After being in a temporary location for more than a year, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce has finally found its home at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
The new location at 575 Symphony Park Ave. boasts plenty of meeting and office space as well as an area designated for members to sit alone or meet others to conduct business, President and CEO Kristin McMillan said.
“We surveyed our membership to see what they wanted in our new facility,” she said. “What was important to them was a central location, good access in and out, ample parking, a business center to sit and pull out their laptops and plenty of gathering space.”
Before their temporary location on West Sunset Road, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce was the first commercial business to set up shop at Town Square in 2008. The chamber gave up its space to San Mateo, Calif.-based SolarCity when the company expanded into Southern Nevada in 2013.
“We decided to give them the facility without having another permanent facility,” McMillan said. “We knew (SolarCity) would be a benefit to the community.”
According to McMillan, the chamber opened the doors to its new location on Oct. 20 and occupies part of the first floor and the entire fifth floor.
“Our members feel comfortable here,” McMillan said. “Being at The Smith Center is symbolic because it was built for the benefit of the community and we’re here to benefit the community too.”
McMillan said the chamber provides resources to the business community, forms community partnerships and is heavily involved in public policy and advocacy.
A few of the organization’s 2014 accomplishments, according to McMillan, include defeating the margin tax initiative and launching the Leadership Institute of Las Vegas, which offers leadership skills, education, development and volunteer opportunities to residents of Southern Nevada.
As the New Year approaches, McMillian said she’s looking forward to continuing to add to the list of the chamber’s endeavors.
“Many of our initiatives will continue and we’ll continue to work with the community to spend money in a way that generates results,” she said. “We’ll also dedicate our time to workforce development to build and nurture our workforce to diversify the economy.”
She added, “I’m excited to see what happens in 2015. We have so many great opportunities ahead.”
