CHAMBER HISTORY
2013 – Welcomed Red Sox COO, Sam Kennedy, as Keynote Speaker
2013 – Hosted 2nd Annual Festival by the Sea
2013 – Hosted 2nd Annual Gloucester Blues Festival
2013 – Launched Cape Ann License Plate Project
2012 – Hosted Congressional Debate
2013 – Welcomed Secretary of Education, Matthew H. Malone, as Keynote Speaker
2013 – Launched New Ambassador Committee
2013 – Converted to a New Member Database Provider
2013 – Chamber launches new Chamber website
2013 – Soundings Magazine, a monthly periodical is launched
2012 – After a challenging few years and tough economy, the Chamber ends 2012 on solid financial ground
2012 – Chamber’s Manchester Division produces 1st Festival by the Sea (August), successor event to the Manchester Arts Festival
2012 – Chamber celebrates 90 years of support to Cape Ann
2012 – Hosted Congressional Debate between the 6th District Congressional Candidates Congressman John Tierney (D), Richard Tisei (R) and Daniel Fishman (L).
2012 – Chamber launches new Government Affairs Council
2012 – Chamber launches new Tourism Council
2012 – Chamber launches new Health Insurance Coop
2012 – Chamber co-sponsors 1st Gloucester Blues Festival (August)
2012 – Chamber welcomes Robert W. Heidt, Jr. as new Chief Executive Officer
2010 – 1st issue of the Cape Ann Guide published
2009 – Bob Hastings takes over as Chamber’s Executive Director
2008 – Mike Costello, Executive Director of the Chamber since 1978, retires
2007 – 1st Cape Ann Restaurant Week (October) involves 24 restaurants from all four Cape Ann communities
2006 – Chamber launches Member-2-Member Savings Connection program to encourage companies and their employees to do business with one another
2006 – Businesswomen’s Committee celebrates 20th anniversary with the creation of the Carolyn O’Connor Scholarship Fund
2005 – Rockport Chamber of Commerce merges with the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce
2005 – Chamber’s Rockport Division creates the first annual Rockport Harvest Festival
2004 – Pat Roy Scholarship created
2002 – Chamber places information brochure kiosk at Burger King Plaza on Route 128 in North Beverly
2000 – Irish Sweepstakes begins
2000 – Gloucester Gift Certificate program launched (November); expanded in 2005 to include all of Cape Ann and re-named Cape Ann Gift Certificate program.
1997 – Chamber kicks off 75th anniversary year at the Annual Dinner
1996 – Red Deering Scholarship Created
1991 – Chamber’s Rockport Division hosts first annual Rockport Community Egg Hunt
1990 – 1st Chamber Golf Tournament (May), sponsored by the Business/ Education Collaborative to raise funds for Chamber scholarship program
1988 – 1st Annual Chamber Auction (July)
1987 – Chamber moves to its current location at 33 Commercial Street, Gloucester (July)
1987 – Board of Directors creates the Business/ Education Collaborative
1986 – Chamber’s Businesswomen’s Committee formally established with it first luncheon (May)
1985 – Chamber hosts first Evening Business Exchange (now Business After Hours) at Sudbay Auto
1985 – Chamber’s Rockport Division creates the first “Christmas in Rockport” month long holiday celebration
1984 – 1st Gloucester Schooner Festival
1983 – Essex clam chowder competition begins, part of Essex Pride Week; becomes Essex Clamfest 1985
1982 – Chamber hosts its 60th Annual Dinner, with remarks by Governor Ed King
1982 – Chamber testifies in support of fair taxation for business at Gloucester’s first tax classification hearing
1981 – Waterfront Festival begins
1981 – Small Business Week begins
1981 – Cape Ann Chamber establishes its first scholarship for a high school senior
1981 – $25K Game begins, first winner Charlie Foster; started as the “Gold Rush”, a $10 K Game
1978 – Mike Costello hired as Chamber’s Executive Director
1975 – Chamber a leader in the effort to establish a 200 mile limit to support Cape Ann’s fishing industry
1973 – Chamber’s service area is expanded to include Manchester-by-the-Sea, and name is changed to Cape Ann Area Chamber of Commerce, in order to reflect more accurately the regional structure and mission of the Chamber
1923 – Lawrence T. Hart hired as Executive Director; serves until his retirement in 1961
1922 — Herman Lion hired as Chamber’s first Executive Director
1922 – Cape Ann Chamber is founded; initially incorporated as the Gloucester Chamber of Commerce “to promote the civic, economic and social welfare of the people of Gloucester, Essex and Rockport”
