BRUNSWICK
The Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber and Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority will announce later this week the relocation of the chamber’s headquarters to the former military base at Brunswick Landing.
Steven Wallace, the chamber’s president, said the business organization will be located alongside the Maine Technology Institute and the Department of Economic and Community Development in a building at 8 Venture Ave.
“We moved this past week and are still in the process of reconnecting phones and setting up offices,” Wallace said Friday. “We will officially announce it to our members at our Chamber After Hours, at the Priority Group Building with Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, on Wednesday.”
Prior the move, the chamber was located at the Priority Group Building on Main Street in Topsham.
“The benefits to the chamber and its membership are multifaceted,” Wallace said. “We’ll be housed with MTI and DECD. We have already brought (Executive Director) Steve Levesque from MRRA, John Shattuck from the town of Topsham’s Economic Development Department and Jeff Kobrock from the Mid Coast Council of Governments on our board. We believe our new partnerships, coupled with our existing board members, will help us make the leap to start our regional economic development pillars in 2014. … We’re going to actively get involved with how we can help grow businesses in Mid-coast Maine.
“One of the new resources we will have access to in our new location is a large classroom to hold seminars and workshops,” Wallace said. “Our previous location has great state-of-the art screens and projectors, but space was limited to about 28 folks. We’ll now have roughly the same accommodations but can hold close to 100 individuals. This will allow us to hold community forums, legislative meet and greets. It really opens up a new realm for us.”
Wallace said having the chamber more involved in welcoming businesses to the area is important.
“MRRA has done a good job attracting businesses to the area. … We can pick up the reins once they are here to help integrate them within the existing business community,” he said.
“We feel that moving to Brunswick Landing starts to bring us back to the ‘center’ of our region and you will see a renewed push for relevancy at the regional level,” Wallace said.
Nearly 20 years after the merger of the Bath and Brunswick chambers of commerce, the organization continues to evolve and grow. The Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber is the fifth largest chamber in the state with more than 760 members.
While the chamber has a new home, its telephone number remains 725-8797.
GROWING: Nearly 20 years after the merger of the Bath and Brunswick chambers of commerce, the organization continues to evolve and grow. The Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber is the fifth largest chamber in the state with more than 760 members.
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