Westside Christian Chamber of Commerce hosts its first meeting at 7 a.m. on Jan. 17 at Belhaven University, 15115 Park Row Drive, Ste. 175, Houston. The chamber has about 20 members so far, including The Ballard House, Katy Cares, Jack Cagle Campaign and Chief Bill Hasting, said Kirk Rightmire, the group’s chief operating officer and owner of Kirk Promotions, a local marketing company.
Westside Christian Chamber CEO Joseph Menslage—who owns Katy Christian Magazine—started the Houston Christian Chamber about 12 years ago, Rightmire said, adding that he was a member of the previous group.
The Houston Christian Chamber closed about 10 years ago, and Rightmire said the start of 2019 felt like the right time to launch the Westside chamber and serve the Katy, Fulshear and Brookshire business communities.
“There’s a lot of requests for it," Rightmire said. "We’ve had people ask us ‘Hey, when are you going to start a new Christian chamber?’”
Located at 1511 I-10, Ste. 404, Houston, the Westside Christian Chamber will focus on fellowship and business integrity, Rightmire said. The chamber will donate 10 percent of members’ dues to its own nonprofit that will give the money back to the community, he added. The chamber also plans to sponsor the Katy Resurrection Run on April 20 and will work to bring a family-friendly art festival to Katy.
“People want this; they want to support it,” Rightmire said. “They don’t want after-hour happy hours [or] drinking parties. They want more a like-minded [group] doing business with integrity."
There are multiple membership levels for interested organizations, and members do not have to be Christians to join, he said. A nonprofit or single-person business can join for $175 or become a founding member for $5,000. Other levels of membership are also available.
More details on membership will be available on the chamber's website at www.westsidechristianchamber.com in the coming weeks.
Rightmire said he and Menslage aim to open two more Christian chambers in Fort Bend County and Cypress within the next two years.
“We want to cover all of West Houston,” Rightmire said.
There are a few other chambers of commerce in the Katy area including the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, Katy-Fulshear Chamber of Commerce and the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce.
Members list
The Westside Christian Chamber of Commerce already has about two dozen members before its first meeting on Jan. 17, Rightmire said. Here is a partial list:
- Attack Poverty
- Belhaven College
- Bugs Inc.
- Chief Bill Hastings
- Clothed by Faith
- Compassion Katy
- Faith West Academy
- Gambones Custom Home Improvement
- Holiday World of Katy
- Hope Impacts
- Jack Cagle Campaign
- Katy Cares
- Kirk Promotions
- Katy Christian Magazine
- Lance Brieden
- Mainstream Merchant
- Powerhouse Church
- Rios de Aceite
- The Ballard House
- WTN CPA PLLC
- TMWG Group
- Westside Community Initiative
