Oakland Chamber of Commerce (Mike)
The Oakland Chamber of Commerce was established on November 11, 1905. Founding member of the Chamber included Mayor Frank Mott (former treasurer of the Board of Trade and Director of the Security Bank and Trust, with business interests in hardware and real estate), W. J. Laymance (real estate), Frank Bilger (construction), Frederick Kahn and H. C. Capwell (department store owners, the latter was also President of the Security Bank and Trust), Theodore Gier (head of a wine company, founder of the Board of Trade, Merchants' Exchange, and founder and Director of the Security Bank and Trust), W. W. Garthwaite (banker), W. E. Dargie (Publisher of the Oakland Tribune), C. J. Heeseman and Frank A. Leach, Jr.
The chamber has been located in different buildings over the years.
*Although this entry mentioned that Edson F. Adams* was its first president of the Chamber of Commerce, there is no mention of Edson F. Adams having a connection, nor any mention as to who was the first president.
One of the founding members, Bilger, was the Vice President in 1906 and President in 1907.
O. H. Fisher was President in either 1923 or 1924; he was also President of the Community Council.
____ Goodrich was active in the Chamber of Commerce, serving as Director and Finance Committee Chair in 1922, Vice President and Director in 1923, and Harbor Committee member in 1924.
Joseph R. Knowland was active in the Chamber of Commerce between 1918 to 1926, serving at various times as Vice President, Board of Directors member, and either Chair or member of the Executive, Harbor and Naval Base Committees.
In early 1920 the Chamber sponsored a law and order campaign demanding massive increase in police in the industrial district of Oakland.
1923 saw voters pass a measure endorsed by the Chamber to create a regional municipal utility (water) district, replacing the private water companies.
The Chamber organized the Oakland Community Council in 1924, which was composed of the heads of 17 business, service and luncheon club organizations. The Council was dedicated to the growth and prosperity of Oakland, and to cooperation between business and civic interests.
Joseph King, President of the Central National Bank, became President of the Chamber in 19__.
C. J. Struble, who had served as Vice President of the Oakland Title Insurance and Guaranty Corporation, was elected President of the Chamber in 1931.
In 1960 Edgar Kaiser (Henry Kaiser's son) and Steven Bechtel led the Chamber to produce a planning study for a new major league stadium and sports arena. 1961 saw the formation of the nonprofit corporation, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Inc. with Chamber President Robert Nahas as President and Edgar Kaiser, William Knowland, and George Loorz (construction firm owner) serving as Board members.
UPDATE: The Chamber of Commerce selected Barbara Leslie as the new President and CEO in February of 2014. Announcement here.
The Chamber of Commerce is currently located at 475 14th St #100, in Frank Ogawa Plaza.
chamber of commerce.pdf this file gives some history on founding of CofC
Figure 1., Core Corporate Network Represented Through the Oakland Chamber of Commerce:
Red square node positioned at center represents OMCC board. Five large red circular nodes represent select OMCC board members. Black square nodes represent corporate entities. Small red nodes represent directors or senior executives of select corporations with OMCC membership. Selections determined by deleting pendants, leaving only directors with more than one link to the network's core corporate entities.
Figure 2., Clorox's Core Corporate Network in Relation to the OMCC:
Blue square dots represent corporate entities. Red circular dots represent directors or senior executive officers. Egonets for all corporations besides Clorox have been deleted to reduce clutter and emphasize only ties connecting Clorox directors and OMCC directors. OMCC board appears as dense cluster in upper right.
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Figure 3., PG&E's Core Corporate Network in Relation to the OMCC:
Blue square dots represent corporate entities. Red circular dots represent directors or senior executive officers. Egonets for all corporations besides PG&E have been deleted to reduce clutter and emphasize only ties connecting PG&E directors and OMCC directors. OMCC board appears as dense cluster in upper right.
Links and References
- Who Rules Oakland? Indy Bay November 30, 2011
- Want Chamber of Commerce San Francisco Call November 8, 1905
