In May we posted the story of the Carlsbad, California Chamber of Commerce and their enthusiasm for our book. Must be catching. We just heard from Darrell Sarmento, who is the recently appointed Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce in Newton, Iowa. Newton is famous in part for its historic role as location of Maytag, the venerable company who recently vanished form the American industrial scene. Newton is making a brave new start in the twenty-first century, as Darrell tells us.
I just bought a copy of The Go-Giver for each of my board members, and it is the Chamber Recommended Business Book of the Month for August.
My wife believes she first heard about the book from a Mastering the Management Buckets seminar she took from John Pearson. Both my wife and I were leading a non-profit at the time and were very moved and challenged by The Go-Giver as it related to fundraising.
I was active in three different Chambers of Commerce, and it encouraged me to keep building meaningful relationships with folks, whether it led to an immediate donation or not. We referred it to one of our board members at the time, who is currently the head of the Placer Valley Board of Tourism in California—and he made it his next staff training book!
We are the former headquarters of Maytag. This town has had its challenges, but I believe great days are ahead with the right attitude.
As I got to know Newton Iowa and the challenges it has gone though, your book was the first thing that came to mind. This community has faced some real loss with Maytag, which was a real source of economic stability and community pride. The challenge now is not letting that loss define the future and to believe great days are still ahead.
Darrell Sarmento, Executive Director, Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce