History of the Hillsdale County Chamber of Commerce

In September of 1978, Tom O'Meara, who was the Chairperson of the Hillsdale Retail Committee, called a meeting of the Hillsdale Civic Group to discuss the feasibility of forming a Chamber of Commerce in Hillsdale.  A development group was formed consisting of Jack Hill, Grant Baker, Frank Beck, Milt Ferguson, Bob Howe, Tom O'Meara, Kurt Shaneour and Chuck Turner.

 By January 1980, with the by-laws and constitution plan in place, the Chamber of Commerce was formally established with a nine-member board of directors.  Tom O'Meara was elected the first president and Bill Barron was the first treasurer.  Trustees of the first board were Grant Baker, Lee Donihue, Milt Ferguson, Bob Howe, Joe Madison, Bob Scholl and Ron Trowbridge.  This group's goal for the Chamber was "to serve as a positive instrument, provoking in depth and consideration regarding the development of our community by its respectie units of authority."

In June 1980, Dick Mills was retained as the Executive Director of the newly formed Chamber.  The Chamber Office was located in the Taylor-Moore Building.

Many committees were formed including Economic Development, Community Development, Political Action and Human Resource Development.  As time passed by, the committees changed, but the focus of the Chamber remained the same.

Helen Wilson became the next Executive Director and the Chamber moved to the second floor of the Nash Building.  Committees were changed to Community Promotion, Project Hillsdale, Retail Association, Marketing Activity, Membership & Public Forum.  Activity flourished with the Retail Committee planning and promoting the activities of downtown.  A newsletter started to circulate among the membership, demographics were published and a business directory was printed.  By 1986, Chamber membership had grown to just under 200 members.

In June 1987, Skip Walker became the Executive Director and another move took place.  The Chamber moved to 49 South Howell Street in Hillsdale.  Committees were Membership & Activity, Project Hillsdale, Retail & Marketing, Promotion and Christmas in Hillsdale.  During Skip's tenure, the membership grew to 242, a quality of life book was published, the executive director position became full time.  New by-laws were adopted and the tourist council became part of the Chamber.  A telemarketing campaign was used to increase membership to 360.

Another change occured in 1992, Anne Fike became Executive Director.  The focus of the Chamber became service to the membership.  A committee profile/membership book was in its second printing, activities increased and a Chamber lottery program became a new fundraiser for the Chamber.  The Chamber became a countywide Chamber.  Blue Cross Blue Shield was made available for employers with 299 employees and an employee asistance program was made available through the Hillsdale Community Health Center and the Chamber.  According to the history of the Chamber, it has been to hire a new director and make a move.  In keeping with this tradition, the Chamber moved to 3203 Beck Road.

In November 1998, Karri Doty was hired as the President/Executive Director and had 270 members.  Today, the Chamber has 550 plus members.  In May 1999, the Chamber started publishing a newsletter (Chamber Link) again.  In July 2000, the Chamber moved to 116 North Broad Street and in November 2004 the Chamber moved to its current location - the Mitchell Building (former Mitchell Library) - 22 North Manning Street, Hillsdale.  PHONE BOOK....

Currently, the Chamber hosts many events in and around Hillsdale County including the annual Hillsdale County Car Show, Annual Chamber Open (golf outing), Business Expo.  The Chamber still holds the lottery as a fundraiser.  The Chamber serves at the "Front door to the community and window to the world".  The Chamber assists in recruiting new people and businesses to our community and is continuously promoting commerce in Hillsdale County.

Past Chamber Presidents/Chairpersons are:  Tom O'Meara 1980-1982, Tom Monnich 1983, Hal March 1984, Jody Flowers 1985, Tim Kirley 1986, Gail McArdle 1987-1988, Lynda Sanders 1989, George Francis 1990, John Macdonald 1991, H. Kenneth Cole 1992, Steve Longman 1993, JR Carson 1994, Julia Gambill 1995, Kathy Proctor 1996, Parke Hayes 1997-1999, Margo Hubbell 2000, Ken Clor 2001, Ken Kurtz 2002, Parke Hayes 2003, Terry Esterline 2004, Kim Benedict 2005, Jay Williams 2006, Dawn Bugbee 2007, Jeff Layman 2008 & 2009.