What the chamber did for me.

Hello! 

My name is Maxwell Hessman, and I have been a board member of the Hardy County Chamber of Commerce for about a year now. I am one of the owners of Lost + Found Pizza + Provisions over in Mathias, WV (lostandfoundlrv.com). We are a scrappy start up and have been in operations for about 3 years now slinging delicious wood-fired pizza and peddling a world class selection of beer and wine. As a relatively new business, being a Chamber member, and being on the Chamber board has really helped us on several fronts. It has helped us make connections with a variety of business leaders in the community.  And it has given us new opportunities to expand the reach of our business to other parts of the county. 

Like all opportunities, you will get out of it what you put into it.  We didn’t sit around and wait for the board to do something for us. We used the membership to exert ourselves within the organization.  This has brought in new customers through relationship building within the Chamber, in hosting an After Hours event, and driving attention to our corner of the county.  

Being a Chamber member gave me the opportunity to become a board member. This move has put me and my company in direct connection with all the banks, industry and other small businesses in the county who also have members on the board.  These connections are immensely valuable as we never know when we will need each other.  

I look forward to my future as a board member and as a Chamber member and highly encourage other business to exert their influence with the Chamber through your membership.  The more variety of businesses that become members, and are willing to participate, the more vibrant the Chamber will be.  Host an After Hours event with us. Do a Ribbon Cutting for your new venture. Inquire about participating in one of our sub committees. Hardy County is a great place to do business and we here at Lost + Found Pizza + Provisions believe the future of our business and of our county is looking pretty sweet.  

Please email our Executive Director, Justin Evans with any inquires you may have.  chamber@hardynet.com