Engaging Chambers of Commerce: Connecting Business Law Students with Local Business Professionals

• Date: 01 June 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jlse.12096
• Published date: 01 June 2019
• Author: Matt Roessing,Jehan El‐Jourbagy

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 36, Issue 2, 333–358, Summer 2019

Engaging Chambers of Commerce:

Connecting Business Law Students

with Local Business Professionals

Matt Roessing∗and Jehan El-Jourbagy∗∗

I. INTRODUCTION

Chambers of Commerce present educational opportunities for businesses

as well as forums to discuss and advocate for change in the business en-

vironment. Chambers exist on the local, state, national, and international

level. This article focuses on business law students working with local city

and county-based chambers, with a membership of mostly small businesses.

We describe our experiences researching, implementing, and assessing a

community-based engaged learning project where undergraduate students

provided business law training to human resources professionals at chamber-

affiliated businesses. Business law professors can use this article as a template

for creating their own community engagement projects.

Part II of this article introduces the reader to the Chamber of Commerce

philosophy, history, and global reach, as well as the role local chambers can

serve in providing continuing education to their member businesses. Part III

introduces the concept of community-based engaged learning, describes the

value that teachers and researchers have found in engaged learning projects,

and explains Georgia College’s ENGAGE plan, which inspired and supported

this particular engaged learning project. Part IV describes how the authors

and their students planned and implemented a custom employment law

training, including surveying local businesses’ legal needs, using classroom

content and independent research to develop the presentation, and then

executing the presentation before a group of local business leaders. Part

V describes how the authors assessed the project’s success through survey

∗Lecturer in Legal Studies, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia.

∗∗Assistant Professor, J. Whitney Bunting College of Business, Georgia College & State University.

C2019 The Authors

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2019 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

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334 Vol. 36 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education

instruments and gathered data on the perceived value of the project from

both the community and student perspective. Part VI provides ideas on how

the project could be improved and expanded and describes the authors

conclusions.

II. THE VALUE OF LOCAL CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

The history of Chambers of Commerce predates the American Revolution,1

and, through history, small businesses have affiliated in an effort to present a

united front to governmental entities.2Today they exist on the international,

national, state, and local level. Chambers of Commerce are networks where

business owners and managers socialize, pursue education, and advocate on

behalf of the business community. They often are organized as nonprofit

corporations, supported by membership fees, and managed by a board of

directors drawn from the membership.3The U.S. Chamber of Commerce

claims to be the largest business organization in the world representing over

three million businesses.4This project focuses on the potential for business

law classes to work with local chambers of commerce, but many of the tech-

niques could be adjusted to achieve collaborations with state, national, or

even international chambers.

Studies by Atlanta-based market research firm The Schapiro Group in

2007 and 2012 found that businesses reported significant benefits from mem-

bership in local chambers, and these benefits increased over the five years

1New York’s chamber charter dates from 1768. JOSEPH BUCKLIN BISHOP,ACHRONICLE OF ONE

HUNDRED &FIFTY YEARS:THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 1768–1918

5 (C. Scribner 1918). The United States Chamber of Commerce has been in existence since

1912. See U.S. CHAMBER 100TH ANNIVERSARY, https://www.uschamber.com/about-us/about-us-

chamber/100th-anniversary (last visited July 9, 2019).

2Robert J. Bennett, The Logic of Local Business Associations: An Analysis of Voluntary Chambers of

Commerce, 15 J. PUB.POL’Y251 (1995). For a brief discussion on how chambers differ by country,

see Noel Noel & Michael Luckett, The Benefits, Satisfaction, and Perceived Value of Small Business

Membership in a Chamber of Commerce,19I

NT’LJ. NONPROFIT AND VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING

27 (2014).

3CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND BOARD OF TRADE, IRS, https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-

profits/other-non-profits/chamber-of-commerce-and-board-of-trade (last visited July 9, 2019).

4ABOUT THE U.S. CHAMBER, https://www.uschamber.com/about/about-the-us-chamber (last

visited July 9, 2019).