Move To Main Street Stokes ROMG Chamber's Hopes For More Community Interaction

Brian Ditto said more folks dropped by the well-hidden office than one might expect, but not as many as the organization’s executive director might like.

Tucked into a second-floor office on Owings Court in Reisterstown, the chamber heard for years that it ought to move to Main Street in Reisterstown, in part to foster better interaction with residents.

Those people are getting their wish.

Sitting in a conference room at chamber President Brian DeLeonardo’s Reisterstown law office, he and Ditto said the chamber would be moving to Allensway Center at 25 Main Street on Sept. 30.

The space, next to an Edward Jones financial advising office, is smaller than the ROMG Chamber’s present home at 100 Owings Court, but is also less expensive, DeLeonardo said. He also hopes being on Main Street will help bring foot traffic.

Allensway Center sits at the intersection of Main Street and Hanover Road, a major intersection in Reisterstown that is near the northernmost exit of the Northwest Expressway, making the office easily accessible to business owners and other people who live further south in Owings Mills, DeLeonardo said.

“The overriding goal was community exposure,” DeLeonardo said of the office’s new location, which was unanimously approved by the ROMG Board of Directors over five other options.

“(We wanted) something very visible, accessible,” he said. “(We wanted) exposure, the ability to have community walk-in.”

Also important to DeLeonardo was moving to a first floor office, which he hopes will spur more people to drop by.

“It puts us right there, in a very accessible position,” Ditto said. “Everyone thought this was the best way to serve the chamber. No one objected.”

Both Ditto and DeLeonardo left open the possibility that the chamber’s move to Main Street might alter some of the office’s functions. The two could see the ROMG Chamber of Commerce becoming a community hub for area maps and other information.

Becoming more of a resource and promoter of Reisterstown, Owings Mills and Glyndon is something DeLeonardo said would be important to him during his run as the organization’s president.

“Part of our obligation is to have information on the region, and promote our region,” DeLeonardo said. “That’s absolutely a component.” 

Ditto said the new office would stay open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and welcomed any change more face-to-face interaction with residents might bring to his job description as executive director.

“This might change the way the chamber office staff operates,” he said.