Leaders in business

The Melbourne Regional Chamber is the Space Coast’s foremost authority on business advocacy and community development, where business leaders convene to drive the Space Coast economy and improve quality of life.

As your “business concierge,” we’re listening to what you need and focusing on what impacts your business the most.

Partner With Us
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LEADERS IN BUSINESS

LEADERS IN BUSINESS

The Melbourne Regional Chamber is the Space Coast’s foremost authority on business advocacy and community development, where business leaders convene to drive the Space Coast economy and improve quality of life.

As your “business concierge,” we’re listening to what you need and focusing on what impacts your business the most.

Partner With Us
2 photos
2 photos
2 photos

JOIN THE BEST

The Melbourne Regional Chamber is the leading business organization on the Space Coast, representing nearly 1,000 partner businesses and organizations. We are the area’s only 5 Star Accredited Chamber, a distinction earned by only one percent of chambers nationwide.

Learn More
Accredited By The U.S. Chamber of Commerce - 5 Stars

JOIN THE BEST

The Melbourne Regional Chamber is the leading business organization on the Space Coast, representing nearly 1,000 partner businesses and organizations. We are the area’s only 5 Star Accredited Chamber, a distinction earned by only one percent of chambers nationwide.

Learn More
Accredited By The U.S. Chamber of Commerce - 5 stars
Join the chamber section photo of a lady speaking into a mic

Working for you

Business advocacy is at the heart of our mission. We not only work to promote a pro-business climate but also advocate for quality of life issues that help to attract a strong workforce – issues that affect all of us on the Space Coast.

Lend Your Voice
People enjoying a Melbourne Regional Chamber event

Working for you

Business advocacy is at the heart of our mission. We not only work to promote a pro-business climate but also advocate for quality of life issues that help to attract a strong workforce – issues that affect all of us on the Space Coast.

Lend Your Voice
People networking at a Melbourne Regional Chambers event
2 photos

More than networking

Today’s chamber is no longer just about events. Your partnership includes a host of opportunities to promote your business, share your voice, be among the first to hear about important developments and establish yourself among the region’s top business leaders.

Make Your Mark

More Than Networking

Today’s chamber is no longer just about events. Your partnership includes a host of opportunities to promote your business, share your voice, be among the first to hear about important developments and establish yourself among the region’s top business leaders.

Make Your Mark
Photo of a volunteer handing food to someone

95+ Years of Impact

  • Cornthwaite John Hector
    1878

    Melbourne, originally known as Crane Creek, received its first settlers, a group of black freedmen. The community was soon renamed for Melbourne, Australia, the former home of the area’s first postmaster, Cornthwaite John Hector.

  • Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
    1886

    Holy Trinity Episcopal Church was founded on what is now Strawbridge Avenue.

  • The Carleton Hotel built by the Strawbridge family in 1887.
    1887

    The Carleton Hotel was built by the Strawbridge family. It was destroyed by fire in 1903, rebuilt and expanded, then permanently destroyed by fire in 1925.

  • A group of 23 electors gathered to create the "Village of Melbourne" in 1888.
    1888

    A group of 23 electors gathered to create the “Village of Melbourne” by a spoken vote, gaining the benefits provided to towns under Florida law.

  • The Melbourne Cemetery
    1891

    The Melbourne Cemetery was established, later to hold the graves of many of Melbourne’s founding families, including founder and postmaster CJ Hector.

  • The Florida East Coast Railway arrived, moving the focus of commerce from the Indian River and steamer ships, to the tracks to the west.
    1893

    The Florida East Coast Railway arrived, moving the focus of commerce from the Indian River and steamer ships, to the tracks to the west.

  • Green Gables built by William and Nora Wells as a winter home. One of the first houses in Melbourne to have electricity.
    1896

    Green Gables, which still stands today, was built by William and Nora Wells as a winter home. It was one of the first houses in Melbourne to have electricity.

  • Original funeral home founded by the Florida Funeral Directors Association. Now the Brownlie-Maxwell Funeral Home.
    1898

    A funeral home was opened by the founders of the Florida Funeral Directors Association and was taken over in 1915 by VC and Olive Brownlie. Brownlie-Maxwell Funeral Home is still in business today.

  • The Rossetter House built by James Wadsworth Rossetter
    1904

    James Wadsworth Rossetter purchased the property on which the current configuration of Rossetter House now stands.

  • The Henegar Center for the Arts in Historic Downtown Melbourne
    1919

    The building now known as The Henegar Center for the Arts was constructed as part of Melbourne School. The same year, Downtown Melbourne was consumed in flames as a kerosene heater ignited the wooden sidewalk along Front Street.

  • Portrait of landscape to represent Crane Creek
    1920

    Evidence for the presence of Paleo-Indians from the late Pleistocene epoch was uncovered. C. P. Singleton, a Harvard University zoologist, discovered the bones of a mammoth along Crane Creek.

  • Wooden bridge across the Indian River
    1921

    The area’s second wooden bridge across the Indian River opened, connecting Melbourne to Indialantic. It was constructed by Indialantic founder Ernest Kouwen-Hoven and featured a hand-operated draw bridge.

  • Magnolia Manor, a grand home built by Kouwen-Hoven
    1923

    Kouwen-Hoven built a grand home, Magnolia Manor, the land upon which was sold to Florida Air Academy in 1961 (now Florida Preparatory Academy).

  • Melbourne Regional Chamber hosting the Florida Frolics and Beauty Review in the 1920s
    1925

    The Melbourne Regional Chamber of Commerce was founded with the purpose of attracting and hosting the Florida Frolics and Beauty Review. The same year, the pre-historic body of a human, dubbed the “Melbourne Man” was found at Melbourne Golf Course and Country Club, now known as Melbourne Municipal Golf Course. The course opened in 1920, the same year Pleistocene epoch remains were found nearby.

  • The old, wooden Eau Gallie Causeway
    1926

    The Eau Gallie Causeway opened to traffic. The wooden bridge had no railing for more than a year, although no one was reported to go over the edge.

  • The wooden Melbourne Causeway before it's replacement in 1947 with a swing bridge.
    1939

    The wooden Melbourne Causeway was replaced by an asphalt bridge with a rotating span. That portion of the bridge was once again replaced in 1947 with a swing bridge.

  • Navy and Marine pilots stationed at the Melbourne Naval Air Station, serving in World War II.
    1942

    The Melbourne Naval Air Station, located on property that is now part of the Orlando Melbourne International Airport, was commissioned as an operational training unit for Navy and Marine pilots serving in World War II. The base closed in 1946.

  • People dining in a UFO at the Melbourne Shopping Center in the 1950s
    1950s

    The Melbourne Shopping Center was constructed on Babcock St., the area’s first strip mall.

  • Large corporate satellite dish in front of a night sky with shooting stars
    1951

    Radiation Incorporated, the precursor to Harris Corporation, now L3 Harris, was founded.

  • The Eau Gallie Causeway featuring a swing span drawbridge.
    1955

    The Eau Gallie Causeway was replaced with a concrete version featuring a swing span drawbridge.

  • Florida Institute of Technology on a sunny day
    1958

    Florida Institute of Technology was founded.

  • Shuttle launching into space
    1961

    Alan Shepard became the first American to reach space when he launched on a suborbital flight aboard a Mercury Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral. The same year, President John F. Kennedy declared the goal of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth within a decade.”

  • East 192 street signs
    1965

    The chamber sent a resolution to the State Road Dept. to urge improvements for U.S. Hwy. 192, called “the Worst Road in the State” by the American Automobile Association.

  • The City of Melbourne's first black councilman, Julius Montgomery.
    1969

    With strong advocacy from the chamber, Melbourne and Eau Gallie were consolidated into the contemporary City of Melbourne. The city elected its first black councilman, Julius Montgomery.

  • The concrete dragon, Annie, built in the water at the southern tip of Merritt Island.
    1971

    Pineda Causeway opened as a toll road, after being proposed in 1969 to help ease traffic from Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force Base. The project was strongly endorsed by the chamber. The same year, the southern tip of Merritt Island is dubbed “Dragon Point” because of the concrete dragon, “Annie,” built there.

  • The Melbourne Causeway
    1976

    With urging from the chamber, construction began on a third Melbourne Causeway, but both sides would not be opened until 1984.

  • The high-rise span of the Melbourne Causeway is dedicated by the State of FL as The Ernest Kouwen-Hoven Memorial Bridge.
    1978

    The high-rise span of the Melbourne Causeway was dedicated by the State of Florida as The Ernest Kouwen-Hoven Memorial Bridge after the original builder of the bridge.

  • President Ronald Reagan visited the Melbourne Regional Airport to address the business community.
    1987

    President Ronald Reagan visited the Melbourne Regional Airport (now known as the Orlando Melbourne International ​Airport) to address the business community.

  • The Henegar Center for the Arts opened its doors in the former Melbourne School building.
    1991

    The Henegar Center for the Arts opened its doors in the former Melbourne School building.

  • Annie the Dragon collapsed into the Indian River following a storm
    2002

    Annie the Dragon collapsed into the Indian River following a storm.

  • Florida Association of Chamber Professionals Logo
    2010

    The chamber was renamed the Melbourne Regional Chamber of East Central Florida, Inc. to communicate the organization’s interest in a regional outreach. The same year, the chamber was accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a 5-Star Chamber, heralding it as in the top 1% of all Chambers of Commerce nationwide. It was also accredited as a Certified Plus Chamber, the highest accreditation level in the state of Florida awarded by the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP).

  • President Barack Obama visiting the Clemente Center at the Florida Institute of Technology
    2012

    President Barack Obama made a visit to the Clemente Center at the Florida Institute of Technology. The same year, former President Bill Clinton visited the Palm Bay campus of Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College).

  • FACP Logo
    2016

    The Melbourne Regional Chamber was re-accredited as a Certified Plus Chamber.

  • The White House
    2017

    President Donald Trump returned to Orlando Melbourne International Airport after making a prior campaign stop at the same location several months before.

  • United States Chamber of Commerce Five Star Accredited logo
    2020

    The Melbourne Regional Chamber was re-accredited as a 5-Star Chamber.

  • Cornthwaite John Hector
    1878

    Melbourne, originally known as Crane Creek, received its first settlers, a group of black freedmen. The community was soon renamed for Melbourne, Australia, the former home of the area’s first postmaster, Cornthwaite John Hector.

  • Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
    1886

    Holy Trinity Episcopal Church was founded on what is now Strawbridge Avenue.

  • The Carleton Hotel built by the Strawbridge family in 1887.
    1887

    The Carleton Hotel was built by the Strawbridge family. It was destroyed by fire in 1903, rebuilt and expanded, then permanently destroyed by fire in 1925.

  • A group of 23 electors gathered to create the "Village of Melbourne" in 1888.
    1888

    A group of 23 electors gathered to create the “Village of Melbourne” by a spoken vote, gaining the benefits provided to towns under Florida law.

  • The Melbourne Cemetery
    1891

    The Melbourne Cemetery was established, later to hold the graves of many of Melbourne’s founding families, including founder and postmaster CJ Hector.

  • The Florida East Coast Railway arrived, moving the focus of commerce from the Indian River and steamer ships, to the tracks to the west.
    1893

    The Florida East Coast Railway arrived, moving the focus of commerce from the Indian River and steamer ships, to the tracks to the west.

  • Green Gables built by William and Nora Wells as a winter home. One of the first houses in Melbourne to have electricity.
    1896

    Green Gables, which still stands today, was built by William and Nora Wells as a winter home. It was one of the first houses in Melbourne to have electricity.

  • Original funeral home founded by the Florida Funeral Directors Association. Now the Brownlie-Maxwell Funeral Home.
    1898

    A funeral home was opened by the founders of the Florida Funeral Directors Association and was taken over in 1915 by VC and Olive Brownlie. Brownlie-Maxwell Funeral Home is still in business today.

  • The Rossetter House built by James Wadsworth Rossetter
    1904

    James Wadsworth Rossetter purchased the property on which the current configuration of Rossetter House now stands.

  • The Henegar Center for the Arts in Historic Downtown Melbourne
    1919

    The building now known as The Henegar Center for the Arts was constructed as part of Melbourne School. The same year, Downtown Melbourne was consumed in flames as a kerosene heater ignited the wooden sidewalk along Front Street.

  • Portrait of landscape to represent Crane Creek
    1920

    Evidence for the presence of Paleo-Indians from the late Pleistocene epoch was uncovered. C. P. Singleton, a Harvard University zoologist, discovered the bones of a mammoth along Crane Creek.

  • Wooden bridge across the Indian River
    1921

    The area’s second wooden bridge across the Indian River opened, connecting Melbourne to Indialantic. It was constructed by Indialantic founder Ernest Kouwen-Hoven and featured a hand-operated draw bridge.

  • Magnolia Manor, a grand home built by Kouwen-Hoven
    1923

    Kouwen-Hoven built a grand home, Magnolia Manor, the land upon which was sold to Florida Air Academy in 1961 (now Florida Preparatory Academy).

  • Melbourne Regional Chamber hosting the Florida Frolics and Beauty Review in the 1920s
    1925

    The Melbourne Regional Chamber of Commerce was founded with the purpose of attracting and hosting the Florida Frolics and Beauty Review. The same year, the pre-historic body of a human, dubbed the “Melbourne Man” was found at Melbourne Golf Course and Country Club, now known as Melbourne Municipal Golf Course. The course opened in 1920, the same year Pleistocene epoch remains were found nearby.

  • The old, wooden Eau Gallie Causeway
    1926

    The Eau Gallie Causeway opened to traffic. The wooden bridge had no railing for more than a year, although no one was reported to go over the edge.

  • The wooden Melbourne Causeway before it's replacement in 1947 with a swing bridge.
    1939

    The wooden Melbourne Causeway was replaced by an asphalt bridge with a rotating span. That portion of the bridge was once again replaced in 1947 with a swing bridge.

  • Navy and Marine pilots stationed at the Melbourne Naval Air Station, serving in World War II.
    1942

    The Melbourne Naval Air Station, located on property that is now part of the Orlando Melbourne International Airport, was commissioned as an operational training unit for Navy and Marine pilots serving in World War II. The base closed in 1946.

  • People dining in a UFO at the Melbourne Shopping Center in the 1950s
    1950s

    The Melbourne Shopping Center was constructed on Babcock St., the area’s first strip mall.

  • Large corporate satellite dish in front of a night sky with shooting stars
    1951

    Radiation Incorporated, the precursor to Harris Corporation, now L3 Harris, was founded.

  • The Eau Gallie Causeway featuring a swing span drawbridge.
    1955

    The Eau Gallie Causeway was replaced with a concrete version featuring a swing span drawbridge.

  • Florida Institute of Technology on a sunny day
    1958

    Florida Institute of Technology was founded.

  • Shuttle launching into space
    1961

    Alan Shepard became the first American to reach space when he launched on a suborbital flight aboard a Mercury Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral. The same year, President John F. Kennedy declared the goal of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth within a decade.”

  • East 192 street signs
    1965

    The chamber sent a resolution to the State Road Dept. to urge improvements for U.S. Hwy. 192, called “the Worst Road in the State” by the American Automobile Association.

  • The City of Melbourne's first black councilman, Julius Montgomery.
    1969

    With strong advocacy from the chamber, Melbourne and Eau Gallie were consolidated into the contemporary City of Melbourne. The city elected its first black councilman, Julius Montgomery.

  • The concrete dragon, Annie, built in the water at the southern tip of Merritt Island.
    1971

    Pineda Causeway opened as a toll road, after being proposed in 1969 to help ease traffic from Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force Base. The project was strongly endorsed by the chamber. The same year, the southern tip of Merritt Island is dubbed “Dragon Point” because of the concrete dragon, “Annie,” built there.

  • The Melbourne Causeway
    1976

    With urging from the chamber, construction began on a third Melbourne Causeway, but both sides would not be opened until 1984.

  • The high-rise span of the Melbourne Causeway is dedicated by the State of FL as The Ernest Kouwen-Hoven Memorial Bridge.
    1978

    The high-rise span of the Melbourne Causeway was dedicated by the State of Florida as The Ernest Kouwen-Hoven Memorial Bridge after the original builder of the bridge.

  • President Ronald Reagan visited the Melbourne Regional Airport to address the business community.
    1987

    President Ronald Reagan visited the Melbourne Regional Airport (now known as the Orlando Melbourne International ​Airport) to address the business community.

  • The Henegar Center for the Arts opened its doors in the former Melbourne School building.
    1991

    The Henegar Center for the Arts opened its doors in the former Melbourne School building.

  • Annie the Dragon collapsed into the Indian River following a storm
    2002

    Annie the Dragon collapsed into the Indian River following a storm.

  • Florida Association of Chamber Professionals Logo
    2010

    The chamber was renamed the Melbourne Regional Chamber of East Central Florida, Inc. to communicate the organization’s interest in a regional outreach. The same year, the chamber was accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a 5-Star Chamber, heralding it as in the top 1% of all Chambers of Commerce nationwide. It was also accredited as a Certified Plus Chamber, the highest accreditation level in the state of Florida awarded by the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP).

  • President Barack Obama visiting the Clemente Center at the Florida Institute of Technology
    2012

    President Barack Obama made a visit to the Clemente Center at the Florida Institute of Technology. The same year, former President Bill Clinton visited the Palm Bay campus of Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College).

  • FACP Logo
    2016

    The Melbourne Regional Chamber was re-accredited as a Certified Plus Chamber.

  • The White House
    2017

    President Donald Trump returned to Orlando Melbourne International Airport after making a prior campaign stop at the same location several months before.

  • United States Chamber of Commerce Five Star Accredited logo
    2020

    The Melbourne Regional Chamber was re-accredited as a 5-Star Chamber.

AT&T Logo
Hedrick Brothers Construction Logo
U Triple SA Logo
Walmart Logo
Two overlapping photos - one photo is a person in a wetsuite holding a surf board and the other photo is an ince cream shop owner serving someone an ice cream cone
AT&T Logo
Hendrick Brothers Construction Logo
U Triple SA Logo
Walmart Logo
Two overlapping photos - one photo is a person in a wetsuite holding a surf board and the other photo is an ince cream shop owner serving someone an ice cream cone