Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber to move Sept. 1

It will be located at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research

Published June 23, 2020 by Sydney Lake

The Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday that it will move to the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville on Sept. 1.

The Chamber has been located in Blairs since 2005, when the Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce and the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce merged. After the chambers merged, leadership decided that it should be located between Chatham and Danville. The Chamber owns the IALR, and it sees the move as an opportunity to connect with regional stakeholders and be more responsive to members.

“When we merged the two chambers and constructed the building in Blairs, our localities were still working very independently from one another,” Martha Walker, a past chair of the chamber who also chaired the merger feasibility team, said in a statement. “Almost 20 years later, we have moved past our siloed approach to regional work. From economic development to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pittsylvania County and Danville are in lockstep, working together for the betterment of the entire region. In today’s environment, the location of this facility should not matter, and moving to IALR demonstrates a continued focus on substantive service to members in a space designed for authentic collaboration.”

Founded in 2000, the IALR was established to diversify and grow Southern Virginia’s economy. The center is used for work in research, advanced learning, economic development, advanced manufacturing and conference services. In 2019, more than 25,000 people visited the center.

“No facility in our region is more representative of how far we have progressed in terms of collaboration than IALR,” Alan Larson, chair of the chamber’s board of directors, said in a statement. “If the pandemic has shown us anything about the future of work, it’s that engagement, not location, is what matters. The business of the chamber will not change. We are here to promote and advocate for all businesses in our region. And we are proud to engage our members virtually and at their places of business. To learn more about our members, we go to them, not the other way around.”

The Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce has 600 members and focuses on assisting with business growth and development.