Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce is moving

The Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce is moving from its small office at the Port Hueneme Historical Society Museum on Market Street to a storefront on Channel Islands Boulevard.

Chamber CEO Tracy Sisson Phillips said she hopes the move will be made sometime this fall. The exact location hasn't been finalized.

'There's a lot of history at the museum. We definitely have a soft spot for that location,' Sisson Phillips said. 'But from a business standpoint, it's not in what is the business district, if you could say Hueneme has a business district. It's the retail or professional offices along the Channel Islands Boulevard corridor.'

Port Hueneme Interim City Manager Carmen Nichols said the chamber and the city were operating under an agreement that recently expired. The city owns the museum at 220 N. Market Street, and staff from the chamber was helping to keep the museum open longer hours.

'The chamber has been maintaining office space at the museum since 1973,' Nichols explained. 'As part of that agreement, the city paid an annual fee to the chamber for monitoring and providing staffing to keep the museum doors open. The agreement expired June 30.'

Nichols said that over time, the chamber found it more difficult to provide the required staffing, so a different arrangement was needed.

'A move like this will make the chamber's corporate office more visible to both the public and its business partners and will allow more office space for expansion,' Nichols said.

Sisson Phillips said she hopes the chamber eventually will be able to offer support services to small businesses, as well as a general meeting place.

The chamber, which was founded in 1940, works to promote businesses in Port Hueneme. But Sisson Phillips said that because the city is wrapped around Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme and the Port of Hueneme, growth potential is limited.

'Port Hueneme doesn't have a lot of big businesses, and we never will,' she said. 'We're not going to have an Amgen or Haas Automation. We have developed as a city.

'We are blessed to have the Port of Hueneme as a chamber member,' she added. 'But with the contractors on the base we're limited because of access. We do have some of the port's tenants as chamber members.'

One way the city could attract more revenue would be to expand its beachside operations, Sisson Phillips said. To that end, the chamber has been offering regular Hueneme Sunset Suppers at the beach, with various food trucks.

'The suppers bring knowledge of our great little beach,' she explained. 'We're not Zuma Beach; we're not Santa Barbara. We're challenged because of coastal regulations and our current developments. There's not a lot of opportunity to build on the beach. It becomes a challenge getting people to realize that the seven to eight miles from the 101 to Port Hueneme is not that far.'

During the June 6 Port Hueneme City Council meeting, a split council voted to allocate $5,800 to the chamber to be used 'at the city manager's discretion.' There was already a $5,800 allocation for the chamber, but the council had eliminated the additional $5,800 stipend to keep the museum open.

'The relocation of the chamber to a storefront on Channel Island Boulevard is a much more appropriate location, closer to our business district and much more visible,' Port Hueneme Mayor Doug Breeze said.

Sisson Phillips said she was pleased with the council's decision.

'We have a very good relationship with the city of Port Hueneme,' she said. 'The council has been very supportive of our efforts to increase economic development in the city.'

For information about the Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce, call 488-2023 or go online to www.huenemechamber.com.