The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and the Cape Ann Community Foundation celebrated the official opening of their new office and visitor center, located on Gloucester’s Harbor Loop, on August 28.
Cape Ann community and business leaders, city and town officials, and the region’s state legislators joined with the Chamber team and board members from both organizations for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and placement of a time capsule. Guests and state legislators also toured the new offices after the ribbon cutting, which include a Community Collaboration Center in addition to an expanded Visitor Center.
The Chamber staff has begun safely operating out of the new offices – after working for nearly seven months from home – and the Visitor Center is open as well.
Chamber CEO Ken Riehl said the new location “will serve as a beacon to light up our region’s unparalleled maritime and cultural legacies…and help lead Cape Ann into an incredibly bright and flourishing future.”
Chamber Board President Tony Sapienza said the new facility “represents a sign of hope and continued collaboration as we look to the future…with added space to continue our important work in support of our members, a visitor center that will serve the needs of those coming to explore and enjoy our region, and a meeting area that provides a place for the organizations and people of Cape Ann to come together to advance our community’s priorities.”
Cape Ann Community Foundation President Ruth Pino called the opening of the new Chamber and Foundation headquarters “one of the silver linings of a year filled with challenges.”
Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken presented a proclamation from the city,
welcoming the Chamber to “its new home in America’s oldest seaport.”
State Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante described the new Chamber office as “a signal to the whole community – all of Cape Ann -- that COVID won’t get us down…and a signal to every small business struggling right now that there is light and hope at the end of the tunnel.”
She and State Representative Brad Hill presented a citation from the State House of Representatives recognizing the Chamber’s “dedication, support, and advocacy to the businesses of the Cape Ann community.”
State Senator Bruce Tarr said, “the centrality of the Cape Ann Chamber on our lives on Cape Ann,” and spoke of new offices as a sign of “the prosperity of the Chamber and its ability to look forward to new horizons”. Senator Tarr also presented a citation on behalf of the State Senate.
Other community leaders presented items for a time capsule to be buried at the base of the new location’s flagpole and opened in 2040. The items included: a depiction of the Cape Ann License Plate, presented by Ruth Pino; a photo of the 2020 Chamber Board offered by Tony Sapienza; a miniature version of a plaque to be displayed in the new Essex public safety facility, submitted by Selectman Guy Bradford; photos and quotes representing issues the shaped Gloucester in 2020, presented by Vanessa Krawczyk, Gloucester’s interim chief administration officer; a commemorative coin for the town’s 375th anniversary (and a face mask bearing the coin’s image) presented by Manchester-by-the-Sea Selectmen Chair Eli Boling; and a town seal and a 2020 town budget presented by Rockport Selectmen Chair Ruth George.
The ceremony concluded with a 50-fooot ribbon cutting in which all of the guests in attendance participated.
