COVINGTON, La. – There is now one and only chamber of commerce for all of St. Tammany Parish. Members of the former St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce voted Monday to rename themselves the St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce after the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce shut its doors permanently due to financial woes.
The new chamber plans to define its new mission, goals, programs and issues after the election of the first board of directors later this month but clearly the chance to help boost businesses across the entire parish presents challenges and opportunities.
“Our challenge is to fully establish ourselves as a parish-wide chamber capable of serving the business community of the parish,” said Townsend Underhill, the board chairman of the newly renamed chamber. “We think we are well up for this and in many ways have already been in that role.”
The most obvious opportunity, meanwhile, is the chamber’s potential for an expanded membership base. Underhill says they have a “prospect list of 600 or so former east chamber members.”
Monday’s meeting to discuss the name change was mostly an optimistic affair.
“There are some with concerns on how the new board will be made up … and others concerned about certain committees and how they will run,” said Underhill. “But I think for the most part people liked the answers we had. Much of this will be a transition and we will adapt and adjust as we grow and learn what this new chamber needs.”
As for the financial problems that lead to the end of the East St. Tammany Chamber, Underhill said there are no similar concerns for the chamber formerly known as St. Tammany West.
“[We have] over 11 months of cash reserves in the bank and zero debt and we own our building outright.”
