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The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce has been named the 2026 Chamber of the Year by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), the first time an Oregon chamber has won the honor.
The award was announced July 21 at ACCE’s annual convention in New Orleans, where the chamber competed against organizations from across North America. The association represents more than 1,600 chambers of commerce and related groups.
Chambers are invited to apply based on their membership, finances and organizational health. They are then judged on program submissions and an in‑person interview conducted by past winners at the convention.
“This is a nod that on a national level, our chamber really stands out for how much we’re doing that is communitywide and community-focused,” said Brittany Quick-Warner, the chamber’s president and CEO.
The chamber was a finalist before in 2022, but fell short after judges said the programs were too new to show results, said Quick-Warner. The Eugene chamber qualified to apply for the award the past three years, but chamber officials decided not to in order to spend time expanding the programs before competing again for the award.
This year, the chamber presented two initiatives: A.C.T. Now Lane, a coalition of more than 50 organizations working on housing production and homelessness in Lane County, and Voice of Business, a civic engagement push that drove a jump in business participation over the past year.
The judges of the association also pointed out Elevate 2028, a five-year regional economic development plan by the chamber. The plan has helped generate more than $5 million in private investment and is projected to financially support, through a mix of job creation and retention, 3,800 new jobs in Lane County, based on an economic impact study conducted with a national consulting firm, Quick-Warner said.
“We really feel like we have the strength and the kind of system in place to be that regional economic development organization that is driving job recruitment, that’s driving retention and expansion for businesses in the community,” Quick-Warner said.
