Westside Christian Chamber of Commerce

If you weren’t at the Inaugural Westside Christian Chamber of Commerce meeting last month, you missed out! Over 80 people gathered for the first meeting to enjoy breakfast and connect with their colleagues over coffee. With a common mission to gain visibility, form relationships, and exchange information between like-minded Christian individuals – all were excited to attend.

Longtime friends and business owners Joseph Menslage and Kirk Rightmire partnered with Belhaven University’s Houston Branch to become founders and directors of a local chamber founded by Christians, for Christians. Menslage, publisher of Katy & Fort Bend Christian Magazines commented that “there are many great chambers and networking opportunities in the community, but very few are Christian based.” He was one of the founders of the Houston Christian Chamber over 12 years ago, but due to a family tragedy he had to step away. Now that his children are older, he shared that God had put it back in his heart to start focusing on building a chamber once again. His partner, Kirk Rightmire, is president of Kirk Promotions. After attending networking groups for over 20 years, Rightmire started his first networking group in May of 2012. Since then, he has been making connections every day by helping his community in both business and outreach. Rightmire was a perfect partner for this project due to his Christian values, experience networking, and positive leadership-style. 

Although this project has been in the works for some time now, the Westside Christian Chamber of Commerce finally came into fruition in January of 2019. With consistent meeting times, the Chamber will begin as a monthly breakfast held every third Thursday at 7 a.m. However, founders have projected that they are quickly expanding and will begin holding business lunches and dinner meetings in the near future. Erica Scardino, the campus director of Belhaven University, which currently hosts Westside Christian Chamber of Commerce, could not be more excited to be directly involved with the chamber. The Chamber is a tremendous opportunity for not only the Belhaven campus, but for the student body as well. At WCCC, each meeting begins and ends with prayer. A meaningful connection to Christ is the focus of this networking group. Philanthropy, a pillarstone of Christianity, is why 10% of all membership fees will go to a charity of choice at the end of the year. Representatives from many great ministries like Clothed by Faith, Eagle Initiative by Faith West Academy, Katy Christian Ministries, Feed the Hunger Packathon, Katy Cares, and many more joined the Chamber to discuss their upcoming events, and the ways everyone can help serve the community. 

The next meetings will be held on Feb. 21 and March 21 at 7 a.m. Please join us at 15115 Park Row #175, Houston, TX 77084 on the 3rd floor to come see what all the chamber has to offer! Check out the website westsidechristianchamber.com or their facebook page at facebook.com/WestsideChristianChamber to learn more. 

Lily Palmer is celebrating her 1 year work anniversary with Katy and Fort Bend Christian Magazines as their Senior Sales Executive and Philanthropy Director. She has recently been promoted to Executive Director of Business Development for her involvement with the Westside Christian Chamber of Commerce, Resurrection Run, and other activities with the magazines. Lily enjoys yoga, gardening, networking, photography, and her two dogs. If you need assistance with advertising or philanthropic events, please reach out to lily@katychristianmagazine.com

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