Chambers of Commerce

A chamber of commerce is a voluntary association whose membership is comprised of companies, civic leaders, and individual business people. Its members seek to promote the interests of business, typically in a broad-based way. Chambers of commerce exist on municipal, state, regional, national, and even international levels. Today, chambers of commerce—sometimes called boards of trade or commercial associations—can be found in most of the world's industrialized countries.

In the United States, the first chamber of commerce was created in 1768 in New York City. Its stated objectives encompassed "encouraging commerce, supporting industry, adjusting disputes relative to trade and navigation, and producing such laws and regulations as may be found necessary for the benefit of trade in general." Soon other chambers of commerce formed in other major cities. Arising in quick succession during the 19th century, chambers of commerce spread throughout the land and today number in the thousands.

At the local level, chambers of commerce strive to develop and publicize business opportunities in their communities, as well as work for the betterment of local schools and other community institutions. Local chambers of commerce offer a range of programs and services to their members, including information and advice on timely business matters, opportunities for networking, and a variety of publications. Local chambers of commerce also provide their members with numerous forums—task forces, committees, special events, and so on—in which to express their specific views and concerns, whether pertaining to the challenges facing small businesses or to the issues surrounding international commerce. Depending on their geographic settings, local chambers of commerce can be small or large in terms of their membership and scope of activities.

At the national level, chambers of commerce function as a unified voice for their affiliates. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for example, counts individual companies, affiliate chambers of commerce, and trade and professional associations among its members. Through them, it represents more than three million business organizations and individuals. Members include business of all sizes, from the Fortune 500 companies to home-based, one-person operations. In fact, 96 percent of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's membership is made up of companies with fewer than 100 employees.

Founded as a national federation in 1912 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the national chamber was instrumental in persuading the federal government to institute a national budget and in gaining passage of the Federal Reserve Act. Its chief aims are to: stop perceived over-regulation; push down business taxes; improve labor relations; increase production, develop new markets; provide more jobs; raise educational levels; build better cities; and keep organized business strong and increasingly effective.

To carry out its mission, the national chamber maintains a large staff that engages in a broad spectrum of activities, ranging from informing and counseling its members on key government developments to conducting policy studies and issuing reports, bulletins, booklets, and periodicals. In addition, the national chamber maintains a vigorous stance in making its policies and members' viewpoints known to federal agency personnel, members of Congress, and other public officials. Augmenting the national chamber are four regional offices and 50 foreign-based American chambers of commerce.

At the global level is the International Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1920. This organization constitutes an international federation of business organizations and individuals and as such serves as a powerful voice for business interests worldwide. It holds the highest-ranking status afforded to organizations the United Nations calls on in a consultative capacity. It also operates a prominent court of arbitration to settle international business disputes; utilizes teams of experts to formulate solutions to problems in such areas as communications, law, and financial relations; and issues a quarterly publication entitled World Trade. Headquartered in Paris, the International Chamber of Commerce functions as a vital mechanism for articulating global business concerns to world opinion leaders and the public at large.

Junior chambers of commerce, known as the Jaycees, also originated in the 1920s. These associations, evolving from the larger chamber of commerce movement, are composed of young business people in their twenties and thirties. Prevalent throughout the United States and in many other countries as well, junior chambers of commerce principally devote their energies to projects of community improvement.

see also Business Associations; U.S. Chamber of Commerce

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cashill, Jack. "When Your Chamber Becomes Your Competitor." Ingram's. January 2000.

Pierce, Jan, ed. World Chamber of Commerce Directory, 2000. International Chamber of Commerce, 2000.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Business Competitiveness Platform: Recommendations to the Parties." July 2004.

                                 Hillstrom, Northern Lights

                                  updated by Magee, ECDI

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE. As early as the 1780s, businessmen realized they needed a commercial and trade organization to represent their interests in the wider community. Voluntary associations of local business leaders, usually culled from the service professions, chambers of commerce consider a wide variety of business, cultural, and community challenges. In addition to leadership development and fraternal aspects, chambers of commerce often focus on issues that directly involve local business leaders, such as zoning ordinances, property taxes, commercial development, and public relations efforts at promoting the business interests of the local area.

Chambers of commerce in the United States are modeled after similar organizations in England. Many chambers in older American cities evolved from two preceding associations: the Board of Trade and the Civic Association. While most chambers tackle a broad range of interests, many still cling to their roots and heavily promote trade and civic interests. Chambers of commerce also have an emphasis on charity work and raise money for the local community.

In 1912, a group of business leaders from local and regional chambers and trade associations founded the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. These leaders realized that they needed an organization in Washington, D.C., that would represent their interests regarding public policy issues. In 1926, they built a headquarters in the nation's capital in a building designed by the famous architect Cass Gilbert. By 1929, the chamber had more than 16,000 affiliated business organizations. The group worked closely with the government during World War I, organizing more than 400 War Service Committees to help coordinate business involvement in the war effort. The group remained supportive of the government until the New Deal. Like other business interests, they challenged President Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies, particularly over social security and public welfare. However, during World War II, the chamber once again rallied to aid the nation's efforts. After the war, the chamber once again fought expansion of the federal government and became a powerful lobbying force.

In 2002 there were 3 million businesses represented by the chamber, consisting of 3,000 state and local chambers, more than 800 business associations, and ninety-two American chambers of commerce overseas. Keeping with its tradition of representing local business leaders, 96 percent of its members were small businesses with 100 or fewer employees.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Collins, Robert M. The Business Response to Keynes, 1929–1964. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.

Werking, Richard Hume. "Bureaucrats, Businessmen, and Foreign Trade: The Origins of the United States Chamber of Commerce," Business History Review 52 (1978): 321–341.

BobBatchelor

See alsoFree Trade ; Trade, Domestic ; Trade, Foreign .

Chambers of Commerce, organizations representing a broad range of business interests in a given city or state, often led by bankers, realtors, and representatives of other service industries.Such organizations were formed as early as the 1780s, but their numbers and their political role blossomed in the Gilded Age in response to the challenges of rapid economic growth, labor unrest, and urban political reform. Unlike more narrowly focused employers' or trade associations, local and regional chambers focused on such issues as property taxes, zoning and regulation, and business promotion.

In 1912, a group of leading municipal chambers and trade associations formed the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) to unite business interests on public policy issues. Through the middle years of the twentieth century, the USCC was less confrontational than organizations like the National Association of Manufacturers and more likely to encourage its members to accommodate to changing patterns of labor relations and political regulation. The USCC cooperated closely with the federal government in mobilizing the economy for World War I and with Herbert Hoover's Commerce Department during the 1920s. The USCC initially attempted to work with the New Deal but, like the larger business community that it represented, grew increasingly disenchanted with many of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's policies. While the USCC participated in the postwar business backlash against the New Deal, it also acted as a leading business advocate for a limited welfare state built on public spending and the “politics of growth.” After the 1930s, the USCC was led by a loose coalition of internationalists, shippers, exporters, bankers, and natural‐resource interests. Through political lobbying; informational services to members; and its magazine, Nation's Business, the USCC proved a moderate and politically pragmatic vehicle for business opinion and influence.
See also Business Roundtable; National Industrial Conference Board; New Deal Era, The.

Bibliography

Richard Hume Werking , Bureaucrats, Businessmen and Foreign Trade: The Origins of the United States Chamber of Commerce, Business History Review 52.3 (1978): 321–41.
Robert M. Collins , The Business Response to Keynes, 1929–1964, 1981.

Colin Gordon

chamber of commerce local association of business people organized to promote the welfare of their community, especially its commercial interests. Each chamber of commerce usually has an elected board of directors, and its work is done through committees. Among the activities frequently carried on by these committees are industrial surveys and efforts to attract new industries to the city, the provision of information and advice to government on topics ranging from labor disputes to taxes, and the promotion of tourism in cities.

The chambre de commerce of Marseilles (1599) was the first organization to use the name; the idea spread through France in the 17th and 18th cent. The first to be formed in Great Britain was on the island of Jersey (1768). In America the first was the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, organized in 1768. By 1870 there were 40 throughout the United States.

The local chambers are federated in the United States Chamber of Commerce (founded 1912), which maintains at its Washington, D.C., headquarters a technical staff and lobbies in the interests of its member organizations. Its membership includes 3 million companies, 3,000 state and local chapters, and 830 business associations; American chambers are located in 82 foreign countries, and those of other countries have offices in the United States. The International Chamber of Commerce (founded 1920) promotes open international trade and investment. Its headquarters are in Paris.

See also trade association .

chambers of commerce first appeared in Ireland in the late 18th century. The Belfast and Dublin chambers were both founded in 1783, though the Dublin chamber succeeded a Committee of Merchants which had functioned from 1761. A Committee of Merchants was formed in Cork in 1769 and similar committees existed in Waterford and Limerick by 1805. Many of the original members were either Catholics or dissenters. The formation of these committees reflects the expansion of the Irish merchant community during the 18th century, and its resentment at the fact that political power continued to rest with the landed community, which generally took little account of mercantile interests.

Mary Daly

cham·ber of com·merce (abbr.: C. of C.) • n. a local association to promote and protect the interests of the business community in a particular place.