GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Spring2018 - 27

focus on:

focus on:

GreaterReadingChamber.org

The GRCA is
Holding Court!
I

f you've driven up Court Street in
Reading lately, you might have spied the
updated signs greeting you just after the
intersection of Sixth Street. Or perhaps you've
already visited the building for a meeting.

In late March, moving trucks arrived
at the Gateway Building, 201 Penn Street
in Reading, where the Greater Reading
Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Greater
Reading Economic Partnership, and the
Greater Berks Development Fund office
suites were packed up and whisked away to
their new homes.
For each of the three affiliates of the
Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, the
office space on Penn Street enclosed each
organization into different suites, making
breaking down silos a potentially arduous
task. Additionally, with the growth of the
new organization, office space was becoming
tight.
In fact, several factors came together to make the move to
606 Court Street the right fit for the organization. The first was
the signing in late December of a lease of the Gateway building
by the General Services Administration, for use of the federal
courts, which are currently located at the Madison Building in
Reading. The lease necessitated a physical move of the staff, at the
opportune time that the building on Court Street came onto the
market.
For GRCA President & CEO Randy Peers, the new office
building bolsters organizational efforts in key areas: collaboration
with a growing number of partners and an investment in
Reading's downtown. "We had a priority list for finding a new

home: GRCA absolutely should be located
downtown. Second, we preferred to own.
Third, we needed to accommodate our own
growing staff and programming needs, while
accommodating our important strategic
partners."
A closer headquarters to the center of
Reading's downtown was a statement: the
downtown is a thriving area for business and
entertainment with potential for growth. For
the GRCA, it was important to be in the
middle of its thriving business district.
The building, formerly the site of Baker
College, boasted near move-in conditions. Its
second floor is leased, and provides space for
both the GRCA and its partners in the first,
third, and fourth floors. Unused space on
the third floor is also available for lease. The
partner space will be utilized by key GRCA
partners, including Berks and Schuylkill
SCORE, ASSETS of Lancaster, the Berks
County Latino Chamber of Commerce, the local representative
of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Kutztown University's
Small Business Development Center and the Reading Film Fest
and Reading Film Office.
Collaboration among the three entities and the three partners
was key-not just for the organizations themselves, but for the
business community of Reading. "Our goal is to be the one-stop
shop for the business community in our area," remarked Randy
Peers. "We continuously strive to offer the best services, programs,
and expertise that our community needs to thrive. And this new
location gives us the centralized headquarters we need to work
toward making that a reality."

27
http://www.GreaterReadingChamber.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA_CommerceQuarterly_Spring2018
