Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, doing business as the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, is a regional chamber of commerce. It is one of the nation's largest chambers of commerce, representing 4,000 businesses and nearly over 500,000 employees in southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana, also known as Greater Cincinnati, or the Cincinnati–Northern Kentucky metropolitan area. It was twice named national Chamber of the Year.

History

The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce was founded on October 15, 1839, by 76 companies and individuals who placed an ad in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette urging local businessmen to attend a meeting at the Young Men's Mercantile Library Association headquarters in the old Cincinnati College Building at Fourth and Walnut Streets.[1] This Chamber's founding preceded the United States Chamber of Commerce, which held its first meeting in Cincinnati, by 73 years.[2] The Cincinnati Chamber celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2014.

The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce met in six different temporary locations until in 1876[3] they started to build a permanent office, inviting local architects to compete in a selection competition.[4] Henry Hobson Richardson's design won, and it built the new headquarters building in 1889.[5][6] A fire in 1911 caused substantial damage to the building,[7] leading to the discovery that only $90,000 of insurance was carried on the building, which had cost $772,674.05 to build,[8] and so it could not be repaired. When the property was sold, much of the granite from the building was saved and stored in Oakley, Ohio.[9] In 1967, University of Cincinnati Professor John Peterson coordinated an effort to build a memorial to Henry Hobson Richardson out of the surviving stones. A design competition whose jury included's Richardson's grandson was held in 1968 and the design by student Stephen Carter (architect) was selected.[10] The memorial was completed in 1972 and resides in Burnet Woods.

According to Charles Ludwig, a journalist in the 1920s and 1930s for the Cincinnati Times-Star, the Chamber had been involved in most of the city's significant developments since its creation.

As Cincinnati grew and became an eight-county metropolitan area in the mid-1960s, the Chamber changed its name to the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce to reflect its regional representation of businesses throughout Southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana. It is now called The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. The phrase "Cincinnati USA" is used to indicate that Greater Cincinnati extends beyond just one U.S. city and state. Cincinnati USA is a region of 15 counties (In Ohio: Butler, Warren, Hamilton, Clermont and Brown Counties. In Kentucky: Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Pendleton and Bracken Counties. In Indiana: Franklin, Dearborn and Ohio Counties) located in three states (Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana).

Presidents

John P. Williams Jr.

Williams served as President from 1984 to 2001. After graduating from Princeton University in 1963 and University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1966, he became an attorney at Taft Stettinius & Hollister.[11] His time at Taft Stettinius & Hollister was interrupted by service as an infantry officer leading a rifle company in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War where he was the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal with "V" and two Purple Hearts for wounds sustained in combat.[12] During his 17 year tenure at the chamber, he spearheaded efforts to revamp the riverfront and bring two new stadiums into the area.[11] He also helped bring the Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America headquarters into the area.[11] Additionally, he had the chamber organize two important events for Cincinnati, Oktoberfest Zinzinnati and Taste of Cincinnati.[11] In 2017, he was recognized as a "Great Living Cincinnatians".[13]

References
  1. J. William Rudd (May 1968). "The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce Building, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 115-123". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. JSTOR 988469.
  2. "Cincinnati USA Partnership Playing Key Role in Regional Job Growth Bioformix, Kao Latest Success Stories". Feb 14, 2012. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  3. "Secretary's report of 12 September 1876 reprinted in Richardson, The Architect and the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce Building, p. 42". The Cincinnati Astronomical Society. 1914.
  4. "Richardson, The Architect and the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce Building, p. 55". The Cincinnati Astronomical Society. 1914. JSTOR 988469.
  5. ""A Model Building", The Commercial Gazette (Cincinnati, 9 June 1885), p. 4". The Commercial Gazette. 1885. JSTOR 988469.
  6. "Secretary's report on The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchant's Exchange 40th Annual Report, p. 75". 1889. JSTOR 988469.
  7. "The Cincinnati Enquirer". January 11–24, 1911.
  8. "The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchant's Exchange 40th and 62nd Reports, 1889 and 1912".
  9. Cincinnati Astronomical Society (1914). "The Preservation of the Granite Arches and Walls After the Fire, Richardson, The Architect and The Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce Building, pp. 111 - 113".
  10. J. William Rudd (2012). "Richardson's rocks: DAAP-designed Cincinnati memorial in Burnet Woods turns 40". UC Magazine.
  11. "Memorial John P. Williams Jr. '63", Princeton Alumni Weekly, November 13, 2019. Accessed April 23, 2021.
  12. "John P. Williams, 78, retired long-tenured head of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber, died over weekend", Northern Kentucky Tribune website, June 25, 2019. Accessed April 22, 2021.
  13. "Chamber to honor 4 as Great Living Cincinnatians", Movers and Makers Magazine website, Cincinnati, January 24, 2017. Accessed April 22, 2021.

39°06′03″N 84°30′48″W

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