Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County

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The Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County, Inc., was founded by Miguel (Mike) A. Rios. It was incorporated in November 2003, and it has recieved its accredition by the Puerto Rico Chamber Of Commerce of the United States and San Juan Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce.

History of the Chamber of Commerce

As long as commerce has existed, traders have banded together for the common protection against enemies, to govern the conduct of trade, and later to exert influence on legislation. The first known use of the term “chamber of commerce” occurred in Marseilles, France, where such an organization was established by the city council toward the close of the 17th century. From this beginning, chambers of commerce spread to Germany, and then throughout Europe.

European chambers have little parallel with the American organization. They frequently operate as quasi-public agencies, with administrative and judicial powers with respect to trade. The oldest chamber of commerce on the American continent is that of the State of New York, chartered by King George III, in 1770. The establishment of the New York Chamber was a direct result of the Stamp Act that was passed by Parliament in 1765.

The first local chamber of commerce was founded in Charleston, South Carolina in 1773. By 1870, the number of local chambers had increased to 40. The early American, like their European prototypes, were associations of tradesmen, organized for the protection and promotion of commerce. In the United States, early chambers promoted the sale of goods, organized markets, made and enforced rules of trade, protected goods in transit, and even operated their own trading floors. But their activities were limited to those directly connected with commerce.

The emergence of the chamber as a true community organization came much later, as businessmen began to realize that their own prosperity depended on the development of a prosperous community. In the 1950s and 1960s, chambers placed major emphasis on industrial recruitment and job creation activities. As we entered the 1970s, 80s, and 90s major problems with inadequate housing, schools, community services, and high unemployment, the role of chambers of commerce expanded to socioeconomic concerns.

The chamber of commerce of the 21st Century can no longer just ask its members, “What do you want your chamber to do?” Instead, it needs to ask, “What kind of a community do we want our to be?” In a fast-paced, constantly changing global marketplace, today’s modern chambers are becoming more active in government affairs, realizing that many of the problems facing them can best be dealt with in the legislative arena. The basic mission of the chamber of commerce is to create and promote a climate where business can operate in a productive and profitable manner

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