Headquarters of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce at 1501 N Chaparral St. is just a few blocks from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at 1823 N Chaparral St. Both are in Heritage Park. Staff Photo
Members voted overwhelmingly in favor of merging the Corpus Christi and Hispanic chambers of commerce after three weeks of collecting ballots. Eighty percent of the total vote favored merging the two entities.
In all, 21 percent of the 1,025 members of the Corpus Christi Chamber merger cast votes, while 30 percent of the 427 members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce voted. Ballots were mailed to the members in early December with an original deadline of Dec. 11 to turn in a decision. That deadline was moved to Dec. 18, and then to Dec. 23 as some members said they did not receive ballots.
Votes were collected and tallied by Palacios & Palacios, a local accounting firm.
“There’s a tremendous amount of synergy that can be developed between these two great organizations,” said Gabe Guerra, chairman of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. “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.”
The older of the two chambers, the Corpus Christi chamber, was founded in 1905. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1938 to support and promote Hispanic owned businesses. Opponents of the merger fear losing that cultural connection.
Details of how to combine staffs, boards and services have yet to be worked out, Guerra said. The newly merged chambers will have a new name that will recognize them both.
