Among the speeches and calls to hire local at the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce City and Regional Breakfast Update this week, The chamber also made an announcement: By 2020 they will have been serving the community for 120 years, and they have a new logo to show it.

The Chamber unveiled their 120^th anniversary logo at the breakfast with a video outlining the history of the organization’s name, from its origins as the Port Arthur Board of Trade starting in 1899 to becoming the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce Shipping in 1929, to dropping the “Shipping” from the name in 1935, to adding “Greater” in 1985.

The video showed clips of the marina, Port of Port Arthur, Pleasure Island, the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge and sweeping shots of refineries, ships, barges and railroads. The video ended with the reveal of the logo surrounded by fireworks.

Chamber President Pat Avery said the chamber wanted the anniversary logo to feature a little bit of everything the Greater Port Arthur area had to offer.

“We just had some simple instructions from me that we incorporate every aspect of our community into that logo,” Avery said. “Everything that you see around town, refineries, plants, the rainbow bridge, the trains that go through our community, the ports, beautiful birds, fish, we tried not to leave anything out.”

Chamber Communication and Events Coordinator Raquel Ochoa designed the logo per Avery’s recommendations and input from the board of directors.

“We’re such a great city that has a lot to offer everyone that works here, resides here, homes and businesses, and our main goal in creating this logo was to let everyone know that and that the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce has been here for 120 years serving our business in the community,” Ochoa said.

The chamber is planning to showcase a video at the annual January banquet on the history of the organization, with input from some of the Chamber’s oldest members, who will also be honored for their long service.

2019, however, isn’t over yet and the Chamber is still in the planning stages for next year’s events.

“This is the last quarter before we turn 120 years,” Avery said. “Our strategic planning is going on right now, so stand by.”