‘We’ve outgrown this beautiful facility’
Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce preparing for move to Connecticut Post Mall
MILFORD —The Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce is on the move — it will soon be relocating to new offices at the Connecticut Post Mall.
“We’ve outgrown this beautiful facility,” Executive Director Pam Staneski said. “We are extremely excited about this move.”
The new location, which will be on the lower level next to Pantochino Productions, has 3,000-square-feet of office space, including a conference room, worker space and operational offices, and a business library nook.
Growing membership
Since 1977, the 65-yearold Chamber, which advocates for the business community in Milford, has been in the Taylor Memorial Library at 5 Broad Street. The building, built in 1894, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
As membership at the Chamber has continued to grow, it has needed to expand its facilities, according to Staneski. There are currently over 400 members, with 60 new members in 2019, and close to 45 so far this year. Aside from Milford, there are members in West Haven, Orange, Stamford, and Shelton.
“When we were trying to hold Lunch and Learn [presentations] or opportunities for our businesses to do seminars, we had overflow into the lobby of people,” Staneski said. “We didn’t have enough space for them to sit.”
The move also allows the Chamber to upgrade its technological infrastructure, she said.
Over the years, the needs of members have expanded, and there is a big need for small workerspace.
“On any given day, we’ve had one to two members sharing our conference room,” she said. “This new space will allow them to utilize some private office space.”
She added Chamber members would also like to receive relevant, timely information from experts in the field. “This space gives us that opportunity,” she said.
Since the Milford Chamber is a regional organization, being located at the mall gives it an opportunity to expand its reach, she added.
“We are committed to the Devon and Walnut Beach merchants, the downtown merchants, and those along the Post Road corridor, to better serve the needs of the diverse community that we represent,” she said.
The move is expected to be completed by year-end. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Chamber is currently operating remotely.
Paige Miglio, executive director of the Milford Arts Council, and executive board member and acting chairman of the Chamber’s
Board of Directors, said the move is definitely needed.
“I think that everybody loves the fact that we are in that historical building; however, during my time on the executive board, it became very obvious to everyone that we couldn’t offer the services our membership wanted and needed while staying in the building,” Miglio said. “We really wanted to find a place where we could be seen as more central to our business community, while also reaching out beyond Milford borders.”