LATHROP – It’s a historic first for the Lathrop Chamber of Commerce. It’s very own office.

It’s no longer a Chamber without a permanent home, nor an organization that’s like a gypsy when the board or its members need to have a meeting.

It has made the job easier for Chamber president Mary Kennedy-Bracken, too. Now, she does not have to look for an available venue that is convenient for everybody. All she has to do when there’s an upcoming meeting is to announce the date and the time for the gathering and everybody will know where it is being held.

The Chamber’s new office next to Sicily Pizza in the Save Mart Shopping Center on Harlan Road is spacious and well-appointed with an ample supply of creature comforts that include ergonomic chairs and desks with modern-looking work station dividers plus a humongous executive table that’s the equivalent of a stretch limo that comes complete with comfortable leather and wooden chairs. The smooth glossy-topped stretch table can comfortably seat a dozen or more people at a sit-down meeting.

And it didn’t even cost the Chamber a penny, president Kennedy-Bracken said with a smile. How they came to be the recipient of such good fortune simply illustrates the benefits one can get just by being involved in the Chamber.

“A lady came to the Chamber meeting one day,” Kennedy-Bracken said, her eyes twinkling at the mere memory of how the unexpected happened.

That guest was Terry Simmons who just happened to know a furniture store that was closing down in Stockton. Maybe Kennedy-Bracken could contact the business owners and see if she could find some good bargains to furnish the Chamber office, Simmons suggested.

Kennedy-Bracken did just that and to her delight, the store offered to donate all of the office furnishings including the long conference table and chairs.

The Chamber also got a nice break in the monthly rent from the company that owns several Save Mart commercial plazas including the one in Lathrop. Kennedy-Bracken could not give an exact figure, she simply said of the office space offer, “It was something that we could not refuse.”

The spanking new office exudes an overall airy and open feeling but friendly and cozy at the same time. The whitewashed walls accentuate the spacious ambience, and they are as clean as the soft carpet.

None of that was the result of magic, Kennedy-Bracken said. She explained that before they could move in, there was a lot of work that needed to be done to spruce up the place and to transform it into an office.

“It was a shell of a shell. When you came in here (in the lobby area), it was just dust. It was just a cement floor. We had to finish and paint the walls,” she said.

Thanks to a number of willing hands in the community and the Chamber’s membership, the 100 percent volunteer crew transformed the shell into a well-appointed office.

Kennedy-Bracken said the nonprofit Chamber organization is run by volunteers 100 percent. Chamber secretary Joyce Howard, for example, who holds a full-time job just like the other members, said “duties are divided up” among the volunteers.

“Everybody has a full-time job and they come here all the time. When I get off work, I come here and work,” she stated.

The Chamber’s mission is prominently displayed for all visitors to read on a wall in the front room of the new office. It reads: “The Lathrop Chamber of Commerce is the gateway to community business and economic development. Our goal is to foster a positive and ethical relationship with our members and visitors. We strive to build strong relationships and to be the central source of information for new and existing businesses.

We keep our members abreast of matters that affect the businesses and community alike.”

The Lathrop Chamber’s new office is located in the Lathrop Save Mart shopping center in the same building with Starbucks and Sicily Pizza at 15040 North Harlan Road just south of Lathrop Road. The office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. can be reached at (209) 858-8846.

Kennedy-Bracken said everyone is welcome to the Chamber’s new office.

“Our doors are open if you want to come and visit,” she said.

Prior to the city’s incorporation, the early Lathrop Chamber of Commerce met at the Community Center and the club house at the Camino Real Mobile Home Park on Harlan Road.