By Anna Skinner
The Westfield Chamber of Commerce has recently expanded from its traditional realm of businesses into other organizations in the community.
The chamber partnered with the Westfield Washington Public Library and Westfield High School to connect the community and local-business world together.
Books and Business, the WWPL/Chamber partnership, is designed to bring the business and community in touch with one another by attracting businesses to the library for discussions on finance, health and more.
“This partnership gives our businesses a way to give back and present and discuss topics they have knowledge and passion about, while providing a service to citizens in the community,” Chamber President Jack Russell stated in a press release to Current.
WWPL Director Sheryl Sollars expressed excitement over the partnership, as the library is a gathering place for businesses and community alike.
“I’m very excited about this partnership, this will allow our Library to be a place to connect the Westfield Community members and the business community,” Sollars stated.
In addition to connecting the library with local businesses, the chamber also created Chamber Innovation, a partnership with Westfield High School designed to create career-ready students through internships, entrepreneurships and more.
“With this partnership, we now have the opportunity to provide more tools for our students to grow and expand on innovation and a career path they might be interested in pursuing,” Russell stated.
The partnership connects students with businesses in order to allow students to gain knowledge and passion for careers they may be interested in.
“The new partnership provides added capability for students to work more closely with local businesses and gain experience in possible future careers,” stated Matthew Putman, WHS career and technical education content area director.
For more, visit westfield-chamber.org.
