DELRAY BEACH — The lines that divide Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton disappeared Tuesday as members of the chambers of commerce from the three cities got together for the first South Palm Beach County Chamber Partnership business card exchange.
More than 440 chamber members attended the event, held at the Delray Beach Marriott. Two other joint networking sessions are in the works — in Boca Raton this fall, and in Boynton Beach this winter, Delray Chamber President Bill Wood said. No firm dates have been set.
The partnership is an initiative of the three chambers to work together and explore common interests.
One area, Wood said, is “to help ensure our members are getting as big a bang for the buck as they can get. The three chambers have held some very informal meetings to discuss how and where we can cooperate to benefit our collective memberships.
“Clearly one of the programs members from all three chambers look for and expect are networking opportunities and ways to expand their networking.”
The South County Chamber Partnership also has economic development and legislative elements as well.
“We are discussing when and how we might conduct some joint marketing to promote South Palm Beach County — we clearly have some shared resources with several north south business corridors (Congress - US1 - Military Trail, etc.) and in a tight economy municipalities communicating and working together simply makes sense,” Wood said.
“Finally - as business organizations, we share common interests on legislative issues that may affect business in our communities — whether from a Federal, State or County level and so we are discussing how to use our joint "strength in numbers" to the benefit of our collective members interest.”
— By David Sedore
Attendees of the members-only event packed the Marriott.
Consuelo Inestrosa of the Boca Raton Chamber, left, with Jason Alexander of the Courtyard by Marriott Boynton Beach, Jayne Scala of Ultimate Staffing Services and Hilton Lever of New York Floral Design in Boca Raton.
Michael Bottcher of Plastridge Agency Inc. General Insurance, left, with Mary Aperavich of the St. Joseph's Episcopal School and Michael Dileo Sr., also with Plastridge.
