National Support Your Chamber of Commerce Day

The idea of joining several businesses together in a shared initiative to boost commerce started in Europe many years ago. Traders would band together and establish trade policies that would protect them against the foreign bourgeoisie. The term ‘chamber of commerce’ was first recorded in 1599 in Marseilles, France, when various businesses came together to form an organization. This idea was adopted by Germany and eventually spread throughout Europe. In America, the oldest Chamber of Commerce is the New York State Chamber. The Chamber was established in 1768 and chartered by King George III in 1770, predating even the Declaration of Independence. In 1773, the first local chamber was established in Charleston, South Carolina. This structure was then adopted by several other states and, soon, there were local chambers all across the country. Upon the written request of President William Howard Taft, the National Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1912. The Chamber of Commerce concept also functions as an international body called the International Chamber of Commerce (I.C.C.). Established in 1919, the I.C.C. is the largest business organization in the world, with thousands of companies from more than 130 countries under it. The I.C.C. has its headquarters in Paris and supports overseas international trade, open markets, and free flow of capital. While there were 40 local chambers of commerce in the United States by 1870, today, that number has surpassed 5,000 — each of them working toward promoting and supporting local business initiatives and addressing the needs of the changing market.