The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce announced that it will be moving to a new location off of Peppers Ferry Road next to Grand Home Furnishings in Christiansburg.
The new office will be located in Christiansburg’s main shopping district near US Route 460.
The move makes sense for both the board and its members, Board Chairman Paul Mylum said at a press conference Wednesday.
“The biggest reason is the central location that we feel we have up there and a building that is built specifically for our needs,” he said.
At 3,000 square feet, the new space will only be slightly bigger than the chamber’s current location on North Franklin Street in Christiansburg.
Mylum said that being able to design the layout of the new office was a big plus for the chamber. The building itself is 4,500 square feet, so there will eventually be another non-profit or business occupying the space.
The chamber has agreed to a 10-year lease with an option to buy the building built into the contract.
The property is owned by Matt Kessler and Jeff Price. Price is on the chamber’s board, but chamber officials said they went out of their way to make sure the was no preferential treatment.
“We considered around eight different locations, but this one just made the most sense,” Ray Alcorn said, who is a former board member brought back to help the chamber make an unbiased decision.
Executive Director Sharon Scott said that Price recused himself from the whole process after notifying the board that he had a space that would possibly meet the chamber’s needs.
“He did not attend the meeting when the vote was made, either,” she said.
Scott said that construction on the building is expected to begin in about “three to four weeks,” and should be completed by November.
Figures on construction and the lease were not released, but Mylum did say that the chamber was paying fair market value to rent the office.
The chamber has moved rather frequently in recent years, but members are hopeful that the new space will provide a prominent space for the foreseeable future.
“This is the first time I had heard of a chamber moving locations four times in 13 years. A chamber should certainly be centrally located to serve its members, but most importantly, the community that it serves should know where to find it,” 2018 Vice Chair Alan Fabian said in a news release.
