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Brick Chamber Of Commerce Celebrates Fifty Years
By Catherine Snipe
The Brick Chamber of Commerce is celebrating.
It's been in existence for 50 years, offering a area business a chance to network, come together and work for their mutual benefit.
With retail construction booming in recent decades, a growing population and the emergence of the internet, finding common ground upon which Brick businesses can meet and work together has been vital.
The BCC has been there for the last 50 years of that growth in the township, and this year will celebrate with a gala.
The event is at the Crystal Point Yacht Club on December 7 at 6 p.m. The Chamber will also install its 2007 Board of Directors.
The gala will look back of the last five decades, with a multi-media historical presentation.
"The gala is really for celebrating the chamber and celebrating our community," said Michele Eventoff, executive director of the Chamber.
The township council recently heralded the Chamber with a special resolution announcing its 50 years of work.
Back in the spring of 1956, the Chamber
was incorporated with a handful of members and part-time secretary, according to the organization.
The membership grew to 68 in 1965, and topped 300 members in 1991. Now, the BCC has grown to about 600 members, and Business News NJ reported it is the largest Chamber of Commerce in the State representing a single municipality.
The chamber managed to earn that distinction through a regular assessment and reassessment of its events and services.
"We are constantly working to meet the needs of the business community," Eventoff said.
Those efforts don't just span the larger retail establishments and longtime law firms that work in Brick, but also homebased businesses, too. The group is hosting a seminar dedicated to home-based businesses this month.
Also, over the years the Chamber outgrew its office space, and moved into the central location in the Civic Plaza on Chambers Bridge Road, with a conference room and full-time staff.
The Chamber of Commerce is also a regular fixture at fairs, parades and special events throughout the township's history. For example, the chamber served as the organizer to the Township's Founders' Day celebration for 14 years and held an Antique Automobile Show as a charity event for scholarships through the years.
A growing part of that is the Chamber's website, brickchamber.com, which topped 9,000 visitors in one month, she said.
"It's a tremendous source of visibility," Eventoff said.
In addition, the group has a foundation, its charity arm for scholarships.
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