Chamber of Commerce announces merger

Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce merges with North Central

LINCOLN – It’s official. The Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and North Central Chamber of Commerce have merged and will operate under the name of Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce.

In a memo to member towns, John Gregory, president and CEO of the newly-merged Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, said the consolidation, which was approved by both agencies’ board of directors, will benefit all chamber members and provide more opportunities to network, as well as additional educational and informational events to attend.

He said the chamber is now the largest geographically in Rhode Island, encompassing 13 communities – Burrillville, Central Falls, Cumberland, Foster, Glocester, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Scituate, Smithfield and Woonsocket.

Gregory and Dorothy Swain, president of North Central Chamber’s board of directors, began informal discussions on the merger a cou- ple of months ago. At that point the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce had already taken over the day-to-day operations of the North Central Chamber of Commerce. It was Gregory who agreed to help out after the North Central Chamber’s executive director, Jamie Dufresne, resigned. Dufresne was appointed last June, succeeding former executive director Deborah Ramos.

Rather than replace the leadership position at its agency, the North Central Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors decided to reach out to the Northern Rhode Island Chamber to discuss a possible collaboration or consolidation.

“Right now, we’re looking at this as a cooperative relationship,” said Swain. “When our executive director left we looked at options and decided to contact Northern Rhode Island. This is really for the betterment of our membership and we felt that this was the better way to go.”

“This is an exciting time for our chamber as we approach our 25th anniversary as the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce,” said

Gregory, adding the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce itself was the result of the merger of the Blackstone Valley Chamber and the Greater Woonsocket Chamber. Both predecessor chambers were founded in the 1880s.

Gregory has been a Chamber executive for more than 25 years and is one of Rhode Island’s most well respected and seasoned Chamber professionals in the area. He is registered lobbyist with the State of Rhode Island and a graduate of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Organization Management.

Before the merger, the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce represented the interests of businesses in the communities of Burrillville, Central Falls, Cumberland, Glocester, Lincoln, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Smithfield and Woonsocket. The NRI Chamber leads the Chamber of Commerce Coalition, representing 11 area chambers of commerce. The coalition is the largest business advocate in the state, representing more than 6,500 businesses and 70,000 employees statewide.

The North Central Chamber of Commerce prior to the merger served the towns of Johnston, North Providence, Smithfield, Scituate, Foster and Glocester. The chamber originated in North Providence in 1945, when a group of entrepreneurs established the North Providence Chamber of Commerce. They set out to grow their businesses and take a stand on important political issues by banding together and helping one another. Word of their success spread to the towns of Johnston and Smithfield, and they started gaining members in these towns, as well as Scituate, Foster and Glocester. The organization was renamed in 1982 as the North Central Chamber of Commerce.