Wilkes-Barre Chamber rebrands as Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber, updates mission
From a press release:
Following its Annual Dinner Celebration last night, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce has revealed that it will be rebranding and changing its name to the organization’s original name – the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce.
By returning to this name, the organization believes it will be truly encompassing and representative of all of its member businesses that stretch across the Greater Wyoming Valley. They also wanted to update the brand’s look and feel to reposition the chamber as a contemporary organization focused on building a vibrant and inclusive business community.
“With this name change and rebrand, we can further expand the role we play in the overall success of the region, and have a new logo that matches the innovative and vibrant energy of our team, our volunteers, our members, or our programs,” said Chief Operating Officer and Vice President Lindsay Griffin.
“Going into this rebrand project, we had new leadership, new members from a broader geographic area, new innovative programs, new team members, and a renewed focus on our core priorities, which were outlined in our 2020 Strategic Plan, completed in December of 2019. Internally with staff and our board, we revamped our messaging to better articulate our purpose, mission, and vision as an organization.”
The chamber lists its mission as “accelerating the economic engine of the region by fostering innovation, connecting our resources, and elevating and advocating for our community,” along with a vision that “will be the dynamic force in connecting the community, building economic innovation, and elevating the quality of life in the region. The new branding encompasses the energy and vibrancy of the organization, captures the brightness and potential for our chamber and our region as a whole, and aligns us with our updated purpose, mission, and vision.”
The new colors of the new logo offer a brighter, more modern take on the traditional dark green and blue tones, and the imagery in the logo, which was unveiled at the end of the Annual Dinner live stream, plays on the original logo, but with a broader perspective that encompasses a wider geographic range and the focus on economic and business development.
Additionally, the imagery of the city buildings in the background touches on economic innovation and progress. It also features the “Elevate the Valley” tagline, which is central to the organization’s core branding on email blast marketing, council marketing, and hashtags/social media marketing.
“In kicking off our chamber rebrand, we are returning back to our roots, returning to our organization’s original name and our original charter to embrace and advocate for all our businesses stretching all across the Greater Wyoming Valley,” said President and CEO Wico van Genderen.
“Our core focus in our marketing rebrand is to connect, innovate, and elevate the Valley. Please join our movement – as we reimagine the future and build a more inclusive, diverse, and vibrant business community in the place we all call home – and through it – own our name – the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce!”
