Regional & Community Partnerships

The Arlington CVB was founded in June of 1972 with its first board of directors. Originally a division of the City of Arlington, the Arlington CVB became its own independent bureau 20 years later in 1992. They are the official destination marketing organization for the city of Arlington, Texas. Their mission statement is, “The Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau markets and develops the city as a premier sports, business and leisure entertainment destination to achieve new tourism spending benefits for the visitor industry, community and its residents.” This simply defines the CVB’s goals and ambitions as they strive to make Arlington, Texas a top destination for meetings, conventions, groups and leisure travelers.

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The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce has a unique relationship with the Arlington Independent School District (AISD). Through our partnership, we foster business and community engagement to achieve meaningful impact through our educational initiatives. Business engagement is critical to achieving the Arlington ISD’s mission to have 100% of students graduate exceptionally prepared for college, career and citizenship. Together we are investing in the future by ensuring an educated talent pipeline to serve our business community’s workforce needs for years to come.

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The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives serves more than 7,500 chamber of commerce professionals, 1,300 chambers of commerce and hundreds of other businesses and organizations and economic development organizations. Chamber professionals hold positions requiring leadership, vision and exemplary management skills. ACCE helps chambers of commerce and the people who manage them make a difference in the communities they serve.

Established in 1914, ACCE offers resources, industry information and data, professional development opportunities and peer connectivity. The ACCE also shares best practices through online education, their annual convention and topical conferences, award-winning magazine, and peer networking.

The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce is a member of the ACCE and makes use of the resources that they provide.

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Starting in 2018, the five Chambers of Commerce on the east side of Tarrant County formed a coalition for the purpose of increasing their ability to impact the Tarrant County delegation in Austin. The chambers include Greater Arlington, Mansfield Area, Grapevine, Hurst-Euless-Bedford and Northeast Tarrant. The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce provides the primary resources and staffing. The other chambers offer access to their members and general support of the overall mission. In 2019 the coalition hosted two breakfast events, one with US Senator John Cornyn and the second a Legislative Session Wrap-up. Both were attended by almost 200 members of the five chambers.

The Downtown Arlington Management Corporation is a private, non-profit community development organization whose purpose is to forge alliances between property owners, business interests, residents and the City of Arlington to improve and enhance the economic vitality and overall environment of Downtown Arlington.

Through its contract for services with the City of Arlington, which began in August 2006, the Downtown Arlington Management Corporation is charged with initiating and managing economic development efforts for the Downtown/University District.

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Leadership Arlington seeks to identify potential community leaders, educate them regarding civic engagement and leadership opportunities, and provides the graduate, and their sponsoring company, access to a wide network of like-minded professional leaders. Leadership Arlington is committed to identifying leaders from various geographic, ethnic, occupational, and economic segments of Arlington.

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The Chambers of Commerce representing the eight largest cities in Texas have banded together to form a coalition called the Metro Eight. The cities include Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The coalition was originally formed to increase our common access to elected officials and our clout on important business legislative issues. It has recently expanded to include communication on other issues like chamber administration.

In general the coalition focuses on issues involving Infrastructure, education and workforce, economic development, and healthcare. The CEOs of the eight chambers and the government relations staff are able to secure high level meetings with key state and federal government officials. During the Texas Legislative sessions the government relations staff coordinate their efforts in the halls of the capitol, representing our members on issues important to their business success..

The North Texas Commission is a membership organization with over 200 members from the 13 counties in the North Texas Region. Members include a broad cross-section of North Texas: major corporations, small businesses, chambers of commerce, cities and counties. The Greater Arlington Chamber is a member as are several of our chamber members. Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce, is on the board of the North Texas Commission.

Originally organized to support the development of DFW International Airport, the Commission has more recently focused efforts on influencing legislation in Austin and in Washington that impacts the North Texas Region. Nine chambers in the NTC, including Greater Arlington, have active government relations activities. These nine chambers work cooperatively in support of the NTC legislative agenda.

The NTC also hosts events to raise awareness of issues facing the region.

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The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce partners with Tarrant County College District, in particular the Southeast Campus.

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The Tarrant Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides management consulting, training and technical assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners in Tarrant County. The SBDC partners with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Tarrant County College, federal, state and local governments and private organizations to provide services designed to help build and grow local business. Beginning in 1987, the staff incorporated more than 100 years in entrepreneurship and small business management into the center. The SBDC has provided sound advice while supporting and training thousands of entrepreneurs and businesses throughout the county. This assistance, whether business or technical, is available at little or no cost. No matter the need the SBDC has the expertise, tools, resources, and connectivity to help your businesses succeed. Whether you’re just starting out, purchasing an existing business, growing or selling your business the SBDC is here to help.

The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a partner with the SDBC. In fact, we have one of the offices of the Tarrant SBDC located in the Chamber building.

The NTC also hosts issue awareness sessions designed to activate members in support of critical issues and get increased awareness of the issues in the media.

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The Texas Association of Business (TAB) is based in Austin and functions as a State Chamber of Commerce for Texas. TAB is divided into two parts, an issue based organization and a political organization. On the issue side, TAB develops a state and federal legislative agenda and lobbies members of the Texas Legislature and Congress in support of issues that are good for the Texas business community and economy. TAB organizes issue based meetings in Austin and a Fly-In to Washington, DC each year to get members involved and educated.

On the political side, TAB has both an issue political action committee and a candidate political action committee. It accepts investments from members and business and distributes funds in support of both issue training and candidate campaign funding.

The Greater Arlington Chamber is a member of TAB and participates in TAB issue based programs.

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The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is a Carnegie R1 doctoral university that contributes to the local economy by cultivating talent and investing in research and development. The University offers a strong and qualified alumni base with over 65% of graduates living in North Texas. The estimated annual economic impact of the University of Texas at Arlington is $17.1 billion.

The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce partners with the University of Texas at Arlington in multiple ways. The University is a member of the President’s Leadership Council which advises the President the CEO. The Chamber takes advantage of the high quality graduate students in the College of Business to help develop the Chamber’s business plans and programs. UTA and the Chamber coordinate their lobbying efforts in support of initiatives that will contribute the greater Arlington region.

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The United States Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization that represents U.S. business interests in Congress and in every state. It provides training and support to state and local chambers. As a member, the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce collaborates with the U.S. Chamber to promote economic growth and prosperity.

Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Greater Arlington Chamber, is a member of the U.S. Chamber Committee which includes 100 top chamber leaders from around the country who advise the U.S. Chamber on local chamber issues.

The U.S. Chamber lists 27 different programs which are designed to address issues important to U.S. businesses. The Greater Arlington Chamber’s staff, such as Chief of Staff Sherry Jackson, takes advantage of the opportunity to learn from these programs.

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The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) helps Americans start, build, and grow their businesses. By offering small businesses tools to be successful, they support local economies. The Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce partners with the SBA to assist and recognize entrepreneurship.

The Chamber is honored to host the Annual Salute to Small Business for North Texas in the City of Arlington. The annual event recognizes the Champions of Small Business throughout the 72-county area of North Texas. This great awards ceremony is held early in May to coincide with National Small Business Week.

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Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County develops solutions for businesses of all sizes. Its mission is to build and maintain a workforce suited to meeting the challenges facing businesses now and in the future. Workforce Solutions offers customized training and professional outplacement services in addition to assisting in the transition from job seeker to employee.

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