Chamber Committees

The Orion Area Chamber of Commerce is decdicated to facilitating community leadership to create economic prosperity. That leadership begins with you, our members. We welcome the chance to work with you on important issues that will shape our area’s future prosperity. From education to small business, community relations to business recruitment, Chamber involvement is a great way to connect your company with the local community, build a positive reputation and network to expand your resources. Members who participate on committees quickly learn that there are strong benefits to their chamber membership. Not only do committees allow them to build relationships with other business leaders, they also find opportunities to further their business interests.

Complete descriptions for all of our opportunities are listed below.

Community Business Expo Committee
For over 10 years, the Chamber has organized a business and community expo in May. Held at the Lake Orion High School during parent/teacher conferences for one night, over 80 exhibitors and 1,000 visitors have an opportunity to learn more about the products and services offered locally. The Committee meets monthly November through February to solicit sponsors, exhibitors and door prizes for the event. It meets more often March through May as the even approaches.

For more information contact the Community Business Expo Committee Chairperson, Tammy Herrala from Chief Financial Credit Union at (248) 253-7914 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Chili Challenge Committee
Just celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Chili Challenge is a fun, chili cook-off held during the Orion Township’s Barn Daze event in early September. This event is open to members and non-members. Participating teams bring ingredients and supplies to Friendship Park where they cook their chili and serve it to Barn Daze attendees. A panel of judges determines winners in the following categories: Grand Prize for best overall chili, Scorned Woman for best spicy chili and Born to be Mild for best mild chili. Barn Daze attendees vote on the People’s Choice award. Winners receive a plaque and their winning chili recipe is featured in an area restaurant during the month of October.

Committee members meet once a month from February through July and then more frequently as the event approaches in September. Committee members are responsible for ensuring that event sponsors and teams to cook chili are secured and for promoting the event. For more information contact committee chairperson Jim Porritt, attorney at law, at (248) 693-6245 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Business and Professional Development Committee
This committee organizes quarterly business and professional development seminars with timely topics relevant to area businesses. The committee is charged with identifying topics, securing seminar locations and marketing the seminar. The committee meets monthly and occaissionally more often as needed. Contact chairperson Ron DeLorme from Manage Max Performance Improvement for more information at (248) 396-5031 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Luncheon Committee
The Chamber holds a monthly luncheon the first Thursday of each month. This committee is responsible for securing the location and speaker and assisting with check-in at the luncheon. Contact chairperson Karen Ulrich from Queensland Marketing for more information at (248) 370-9111 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Networking Committee
This committee organizes two networking events per month. An after-hours event held from 5-6:30 at a local bar, pub or restaurant and a before-hours event held at various local businesses from 7:30-8:30 am. This committee secures the event locations, personally calls new members to invite them to the next networking event, and ensures that the location is set up and all Chamber information is distributed at the event. This committee also organizes several multi-chamber mixers through the year. For more information contact committee chair Marc Greenlee from Ameriprise Financial Services at (248) 703-6800 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Ambassadors Committee
This committee welcomes new members, attends ribbon-cuttings and grand openings for new businesses and helps recruit new members. Meetings are held about every six weeks to receive updates on new area businesses and plan ongoing new member recruitment strategies. For more information contact Alaina Campbell, Executive Director at (248) 693-6300 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .