“In 1866 the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce was organized
with Col. Dudley E. Jones, president, and the late Henry W. Wilson,
secretary. The initial meeting was held in the grocery store of
the late Col. W. S. Oliver, on the east side of Main between Markham
and Second. Rooms were secured in the Ditter building on the southwest
corner of Markham and Rock Streets. Later the organization met
in a room on West Markham.” – George R. Browne, Secretary,
Written for W. W. Dickinson, Past President, Little Rock Board
of Trade (1900 or 1901)
The Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce
has undergone many changes in its 139-year history. Succeeded
by a Cotton Exchange in 1882 and followed by the Little Rock Cotton
and Produce Exchange the next year, beginning in 1884, the Chamber
spent 20 years as the Little Rock Board of Trade.
In 1914, the organization reverted to its original
name – Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, but in 1918, changed
to the Little Rock Board of Commerce.
The “Chamber of Commerce” name again
became a part of the organization in 1924 and has gone uninterrupted
ever since. In 1944, the Little Rock Chamber became the Greater
Little Rock Chamber, but changed back to the Little Rock Chamber
when the North Little Rock Chamber was founded in 1947. However,
in 1948, the Little Rock group again reverted to the Greater Little
Rock Chamber of Commerce.
On March 12, 1954, Foster Vineyard, President
of the Chamber, and the Board of Directors received a letter from
Kenneth Price, President of the North Little Rock Chamber, thanking
the group for “removing the word ‘Greater’ from
(its) name.” The letter continued, “we sincerely hope
that the term ‘Greater’ when it refers to the two
cities will be eliminated by others following this action on your
part. We are anxious to cooperate and work with your organization
in every way possible in order to make the two communities better
places in which to live.”
The two organizations existed for the next 23
years without changes to their respective names. In 1977, the
“business, professional and industrial leadership of both
cities recognized that the metropolitan Little Rock/North Little
Rock area is one economic entity.”
Subsequently, the Boards of Directors of both
Chambers recommended consolidation of the groups into a new business,
professional and industrial force called the Metropolitan Chamber
of Commerce of Little Rock/North Little Rock.
In 1978, the organization changed its name to
the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, a name more recognizable
to those outside Central Arkansas.
In 2000, in anticipation of the move into its
new, state of the art headquarters, the organization became the
Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, the name it carries
today.
