Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry Celebrating 75 Years

Tuesday, January 26th, 2021 -- 12:01 PM

-The Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or MACCI, is celebrating their 75th Anniversary this year.

I spoke with Scott Larson, the Executive Director at MACCI, and he explained how the organization started.

Scott:  “Obviously, we’re celebrating 75 years in 2021.  The Chamber’s official start dates back to late 1945, early 1946.  And what ended up happening was that back in late 1945, business leaders had gotten together and held a meeting because they were talking about needing a new organization."

"Most all of them had already been a part of what was called the Marshfield Commercial Club, which had been in existence for 15 years, but that was a volunteer group.  And what they were finding was that most of the work was falling on just a few people and the results they were getting weren’t to their liking."

"So, they met as a group and decided we need to spend a little more money, in their words, and have professional staff.  In February of 1946, they formed and had their first meeting of what was called then the Marshfield Chamber of Commerce.”

Question:  “In regards to businesses that are a part of the chamber and services provided, how does MACCI compare today to back then?”

Scott:  “Obviously back then a lot of the businesses that were part of the Chamber were some of the major employers, which included some of the manufacturers.  A lot of the commercial downtown businesses were the members.  So, a lot of it focused on that commercial side and the retail aspect."

"So, services provided them were a lot of business promotion opportunities, some economic development activities.  How that’s transitioned over the years, is that certain services have been more emphasized and some less emphasized and how I would say that transitioned to today is that we’re still providing a lot of similar services."

"We’re doing a lot of promotions and networks for business people.  We’re providing professional development services.  We’re providing a lot of economic development services."

"But the biggest change, I would say, is the amount of and the level of workforce development services that are being provided today by the chamber.  They’re probably the most notable service change and transition over the 75 year period.”

Question:  “What are some of the big events/expansions/new businesses/etc. you've witnessed during your time as Director?”

Scott:  “Good and bad that have occured during that period of time.  Some of the good includes, obviously, the construction of the PCA facility here in town back around 2016/2017.  Adding over a 100,000 square feet facility to the community."

"Likewise, obviously, the bad included the closing of Figi’s and what went with that.  However, even in the bad times, there were some good things that came out of that."

"We were able to muster our services and provide a lot of, again, back to this workforce development services, for that closing and help the company and help the employees with job fairs."

"And help a lot of them, well almost all of them, that wanted to find a job, found a job.  We like to think that a lot of the effort we provided helped that happen.”

“We’ve gone through and seen the transition from St. Joseph’s Hospital to Marshfield Medical Center.  We’ve seen the continued growth of the Marshfield Clinic Health System.  We’ve seen the community grow as a whole."

"Some of the public/private opportunities that have taken place with a new library and community center being built.  The aquatic center now being built.  The major renovations to the Wildwood Zoo.  The YMCA having a major, multi-million dollar renovation taking place."

"And, along with that, a lot of our major existing employers continuing to grow and helping them be a part of that growth with Prevention Genetics being a great success story."

"Dr. Weber coming out of the Clinic Research Foundation, starting his business and seeing it grow to well over 100 employees and a beautiful new facility in the Commercial Business Park here in Marshfield.  Those are some of the things that come to mind during my tenure here with the Chamber.”

Question:  “What kind of celebrations or activities is MACCI doing to celebrate its 75th Anniversary?”

Scott:  “Well, we hope to have some!  Obviously with current health conditions, that puts limits on what we can do early on.  We have our Annual Meeting coming up, which, typically, would be an annual dinner.  Obviously, we’ve forgone that and there will be a virtual event this year."

"But we are using the opportunity of that event to showcase and kickoff our 75th Anniversary.  So, we have a little bit of a notation of that during our video presentation."

"We’ll take opportunities throughout the rest of the year to promote the fact that we’re 75-years-old and probably incorporate what we can, where it makes sense, into other events throughout the course of the year to recognize that we’re 75."

"Interviews like this are certainly one big opportunity for us.  We’ll certainly do as many interviews and news stories as we possibly can to help showcase the fact that this organization has reached that 75 year milestone.”

Question:  “Anything else/final thoughts?”

Scott:  “If you’re really not that aware of what is the Chamber of Commerce and what does it do, seek out our website and learn more about us.  Contact us if you’re a business in the greater Marshfield area, and that’s a large area."

"That’s one major change that’s taken place since the early days of its formation 75 years ago.  We’re well beyond just the City of Marshfield in our service area."

"Those businesses should check us out and see all the opportunities that are available to them for us to provide service and value to them by being a part of the Chamber.”

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.