From Staff Reports

The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce has quietly decided not to renew its membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as of October 2011.

The announcement, placed at the bottom of the Asheville Chamber’s FAQ section, stated, “The Asheville Chamber is a non-partisan organization focused on job creation. We find the discussion of membership in the US Chamber to be a distraction from that goal.

Therefore, it was the staff’s recommendation that we not renew our membership with the US Chamber as of October 2011. This is not a political statement but one of expediency to remain focused on the attraction and creation of jobs.”

The number of local chambers quitting or not renewing their memberships continues to gain momentum nationwide over a wide range of controversial U.S. Chamber policies — from its stance on climate change to financial reform to general partisan electioneering and politicking.

Asheville’s chamber has about 2,000 members, while the national group claims about 300,000 members.
Meanwhile, the U.S. chamber said it a nonpartisan group and that it also solely focuses on job creation and economic growth.