The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to help fix a weak state economy may give a welcome bump to Atlantic City’s own struggling economy.
The state chamber has scheduled a “Business Summit” Sept. 17 and 18 at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. That’s a first-ever event that organizers expect to draw not just the state group, but also officials from many more regional chambers and business groups around New Jersey.
“It’s an unprecedented collaboration for these chambers and businesses,” said Ray Zardetto, a spokesman for the state group. “I’m not aware that something like this has been done before.”
The state chamber plans to invite every member of the state Legislature, and says the meeting is open to “anyone doing business in New Jersey.” The organizers expect “a few hundred people,” Zardetto said. “We think it will be a strong turnout for this type of event.”
And that sounds just fine to Joe Kelly, the president of the Greater Atlantic City Chamber. He’s helping get ready for the state summit and knows of about 20 other chambers that plan to come. He expects each to bring about 10 officials and members.
“Since this is the first time we’ve done it, that would be the conservative number, a couple hundred people,” Kelly said. “But that could go to 400.”
Plus he hopes that the summit’s schedule — it’s set to start on a Thursday, then end early Friday afternoon — will entice some of those hundreds of people to stay around town a bit longer. That would put them there on the last weekend of the summer, and many people swear that September is the best month of the year on South Jersey’s beaches.
“Absolutely, that’s part of the thought,” Kelly said.
At MEET AC, the new version of the former Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Bureau, President Jim Wood’s quick calculation is that 400 chamber visitors staying for two days and one night would generate about $175,000 in economic activity for the city. But he also likes the idea of enticing those visitors — however many show up — to extend that stay by a night or more with some sort of “come for the meeting, stay for the weekend” campaign.
“That’s always the strategy the hotels employ” with convention groups they host, Wood says. “They certainly want to encourage an extended stay. ... And we’ll probably help the local Atlantic City Chamber make that promotion to the 400 people coming.”
Zardetto, at the state chamber, added that the planners didn’t just pick their summit location at random.
“We want to show our support for Atlantic City,” he said. “We think it’s an important destination in the state, and it’s economically important to the overall health of New Jersey.”
Kelly agreed that the city is a “natural fit” for the site, and said he’s also happy for the chance to show the city to an influential audience that includes business leaders and legislators.
“Really seeing the marketplace is different from us just talking about it,” Kelly said, adding that “we shouldn’t assume they understand our marketplace.”
He knows that 400 visitors, no matter how important — and no matter how long they stay — aren’t going to cure the city’s long-term problems. Still, he’s happy to welcome another group to Atlantic City at the end of the summer.
“We certainly welcome the national and international conventions,” Kelly said, “but the singles are sometimes as important as the home runs. You just have to do more of them.”