Bay Area Chamber of Commerce
Develop, Promote and Connect your Business
The Bay Area, consisting of Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston, is a truly unique community. Located on the Southern Oregon Coast, home to some of the most spectacular beaches and sand dunes in the world, the Bay Area has become a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and retirees to experience living in the unspoiled beauty that surrounds us, and is the perfect nest for young families to grow.
Our business community accentuates individuality and character while our retailers strike a balance between distinctively local shops and nationally known chains.
So whether you’re a first time visitor, prospective new resident or business owner considering relocation, once you come here, you’ll never want to leave.
23 May 2023
The Chamber Minute 05/26/23
The Chamber Minute In the early days of my time in North Bend city government, as we looked for opportunities, I found myself thinking “if only” we had the assets of the County we could really get something done. What I quickly found was the County was saying the same thing about the State and the State was saying the same thing about the Federal government. I was reminded of an old hymn called “Brighten the Corner where you are”. Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do, Do not wait to shed your light afar; To the many duties ever near you now be true, Brighten the corner where you are. Your big time is now and this is your stage to make a difference on. For many years we had a formal Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). Each May they had annual RSVP Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. It was there we acknowledged that these folks had given over 100,000 hours of volunteer time to your community. While RSVP is gone, the volunteer service continues. So what does that do? It makes our area viable. We could not afford to pay for those services. […]
9 May 2023
The Chamber Minute 05/12/23
The Chamber Minute. A dream changing movie, for many of my generation, was Smokey and the Bandit. It introduced us to the Pontiac Trans Am. For over 25 years following that movie, I collected articles, pictures and books on the TA. I watched its styles and horsepower change. Finally, I found a late model in perfect shape, low miles and a great price. To everyone’s surprise, I brought it. At long last, a dream realized. Over the years, your Chamber has been the source of many dreams realized. Leadership Coos was formed to educate community members to the many facets of our area. In its nine months, participants learn facts, find services and discover opportunities they never knew existed in our area. It also had a goal to help produce the next set of community leaders. Today you find its graduates leading local business, government and agencies. The Ambassadors are the Red-coated welcoming team that greets dignitaries, cuts ribbons at grand openings and hosts Business after Hours each month. In the past 18 months they have focused on expanding the success, outreach and impact of those events. They are building their team membership to be even more effective in the […]
2 May 2023
The Chamber Minute 05/05/23
The Chamber Minute Another school year is coming to an end. As we emerge from these COVID times, promoting education has been a challenge for teachers, parents and children. Can you imagine having to face all those needed changes at school, in the past couple years, to simply be able to learn? Kids are resilient. One rainy Saturday afternoon my wife was standing in line at a local grocery store with three little, blonde haired, blue lipped girls behind her. They were very concerned about how much their groceries were going to cost. They had two packs of hot dogs and a half gallon of chocolate mint ice cream. They continued to ask the checker how much this would be. He said, “Girls, I believe you’ll get eighteen cents back.” My wife asked, “Girls, are you having a party?” “Nope”, replied the oldest. “Our mom’s been sick so we decided to make her supper. We’ll have hot dogs and ice cream.” They had spent the afternoon washing windows and picking up cans to pay for their dinner. Despite what you read or hear, there is nothing wrong with the basic fiber of today’s kids. It’s our responsibility to help that […]
