"Too many Chambers in the UK see JCI as a competitor. To me that is rubbish and misses the point of both organizations.

The Chamber is a about businesses and competitive advantage. JCI is about individuals and their business development. It happens to be about young people of course and anybody that believes in the development of our next generation of business leaders has to support JCI.

We work well together in Sheffield and we are both important members of what I call "Team Sheffield". We do have one big thing in common - we cover every business sector and every size of organization - so the breadth of knowledge and exposure to different issues is unprecedented. That brings us together in a symbiotic relationship that should be for the good of the business sectors and the city we are proud to be a part of.

The Chamber gives direct business support and represents business in the wider environment. JCI is more focused on developing the skills and knowledge of its individual members but the basic belief - that we achieve more together and that we need to fight for the needs of the business sector comes through in everything we do and should, in my opinion, continue to do so.

I would recommend that all young aspiring business people should join JCI. Yes, you can attend social networking events but JCI activities and events are focused on developing you in a purely business sense. Their events give members the opportunity to build their business confidence and business networks in a progressive way whilst doing great things for charities and activities around the city. They widen your knowledge, awareness and capabilities in a way no other organization can.

Looking forward the Chamber and JCI will continue to increase their work together because we are both focused on producing more and better people and businesses to support this region. Education and skills training can do so much but to produce well rounded individuals that can think creatively and take on the world needs something else - and JCI can do that for us."

Richard Wright, Chief Executive Sheffield Chamber of Commerce

 On the 24^th July 2012 JCI Sheffield and SCCI will be hosting a joint breakfast networking event- watch the space!