Chamber Office will be 'One-Stop-Shop' for Everything Lacey

The Chamber of Commerce’s dream is in reach.

The business network will soon be opening its doors at the Worden House.

“(The office) would get the word out that we’re in existence,” said John Cafiero of Axis Builders and vice president of the Chamber. “My dream is to make that a Lacey visitors center to find out information about the businesses and happenings in the town.”

The Chamber of Commerce was located in the same building just a few years ago, before it went defunct, Cafiero said.

The building is not opened to the public yet. As of February, the group’s volunteers were just finishing up painting.

“Just having the sign up there makes me smile passing it,” he said.

Having the office will bring “awareness” to the community, he said, which is one of the reasons why the township has supported the office.

“The town has really chipped in,” Cafiero said. “They’ve donated the sign, rebuilt the whole front porch and is now painting the exterior.”

Cafiero hopes to open the office full-time with the help of volunteers and high school students, he said. The Chamber has done fundraisers in the past with the Future Business Leaders of America and believes they can develop a partnership.

“There’s definitely stuff to do and experience to gain from this,” Cafiero said.

The office will provide brochures, coupons, business cards and more, he said.

“It will be a one-stop-shop for anyone in the town or people considering coming to town,” Cafiero said.

The township offered the space to the Chamber free of charge. Utilities are on the same meter for the Worden House so unless there is a drastic change in the bill, the Chamber will not be paying for utilities, township administrator Veronica Laureigh said.

Any updates to the Worden House were part of "normal building maintenance," Laureigh said.

“(The Chamber) is a wealth of information for keeping businesses in town and bringing businesses into town,” she said. “They’ll offer valuable information for everyone in town. It’s definitely a good resource for everyone.”

But the Chamber could still use a rise in members as it only has 30, Cafiero said.

“We’re a small chamber,” he said. “It’s open to anyone who does business in Lacey. You don’t have to own a business in Lacey.”

With the high number of businesses in Lacey, the Chamber is hoping to do a membership drive, he said.

The network is aiming to open the office by the fall, Cafiero said. The office will have set hours but will not be open full-time to start.

“We’re such a small group that we don’t have enough people to man it,” he said.

If the Chamber partners with the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce to have a large enough group and enough funds, they will eventually be able to pay someone to have the office open full-time.

“We’re doing a lot of collaborating with other chambers,” Cafiero said. “We’re learning a lot and having a fun time doing it.”

For more information on the Chamber, visit www.laceychamberofcommerce.com.