LR Regional Tops First List of State’s Largest Chambers

By Taulbee, Chip

ARKANSAS BUSINESS HAS tackled, for the first time, a list of the state’s largest chambers of commerce, ranked by number of members.

More than 100 chambers, from Alma to Yellville, were contacted, but first efforts like this are often incomplete. Chambers that were left off are invited to submit their information for inclusion in the Book of Lists later this year.

The capital city’s chamber, the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, topped the inaugural list of the 66 largest chambers and had nearly double the membership of the No. 2 chamber. Founded in 1866, Little Rock’s chamber is also the state’s oldest – not to mention the best funded.

Northwest Arkansas also made a good showing, thus posing a chicken-and-egg question: Did the economic boom come in part because of the region’s popular chambers or is high membership a result of the success?

Either way, chambers representing Rogers, Lowell, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Bella Vista and Springdale all found their way into the state’s top 10. Combined they had more than 4,600 members.

Compare that with the second tier of the state’s largest chambers, which is chock-full of Delta chambers more in need of economic development than their counterparts at the opposite end of the state. It takes until 18th-ranked West Memphis Chamber of Commerce to find one in the Delta.

The number of members is certainly related to local population, but the correlation isn’t exact. Pine Bluff is the state’s sixthlargest city, but its chamber ranks No. 19.

Not to be forgotten among the state’s many city, county and regional chambers is the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and its 818 members. Along with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Institute for Economic Advancement, the state chamber helped create the Development Information Network of Arkansas, whose information is used to promote economic development in the state – information like listings of Arkansas chambers of commerce.

Help Wanted

There are still a handful of chambers in search of new leadership. The Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, the state’s 16th largest; the Harrison Chamber of Commerce, the state’s 17th largest; the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce, the state’s 35th largest; and the Osceola-South Mississippi County Chamber of Commerce, the state’s 52nd largest, are currently between directors.

Copyright Arkansas Business Aug 22, 2005