3 Area Chambers Form an Alliance

To cut back on overhead while offering better service to local businesses, three northwest Valley chambers of commerce have formed an alliance.

The Chatsworth, Northridge and Granada Hills chambers plan to co-host activities, ranging from mixers and a local business expo to community forums and seasonal parties, said Randy Witt, president of the Chatsworth Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s a better situation for the members,” said Dick Hardman, executive director of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce. “It’s giving them better exposure.”

Chamber officials say nearby residents do business in all three areas. The new alliance will allow businesses to place ads and articles in the other chambers’ newsletters to get their names out. The three chambers are also hoping the alliance will give them a greater voice with government officials, Witt said.

“We just felt it would be something to offer our members that quite frankly we hadn’t been offering before--greater access to other businesses,” Witt said.

The chambers will retain their individual names and perform some services independently of each other. They didn’t merge because business owners were concerned the communities would lose their individual identities, Witt said.

The boards of directors for each chamber voted to approve the alliance. If a future effort merges the three organizations into one chamber, most likely it would require a vote from the participating businesses, Hardman said.

Gary Thomas, president of the United Chambers of Commerce, which oversees 23 Valley chambers, said the alliance will be able to reduce overhead costs and will probably see greater attendance at events.

“Most of the smaller chambers are struggling with economic issues and spend so much time fund-raising they’re not able to service their members like they should be,” he said.