Chamber trailblazer earns elite designation

Jane Clark, Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce President, has achieved another major milestone.

She has been designated as a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) by ACCE, the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. ACCE is an association of more than 9,000 professionals from 1,500 chambers of commerce, including 93 of the top 100 U.S. metro areas.

The CCE designation signifies the highest quality of performance in chamber management. The program assesses and tests the applicant's knowledge of core chamber management areas, including management, planning, development, membership, communication and operations.

“Chamber professionals who are designated CCEs have earned this recognition through hard work, countless hours of dedication to the chamber industry and leadership of their chamber to achieve the organization’s goals,” says Matt McCormick, CCE, IOM, president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce (MO) and CCE commission chairman. 

First in West Michigan

Clark is one of six chamber professionals nationally to earn the Certified Chamber Executive designation in 2020. CCE is recognized as the highest, and most elite, professional designation in the chamber of commerce profession. It’s the only globally recognized certification program exclusive to the chamber of commerce industry. 

She is the first in West Michigan and one of three people in the state to achieve the designation. 

Under her leadership, the organization has received numerous accolades. 

In 2018, the West Coast Chamber was named Outstanding Chamber of the Year for the State of Michigan by the Michigan Association of Chamber Professionals (MACP). The team was awarded the highest score ever given to a winning recipient. 

In 2014 and then again in 2019, the organization was awarded a Five-Star Accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This prestigious distinction is awarded to less than 1% of chambers nationwide, and must be renewed every five years. Out of roughly 7,000 chambers nationwide, only 127 are Five-Star Accredited.

A chamber trailblazer

Responding to the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown, Clark activated the resources of the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The foundation partnered with the Now for the Next fund of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area to establish a Downtown Relief Fund. This program awarded $150,000 in relief grants to downtown Holland and Zeeland businesses adversely affected by the pandemic.

Clark currently serves as Vice Chair of the ACCE Foundation Board of Directors.  She is a former member of the ACCE Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of MACP and has been recognized by MACP as the Chamber Executive of the Year. She is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100, a program of the US Chamber.

In 2019, Clark was recognized with the MACP Chamber Professional Award, in part for her work as an EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) expert. Considered a trailblazer in the chamber industry, she is a top presenter for MACP and ACCE, and consults with chambers across the country, helping them run their organizations more efficiently and effectively.

She works with local West Coast Chamber members businesses who want to learn more about EOS and facilitates a think tank with businesses who already work under the EOS model.

Clark is also a graduate of the six-year Institute for Organizational Management, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.