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Published December 8, 2020
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Tom Baldrige, President & CEO of the Lancaster Chamber joins us this week to talk about adjusting business models. As we are continually working our way through the economic impact that has been caused by COVID-19, many Chambers are trying to determine the best way to approach member businesses who are struggling to renewing their membership. Some Chambers are finding creative ways to approach and deal with this problem. No matter how you choose to approach your membership, it is important to still keep the integrity of your organization intact.

Many in Chamber circles know Tom as the guy who took a risk with the membership model at his Chamber. Tom shares with us in this episode how they saw a need for making a change about three years ago with their membership model as they notice membership structures within other organizations struggling. They did take quite a risk with offering a “pay what you want” or “freemium” model. Initially, this model seemed to work very well. The Chamber was able to attract many businesses that they weren’t able to reach previously. Tom does share several lessons that they learned through this experiment and ultimately why it did not work. He also shares what they have landed on for their current business model.

If you would like to connect with Tom about anything he discussed in this episode or to continue this discussion offline, you can find his contact information below.

  • tbaldrige@lancasterchamber.com
  • 717-201-2878

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