Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Franklin Lakes Chamber of Commerce Grow & Connect Breakfast Networking event on Friday, August 14, 2026. It was another opportunity to bring local business owners, professionals, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and neighbors together for something we believe has become increasingly important: meaningful, face-to-face conversation.

Many chambers of commerce, professional associations, networking organizations, and business groups exist throughout Bergen County and New Jersey. Some can bring hundreds or even thousands of people together over the course of a year. There is absolutely a place for large networking events, conferences, expos, and business gatherings.

At The FRANKLIN LAKES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, however, we are building something intentionally different.

We don't believe a networking event's success should be determined simply by how many people are in the room or how many business cards someone can collect before heading back to the office. A room filled with hundreds of people can create tremendous opportunities, but numbers alone do not create relationships.

Sometimes the most valuable connection you make all month begins with sitting across the table from one person and having enough time actually to listen to each other.

That is what GROW & CONNECT BREAKFAST NETWORKING is designed to encourage.

Networking Should Be About People, Not Numbers

Traditional networking can sometimes feel like a race. Introduce yourself. Explain what you do. Exchange cards. Move to the next person. Repeat.

You can leave an event with dozens of cards and still know very little about the people whose names are printed on them.

We want to approach networking differently.

At our GROW & CONNECT EVENTS, our goal is to create an environment where people can have conversations, learn about one another, share ideas, and discover connections naturally. Business may ultimately come from those relationships, and we certainly hope our members and guests find opportunities to grow. But we don't believe business needs to be the first sentence of every conversation.

You don't need to meet everybody in the room.

You need to meet the right people, and you need enough time to begin getting to know them.

That distinction matters.

Community First. Relationships Second. Business Naturally Follows Third.™

The Franklin Lakes Chamber of Commerce operates around a very deliberate philosophy:

Community First. Relationships Second. And, if there is a fit, Business Naturally Follows Third.™

We didn't create those words simply because they look good on a banner or social media graphic. They describe the kind of Chamber we are working to build and the standard we want reflected in our events, programs, partnerships, and COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.

Community comes first because businesses do not exist independently of the communities they serve. Franklin Lakes and the surrounding Bergen County area are filled with residents, families, professionals, nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurs, established companies, and people working every day to make their communities better.

Relationships come second because trust isn't created by exchanging contact information.

It develops through conversations, consistency, listening, helping one another, showing up, and doing what you say you'll do.

Then, when two people discover a genuine reason to work together, refer one another, collaborate, or do business, that opportunity can develop naturally.

That is the third part of our philosophy.

We aren't against doing business. Quite the opposite. One purpose of a Chamber of Commerce is to help create an environment in which businesses can grow and prosper.

We believe relationships should come before transactions.

A 501(c)(3) Chamber With a Community Mission

Another important distinction is that the Franklin Lakes Chamber of Commerce is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Our mission extends beyond creating opportunities for professionals to network.

We want to SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY in tangible ways while creating stronger connections among the businesses, professionals, organizations, and people who make this area special.

That community component is why we incorporate philanthropy and service into what we do.

At our Grow & Connect events, for example, we support Ponds Food Pantry in Oakland and encourage attendees who are able to help to bring shelf-stable milk. It is a simple contribution, but it addresses a real need for local families, including mothers and children who depend upon the pantry.

That is what Community First looks like in practice.

It doesn't require every initiative to be enormous. Sometimes making our community better begins with identifying a need and asking, "What can we do to help?"

When enough people do something small together, the result can become significant.

Why Smaller Networking Events Can Create Stronger Connections

We know some people judge a networking event primarily by attendance.

We look at attendance too. We want Grow & Connect to grow, and we want more BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONALS THROUGHOUT FRANKLIN LAKES AND BERGEN COUNTY to discover what we're building.

But growth for the sake of producing the largest possible number isn't our objective.

There is value in remembering the person you just met.

There is value in having enough time to ask a second question.

There is value in discovering that the person sitting across from you knows someone you should meet, supports an organization you care about, has faced a business challenge you've experienced, or possesses knowledge that could help you.

Those moments are difficult to manufacture.

What we can do is create an environment where they can happen.

That is why our Grow & Connect Breakfast Networking events emphasize conversation and interaction instead of turning the morning into a succession of sales pitches.

If 20 meaningful conversations happen in a room, we consider that far more valuable than hundreds of introductions nobody remembers the following week.

Building a Stronger Franklin Lakes Business Community

A strong LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY benefits more than individual businesses.

Local companies employ people, support organizations, sponsor activities, provide essential services, contribute expertise, and become part of the fabric of the communities where they operate.

The Chamber can help connect those individual pieces.

A business owner may meet a local nonprofit organization that needs assistance. A professional may discover another company whose services complement their own. A new entrepreneur may meet someone who has spent decades building businesses in Bergen County. A resident may discover a local company they never knew existed.

Those connections matter.

Our role is not to dictate what should come from every introduction. Our role is to help create opportunities for people to meet and allow genuine relationships to develop from there.

Grow & Connect Is Open to Guests

You don't have to become a CHAMBER MEMBER before discovering what we're about.

GUESTS ARE WELCOME AT OUR GENERAL GROW & CONNECT EVENTS, and we encourage local professionals and business owners to experience the environment for themselves.

Have some coffee, tea, juice, and a light continental breakfast.

Meet somebody new.

Ask what they do, but also ask why they do it.

Learn something about another business in the community.

Tell somebody what you're working on.

Find out where you might be able to help one another.

Maybe business comes from it immediately. Maybe it happens six months later. Maybe you make a referral. Maybe you meet someone who introduces you to someone else. Maybe you walk away knowing another good person in your community.

All of those outcomes have value.

The Franklin Lakes Chamber Is Growing

We are excited about where the Franklin Lakes Chamber of Commerce is headed, but we are equally committed to being intentional about how we get there.

Our newly launched CHAMBER WEBSITE provides another foundation for that growth, including information about MEMBERSHIP, UPCOMING EVENTS, COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, and our BUSINESS DIRECTORY.

As more local businesses become involved, the FRANKLIN LAKES BUSINESS DIRECTORY can become another way for residents and professionals to discover businesses serving Franklin Lakes and the surrounding area.

Our events will continue providing the face-to-face component because no website, social media platform, email campaign, or business directory can completely replace sitting down and talking with another person.

Technology can make the introduction easier.

Relationships still require people.

Thank You for Helping Us Grow and Connect

To everyone who attended our August 14 Grow & Connect Breakfast Networking event, thank you.

Thank you for getting up early, introducing yourself to someone you didn't know, listening to other people's stories, learning about their businesses, and supporting our community mission.

Most importantly, thank you for helping us demonstrate that networking doesn't have to be about walking out with the biggest stack of business cards.

We would rather see you leave with a handful of connections you actually want to continue.

That is the Chamber we are building.

Community First. Relationships Second. And, if there is a fit, Business Naturally Follows Third.™

Learn more about the FRANKLIN LAKES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, our mission, membership, business directory, and community initiatives:

https://franklinlakeschamber.org

Interested in joining us for a future GROW & CONNECT BREAKFAST NETWORKING EVENT? View upcoming events and registration information:

Check out our President’s Message