Chamber Moves to Exchange Building

   MOVING WEEK arrived for the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce as staff organized the transition from the current structure on Water Street to the temporary location in the Exchange Building at 120 W. Exchange St., Owosso. The office closed Tuesday, Aug. 29 and will re-open in the Exchange Building on Tuesday, Sept. 5, just after Labor Day. The partner organizations including SEDP, SBDC, and the SCVB are in for the move, too.
   Demolition for the current chamber building directly in front of the Owosso Armory is planned for mid-September. SRCC purchased the Armory from the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs in April 2017 with the plan to redevelop the historic building into permanent SRCC offices, small business offices, and community space slated for spring 2018. That revitalization project has been ongoing.
   SRCC staff assisting with the move on Wednesday, Aug. 30 included (from left) Customer Service Representative Mary Perry, President/CEO Jeff Deason, Administrative Assistant Jody Roethele, and Vice President Sue Kadlek. The four are standing in the chamber meeting room on the northeast corner of the building: the location of hundreds of business meetings over previous decades.
   Deason did share that he has reached out to Habitat for Humanity with an invitation that they are welcome to reuse anything useful remaining within the structure after it is vacated.
   Chamber members are now encouraged to park on the north side of the Exchange Building or in the area to the south of the Armory. The Exchange Building offers an elevator at the back of the building, as offices will now be on the third floor.
(Independent Photo/Karen Mead-Elford)