Chamber works for all facets of the community

Dear Editor:

The San Marcos Area Chamber was founded in 1903 and has continually served this city with the mission it has today “to improve the economic prosperity and quality of life of our members through leadership, education and business advocacy.” In a recent Sunday issue of the Daily Record, a quote by the President of the Chamber, Mr. Jason Mock, noting some of the highlights from a recent Chamber sponsored trip to Greensville, SC was addressed in a Letter to the Editor. The writer suggested that our organization doesn’t take into account the interests of neighborhoods or surrounding businesses in our positions of interest with respect to our membership.

In fact, the majority of our members live in neighborhoods right here in San Marcos. Living here, they also raise their families here, their children attend our schools and many provide meaningful employment for thousands of our citizens… all who live in neighborhoods within our community. I myself have 3 generations of family living in San Marcos and have employed hundreds of residents since opening Mochas & Javas in 2003. These individuals spend their money in our stores and pay their fair share of taxes to maintain our city’s core mission of public safety, mobility and other basic services.

Small business owners and their employees make up the backbone of American business and the same is true here in San Marcos. As an organization, we are proud to represent the interests of our business community, our members and their employees. We do this with our mission in mind and our actions being in line with our Vision Statement: “The San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce is a leading membership organization that collaborates with stakeholders to develop an environment where businesses thrive, leadership is encouraged, students excel, housing is ample and attainable, all members are active and quality of life is a priority.”

Many, including the letter’s author, may think things just happen, they may not even know what the purpose of a Chamber is, but behind the scenes the Chamber is working every day for our community. The Chamber fought and advocated for the passage of recent bonds and are currently working to drive housing diversity and affordability, community partnerships, and overall quality of life.

Under the direction of the Board of Directors and as expressed by Mr. Mock, the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce is, “...working together for the betterment of the whole community.”

Kevin Carswell

Chairman San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce