In every state, one leader sits at the intersection of business and government: the CEO of its top business association. For almost every state, this is the State Chamber of Commerce. Executives from some of the world’s largest corporations serve on their boards, governors and legislators seek their advice, and business owners of every size look to them for leadership, guidance, and support.

In The Chamber Secrets, Corey Hester interviews these pivotal leaders in all 50 states about how they actually do the job: how they advance policy and quietly stop bills before they gain momentum, how they prove their value to members as a generation of civic joiners retires, and how they measure success when the biggest win can be a bad idea that never moved.

The result is a candid, state-by-state collection of leadership lessons for executives, association professionals, policymakers and lobbyists, and for anyone who wants to understand how business shapes a state's economy and how government listens.