coming, built around what members have said they want and what this community deserves.

5. Relationships and Referrals

Steve Koch  —  Treasurer · Finance Committee Chair · Primary Care Financial

In business, a warm introduction is worth more than any cold campaign you will ever run. The Chamber is where warm introductions happen. At every Level Up event, in every Bullhorn email, at every board meeting where one member turns to another and says you need to meet this person.

For Steve Koch, whose practice at Primary Care Financial was built entirely on trusted relationships, the math has always been simple. The businesses that show up consistently are the ones that get referred consistently. The Chamber creates the conditions for both.

6. Access to the Local Business Community

Daniel Amori  —  At-Large Member · Sponsorship & Growth Committee · Amori Insurance Agency

You do not have to spend years earning your way into the local business network. When you join the Chamber, you walk into a room where that network already exists. It is a living community of people who already know and trust each other, and who are ready to extend that trust to you the moment you walk through the door and start showing up.

7. Marketing and Reach

Shannon Amori  —  At-Large Member · Marketing Committee Chair · Amori Insurance Agency

Working alongside Such Great Heights Marketing, Shannon has joined the Chamber Board to support the building and growth of the infrastructure built to this point. She is helping members maximize all of the marketing opportunities that members have available.

As Marketing Committee Chair, Shannon knows what it means for a small business to have its name in front of a concentrated, locally invested audience on a consistent basis. The platform is there. The question is whether your business is using it. The Chamber’s marketing infrastructure, the Berkley Bullhorn, the social channels, the event presence, the co-branded sponsorship opportunities, the member spotlights and shout-outs, represents a reach that any individual business would spend far more than the cost of dues to build independently.

8. Connections and Community Access

Jennifer Finney  —  At-Large Member · DDA/City Committee Chair · Marketer & Writer

When you join the Chamber, you are not getting a listing in a directory. You are getting introduced into a network of people who already know and trust each other, and who are ready to welcome you the moment you show up.

Jennifer Finney chairs the DDA/City Committee and occupies a unique position in the corridor’s ecosystem. She is the bridge between the Chamber and the Downtown Development Authority, and she understands better than almost anyone how those two organizations work together and why businesses need both.

The DDA’s mandate is the place. The infrastructure, the streetscaping, the physical and economic vitality of the district. The Chamber’s mandate is the businesses within it. Their growth, their voice, their connections to each other and to the community at large. The DDA makes the corridor great to be on. The Chamber makes sure the businesses on it thrive.

9. Advocacy and Your Voice

Jessica Vilani  —  Secretary · Advocacy Committee Chair · Former Berkley City Council

Jessica Vilani, having served as a Berkley City Councilmember, knows how local decisions are made, who gets heard, and what it takes to make sure a community’s voice lands somewhere that matters. Under her leadership, the Chamber's annual State of the Cities event is evolving into something greater. And new advocacy and legislative programming is being built right now, designed to give members real access to the leaders and decision points that shape the environment they operate in every day. Stay tuned and join the Chamber to get involved!

10. Opportunities to Grow and Learn

Tim Murad  —  Board President Emeritus · DDA/City Committee Member · Keller Williams Realty

Tim Murad has watched the Chamber evolve for years, through leadership changes, economic shifts, and the ongoing challenge of serving a business community that is always changing, always growing, always facing new demands. What he has seen consistently is that the businesses that grow the most are the ones that invest the most in their own development.

The Chamber has always connected businesses to each other. Now it is investing in connecting businesses to the knowledge and skills that help them grow. Under the 2026 strategic plan, the Chamber is developing professional development programming, educational workshops, and member learning opportunities designed to make every business on this corridor not just better networked, but better run.

11. Membership Is What You Make It

Joe Mulheron  —  At-Large Member · Membership & Growth Committee · JM Design & Printing Services

Joe Mulheron’s relationship with the Berkley Area Chamber tells the story of what membership can become when you go all in. He started as a member, became a vendor and production partner, volunteered at numerous events, joined a committee, and then became a Board Member where he currently sits today.

A Chamber membership is what you make of it, and the possibilities are virtually endless!

12. Investing in the Next Generation

Tara Heitz  —  Intern Director · DECA Committee Chair · Corewell Health

Tara Heitz coordinates the Chamber’s internship program, also known as the #StudentSquad, connecting Berkley High School DECA students with area businesses. The goal is to engage the next generation of leaders, giving them real world experience while helping Chamber businesses grow.

In the first few months of 2026, the #StudentSquad has highlighted 40+ business and accumulated over 170,000 social media views. The Squad will have volunteered an estimated 300 hours by the end of this summer, and we're just getting started!

No bull—keep up with the #StudentSquad's work by following @berkleybullhorn on TikTok and Instagram.

13. Community Engagement and Impact

Lisa Howard  —  At-Large Member · Volunteer Committee Chair · Cultured Cook

When your business shows up at community events, engages in conversations at a Chamber Chat or Level Up, and volunteers at signature events, you get noticed.

As Volunteer Committee Chair, Lisa Howard facilitates community engagement with marketing support from Brett Heitz, Marketing Director. Businesspeople and residents are all invited to be a part of something by joining the newly branded Berkley Bunch volunteer team.

Ready to Get Started?

If any of this sounds like what your business needs, the door is open. Join the Berkley Area Chamber of Commerce today!

• Get involved with a committee or as an ambassador

• Become a member

• See what events are coming up

• See and be seen — sponsorship opportunities