The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce may merge into one. Members in good standing with either chamber are being asked to vote on the idea Dec. 4-11. An information forum was held Tuesday, Dec. 1 at the Del Mar College Economic Development Center.
The chamber will have a new name, but what that will be or how the two boards, staff and locations will be combined have yet to be determined.
“We still have a lot of things to decide,” Gabe Guerra told Corpus Christi Business News. Guerra is chairman of the board for the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. “Our job is to listen first and answer questions that we can answer. We are still working out details.”
Guerra also said no decisions have been made as to how votes will be taken or tallied. Currently, the Corpus Christi Chamber has about 1,000 members compared to about 400 members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Both chambers would benefit from a merger, Guerra said.
“This is not about what’s good for one or the other,” he said. “It’s about what is good for both. This would create one organization that can focus on many things. Some things the Hispanic Chamber does better than we do, and some we do better. We need to decide how to bring those things together to increase the value of small business in a big way.”
The idea has been discussed over the years but has never gotten this far.
“There’s a tremendous amount of synergy that can be developed between these two great organizations,” Guerra said. “There’s a lot of legacy and history. We want to be sure what we end up with will be a new, unified entity to honor both.”
As the two chambers work out details on what could be a historic step, both also struggle with replacing top leadership positions.
In late November, Dr. Gilda Ramirez was named interim president of the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, replacing Teresa Rodriquez Bartlett, who resigned for another job. Bartlett was hired by the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau to serve as chief public affairs and business development officer.
Meanwhile, Foster Edwards, president of the Corpus Christi Chamber, gave notice a six months ago, setting Oct. 31 as his last day on the job. He agreed to remain while the search for his replacement continues.
Chamber merger vote begins this week
The Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce has a new look, but may soon merge with the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, depending on the results of an early December vote. Photo by Carrie Robertson Meyer/Third Coast Photo