The Hamden Regional Chamber and the Midstate Chamber of Commerce will soon join forces.
It’s not a merger, but an “alliance.” Both chambers will maintain separate boards of directors and staff. But they will share program and activity offerings for their newly combined membership base.
Such offerings include Business After Hours and other networking functions, Governors’ Breakfasts, meetings with area lawmakers, social and recreational functions and more.
They also hope their combined business membership base may speak with a louder voice in Hartford during a challenging period for Connecticut’s business community.
The new Chamber Alliance could become effective by the end of October, the groups said. The newly combined membership base would include in excess of 950 member businesses.
The announcement comes during a transitional time in the history of the Meriden-based Midstate Chamber. Last month, longtime president Sean W. Moore announced that he would be stepping down from his position after more than two decades at the helm of the business group. Moore said he plans to relocate to Nashville, Tenn.
Moore has been succeeded by interim president Roseann P. Ford.
Both chambers have long histories and substantial member bases. Founded in 1896, the Midstate Chamber has some 550 member businesses and is the leading business-membership organization in the mid-state Connecticut region.
Founded in 1925, the Hamden chamber has been one of the region’s most dynamic business groups, with a membership base of about 400 companies.
Nancy Dudchik, president of the Hamden chamber, described the new alliance as “an innovative approach that puts our members first and offers them increased opportunities for broader reach in new market territories. We have always had a great working relationship with the Midstate Chamber and now this alliance will work in the best interest of both our organizations and for the future.”
Art Erickson of Beecher & Bennett Funeral Home, which has locations in both Hamden and Meriden said, “As a longtime member of both the Hamden and Midstate Chambers of Commerce, and having worked closely with the leadership of both organizations, I believe this is a great opportunity to work together to share our resources for the greater benefit of the membership.”
The Hamden-Midstate marriage is not the first amalgamation of area business-membership groups: In 2013 the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce entered into a “strategic affiliation” with the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses in North Haven and Wallingford.
