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History
From its start in the
early 1800s, Worthington was a place where ideas
flourished, and business creativity and entrepreneurial
spirit were fostered. Worthington was the site in 1811
of the first industrial effort in central Ohio, the
Worthington Manufacturing Company. The first newspaper,
the Western Intelligencer, was founded by Worthington’s
founder, James Kilbourne, in the same year, and the
first post office was established in 1805.
In the early 1900s,
businesspersons, who were concerned about community
problems, organized the Worthington Chamber of Commerce
in November 1919. Within three month of its founding it
appears that the Chamber had begun to turn things
around. It had installed and turned over to the village
council electric lights and assumed responsibility for
the care of the public park. At the next election, a
Chamber of Commerce, non-political ticket was
unanimously elected to office. In the following years
the Chamber was involved in most of the community’s
improvements.
In the 1930s, the
Chamber became the Worthington Business Men’s
Association, but resurfaced in 1958 with the
establishment of the modernday Worthington Area Chamber
of Commerce. Business leaders Earl Thomas, John Hill and
John Wolfe filed incorporation papers on June 26, 1958,
and official certification as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit
corporation came four days later from the Secretary of
State’s office.
The issues that prompted
these business leaders to form the Chamber are familiar
ones today. They stressed that Worthington should
attract new businesses and funded a brochure to promote
economic development at a cost of $750. (In 2003 the
Chamber donated $10,000 to the City of
Worthington for marketing materials supporting economic
development.) They advocated for many other issues
relevant today: the welfare of children in our schools;
education on tax issues and a demand for accountability
by city leaders who sought tax levies; and an appeal to
business members to run for city council seats.
They sent
representatives to every school board meeting and had
regular reports from council members at Chamber
meetings. They advocated for levies for the city or
schools when they deemed them to be “local
improvements.” And they set the stage for partnerships
with other
community organizations.
Beginning a tradition of
“making connections” that flourishes today, the Chamber
continued its development with the support of
enthusiastic volunteers. During the 1970s and 1980s, a
retired postal executive, Gene Gallagher, served as the
organization’s volunteer secretary-director. The
Chamber hired its first president, Ruth Barnett-Palmer,
in 1983. Jean Sickles replaced her in 1991, and John
Butterfield, the current executive director, was hired
in 1997.
In recent years the
Chamber has experienced dramatic increases in
membership, growing from 360 members in 1996 to
approximately 700 in 2006. Increased attendance at
Chamber events and positive feedback from member surveys
show that the Chamber continues to fill a valuable role
for the Worthington’s business community and growing the
local economy. |
