Echo Chambers

Can there be too many chambers of commerce in one county?

At last count, Lee County is home to 15 chambers of commerce, more than any other county on the Gulf Coast from Pasco to Collier. And there's one more in the works: the Matlacha Chamber of Commerce.

“Wherever two or three people gather, you get free orange juice and a chamber of commerce,” chuckles Steve Tirey, the former president and CEO of the Chamber of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers. An informal survey by the Business Review found at least 56 chambers of commerce on the Gulf Coast from Pasco to Collier, not counting local economic development organizations or industry trade groups.