With 3 million members, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is not short on members, but the 100-year-old organization has made a dedicated effort to increase its activity with mid-market companies, a market segment that it believes is neglected by lawmakers.

The Chamber defines mid-market companies as those that have surpassed the $100 million mark, but are still far behind the Fortune 500 corporate giants in terms of revenue.

Although firms such as those represent the fastest growing sector of U.S. business, the chamber only has 4,000 members that fall into this segment, said Ron Dickinson, vice president of membership and business development.

“The average growth for companies in this market is 42 percent annually,” said Dickinson. “These companies are the innovators and the Microsofts of tomorrow. We have to help them in order to keep the economy healthy.”

However, chamber officials believe that this important market group continually plays second string to large corporate giants in the eyes of lawmakers.

“Mid-markets have been hit the hardest by the Sarbanes Oxley Act, the health care market and global competition,” said Dickinson. “We need to raise awareness about this portion of business because it is so vital to our economy.”

The chamber does this by using its lobbying powers in Washington, D.C., and appealing to lawmakers on behalf of business.

The organization has 15 full-time lobbyists, making it the largest represented business organization on Capitol Hill, said Rolf Th. Lundberg, Jr., senior vice president of congressional and public affairs.

“We advocate on behalf of our members’ interests,” said Lundberg. “If you don’t get involved, you will have a Congress that is not looking out for business.”

The chamber awards members of the Senate and Congress with full endorsements if they vote with the chamber 70 percent of the time. Last year the chamber gave 290 official endorsements.

“We are not a partisan group,” said Lundberg. “We take votes where we can get them. We want Democrats as well as Republicans to vote in favor of U.S. business.”

The chamber also strives to be a knowledge center for all of its members.

Paul S. Speranza, Jr. is the vice chairman, general counsel and secretary for Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., a $5 billion retailer in Rochester, N.Y. He is also the chairman of the board of directors for the U.S. Chamber.

His position with the chamber is volunteer-based, which he has used to adopt educational programs that all 3 million chamber members can benefit from.

Ninety-three percent of chamber members are small businesses that may not have an HR department or a staff large enough to keep on top of the latest developments in laws and regulations that affect their business.

“Most of our members are busy running their businesses and focusing on the bottom line,” said Speranza. “The U.S. Chamber can create value by teaching businesses how to help their bottom line (through best practices).”

Speranza referred to a program created by the Rochester Business Alliance called the Eat Well Live Well Challenge. The program was designed to have area companies compete on healthy practices among employees with the goal of lowering health care costs.

The program had 87 participating companies with 16,000 total employees, making it the biggest wellness program in the world.

Speranza said that successful programs like this are passed through the U.S. Chamber to other chambers across the nation.

“These are things that the chamber can do without changing laws or regulations.”