The Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed 60 new businesses in a 24-hour period.

The chamber held two information sessions with some of its most well-known members, encouraging them to spread the word to their business peers who were not yet involved.

“They were given a 40-minute overview of really what the chamber’s role in the community is and why people should be engaged,” Chamber President Deanne Healey said. “And then we asked them to reach out to some of the folks that they did business with or they knew in the community that weren’t members that probably should be.”

Healey noted that last week’s influx is unprecedented, as it is the single biggest event in terms of growth that the chamber has experienced thus far. She gave credit to Your Chamber Connection, a third-party company the chamber brought in to assist in increasing its membership.

“They are a national organization and this is what they do,” Healey said. “But what really piqued my interest in using them and bringing them in was they’re really all about educating the community and the members.”

Some of the new businesses were once members before, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused a temporary termination.

“There were businesses that continued to thrive because of the pandemic and there were businesses that because of the nature of their business, or failure to change the way they could operate, just didn’t have the finances to continue,” Healey said.

She reiterated some of the work the chamber does, including working with elected officials to improve the local economy by examining how businesses are faring.

In addition to the 60-member influx, the chamber accumulated 80 new members throughout 2023, which raises the total number of members to more than 340. Healey believes that this event will make a positive impact on the area heading into 2024, and sees another mass event like this as a possibility in the future.

“The opportunity is there to continue to grow,” Healey said. “We’re definitely undersized for the area that we represent.”