The details
Announced on Dec. 5, Brett Finley, CEO and President of the Metro SA Chamber, said the decision to rebrand was made in November, 2023, when chamber leadership decided not to merge with the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
“[The decision to rebrand] stemmed from a few factors, but certainly our identity, membership and activities as an organization didn’t match up with our name,” Finley said.
Finley said part of the decision-making process was to present a brand that accurately represented the chamber's scope as an organization.
He noted that there was a misconception as to who could become a member due to the geographically-oriented name. He hopes that the rebranding will let people know that the chamber accepts members from every part of the city and throughout the county.
“Folks consider us like a political jurisdiction, where there are actual physical boundaries where we cannot cross over, [but] we would like to think that the entire San Antonio metropolitan region is a potential member, and it’s something we should be advocating for with our policies [and] the events that we’re conducting,” Finley said.
Finley said the rebranding is also an attempt to attract younger generations of workers and business owners. He said part of the problem with attracting younger members is due to a misunderstanding of what a chamber of commerce offers.
“We have to appeal to both the existing working demographic and the youngest two generations of [the] workforce,” Finley said.
The conditions
The Metro SA Chamber is a smaller organization than the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, about 60% the size.
“We have aspirations to be the largest chamber in town and to be the most dominant, influential business voice for all,” Finley said.
Additionally, Finley pointed out that the rebranding is also about the organization focusing on being more relational than transactional.
“We have to reinvent ourselves. We’ve gotten far more transactional as a business organization and less relational, which is a death sentence in San Antonio. If we’re going to continue to survive, operate in this marketplace and cater to the next generation, we’re going to have to adapt,” Finley said.
He said that on top of events that delve into the state of specific organizations, industries and local governments, the chamber also intends to host events that cater to both employees and families, such as pickleball tournaments.
Quote of note
“The hope would be that if you spend a little bit of time [at chamber events], business-to-business [relationships] will turn into business-to-consumer [relationships] that can really be a return on your investment from a referral perspective. Ultimately, it's our hope that we want to create opportunities for our members that will make a business, whether you’re a small-, mid- or large size [company], more prosperous and successful in the future,” Finley said.
Stay tuned
The Metro SA Chamber will host a variety of events in 2025, including the 2025 Membership Mixer hosted by Spurs Sports & Entertainment on Jan. 15 and the 2025 Metro SA Chamber on Feb. 8.
For more information on events or becoming a member, visit the Metro SA Chamber website.
