‘Greater’ Reach : Lynn Chamber of Commerce Changes Name

Lynn’s Chamber of Commerce has just become “Greater.”

The local business agency, led by Executive Director Colin Codner, announced Monday that it is changing its name from the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce to the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce.

The leaders of the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce, which announced a change in name for the organization. Front row are Executive Director Colin Codner and Accountant Anthy Yeannakopoulos. Back row are Membership and Events Coordinator Samantha McHugh and Operations Manager Christine Neals.

Codner explained the reasons for the name change in an interview with the Lynn Journal Monday.

“It’s our goal to promote a regionalistic approach to business support, advocacy, and all the factors that go in to growth and development – and we [The Board of Directors and Mr. Codner] felt that a broadly inclusive aim and image would best reflect our decision to focus in a regionalistic manner,” said Codner.

While there are various interpretations to the geographic areas encompassed by Greater Lynn, Codner said the agency’s Greater Lynn perspective consists of  “the communities we are casually referring to as southern Essex County,” including Lynn, Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant.

Businesses in Lynn make up the large majority of Chamber members but there is “healthy representation” in the other four communities.

Codner said Monday’s official launch consisted of an unveiling the agency’s new logo on the Website. The rebranding is continuing on social media and a letter has been sent to all members notifying them of the change.

“We also have an event on Friday (July 12) at Land of a Thousand Hills (61 Munroe St.) between 9 and 11 a.m.,” said Codner. “We hope that members come on down and have a cup of coffee and get our new logo on top of your latte.”

The acronym for the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce is likely to be “GLCC,” eschewing the preposition “of” as most chambers do. Conversely, the Point of Pines Yacht Club (adjacent to the General Edwards Bridge) does use the letter ‘O’ in its acronym, which is POPYC, perhaps an attempt to differentiate itself from the Pleasant Park Yacht Club (PPYC) in nearly Winthrop.

Friday’s introductory event is, in fact, being called “Meet the GLCC.” Lynn’s Chamber of Commerce experienced unprecedented growth under previous Executive Director Leslie Gould. The Lynn Chamber is one of the largest in Massachusetts with approximately 400 members.

 The Chamber’s business and social events, including the Annual Business Excellence Awards Dinner – with its Academy Awards-style feel and the considerable prestige associated with being an award recipient – have attracted large turnouts.

The Chamber has become a strong and effective voice for the business community with leaders and members appearing at City Council and other governmental board meetings.

The Chamber has continued its resurgence under the reign of Codner and his management team – and even “Greater” things are expected under its new name and logo.

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