Chamber grows despite slow economy

Despite the way the economy has struggled to regain its footing the last three years, the Greater Romulus Chamber of Commerce seems to have weathered the fallout fairly well.

“I would say things are going good,” said Mark Lewkowicz, president of Landis Machine Shop and one of the chamber’s directors. “We seem to be increasing attendance at our luncheons and always try to have a speaker who would be beneficial to Romulus businesses.”

Membership is over 150, Lewkowicz said, and is rising a bit, bucking the poor economy, he said, mainly because the chamber helps inform members, provides a business platform and also offers member benefits like economical access to group insurance plans.

Chamber luncheons, held the third Tuesday of each month, are specifically oriented toward putting newsmakers in front of members.

“We try to get speakers who would be beneficial to Romulus businesses,” Lewkowicz said. “Topics have included the airport, insurance and we even had a few speakers with celebrity status, like (former Detroit Councilman and movie actor) Gil Hill. We’ve had (former Wayne County Executive) Ed McNamara and (Metro Airport CEO) Lester Robinson.”

In addition, the chamber recently hosted the Romulus Mayor Alan Lambert for his State of the City speech, where he outlined a number of business and economic development initiatives.

But, when it comes to endorsements of any kind — or politics — the chamber prefers to remain neutral, choosing to inform rather than try to decide for its members and the populace.

“Our goal is to try to inform people so they can make informed decisions,” Lewkowicz said. Businesses and candidates have asked us for endorsements, and we have stayed out of it and that’s best.”

For the future, he said, the chamber will be able to expand member services and continue to inform them of pending and important issues that may affect the community and its businesses.

It seems Romulus has caught on in the development community, he said, and that should be good for the city’s tax base and good in attracting new businesses — and members.

“There’s a lot of residential development and there continues to be a lot of industrial and commercial development,” Lewkowicz said. So there’s a lot to development and growth and our future looks bright.”

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