Members of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce board of directors.[/caption]

The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce was designated an accredited, three-star chamber by the Accrediting Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in June, a designation which recognizes organizations for their policies and procedures.

The accreditation process began over a year ago and required the chamber to submit a self-assessment in nine areas including program development, communication, organization and technology, said chamber President Barbara Thomason.

“We think it’s a symbol of credibility,” Thomason said. “We know that we’re an effective operation and wanted to test that theory.”

Thomason said obtaining accreditation has been a chamber goal for ten years.

Several areas in which the chamber has worked to improve to qualify for accreditation include transitioning its government affairs committee to a government affairs forum, creating an emergency plan and creating an employee handbook.

“It should give not only our members but prospective members a sense of confidence about their chamber and what we can do with and for them,” Thomason said. “We intend to be on a path of continuous improvement.”

The chamber could qualify as a four- or five-star body in the future through continued improvements such as adding a dedicated government affairs person and providing training for committee members, Thomason said.

The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1974 and has 700 members.

In 2014 the chamber launched a capital campaign to raise money for its economic development initiative, Grow Northwest. Among the goals of the campaign are to brand the area and develop a marketing campaign, increase business retention and reduce crime in the area, Thomason said.