{"id":789,"date":"2017-09-28T04:38:54","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T04:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/victorthemes.com\/themes\/elate\/\/?page_id=789"},"modified":"2021-08-24T03:58:17","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T03:58:17","slug":"our-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/?page_id=789","title":{"rendered":"Our History"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"789\" class=\"elementor elementor-789\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ztlvpyc elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ztlvpyc\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-bymbomj\" data-id=\"bymbomj\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53632a9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-vt-elate_history\" data-id=\"53632a9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"vt-elate_history.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"history-wrap\"><div class=\"eclt-history-section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-4\"><div class=\"history-img-wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Chamber-Original-Board-of-Directors_1981.jpeg\" alt=\"\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-8\"><div class=\"history-content-wrap\"><h2>The Executive Club<\/h2><p><p>Before 1979, the only place where various private sector\u2019s points of view could be exchanged was at <strong>The Executive Club,<\/strong> which consisted of hotel owners and managers.<\/p> <p>\nThese meetings, which were held once every month, rotated from one hotel property to another. They provided good opportunities for private sector members to voice their concerns and demonstrate their respective good corporate citizenship. <\/p>\n<p>\nThe members either announced their companies and \/ or the island, or they introduced new staff members that joined their organization on the island.<\/p> \n<p>The annual event was the honoring of the island\u2019s best and brightest high school students during graduation times in mid-June when companies proudly presented valuable gifts to the best graduating scholars to encourage them to further their studies in intuitions of higher learning abroad. <\/p>\n<p>These meetings also provided member businesses with the opportunity to invite members of the island\u2019s then-Executive Council to clarify objectives purposes, and intentions of new island Resolutions by the island Council of Federal Legislature that affected their operations on St. Maarten.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"eclt-history-section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-4\"><div class=\"history-img-wrap\"><span class=\"history-year\">1970<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/history2-1.png\" alt=\"\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-8\"><div class=\"history-content-wrap\"><h2>Training and Study Leave<\/h2><p><p>From the early 1970s, the island\u2019s modern hospitality industry provided suitable on-the-job training and supplemented study leave for qualified employees to take courses abroad at reputable institutions during the summer months when operations were not as demanding to gain additional professional instructions. <\/p><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"eclt-history-section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-4\"><div class=\"history-img-wrap\"><span class=\"history-year\">1979<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/history3.png\" alt=\"\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-8\"><div class=\"history-content-wrap\"><h2><a href=\"#0\"  >The Chamber Establishment<\/a><\/h2><p><p>During 1979 \u2013 1992, the Chamber was led by three prominent business persons, who at one time served as the board\u2019s president, i.e. <strong>Mr. Charles Vlaun, Mr. Franklin Brison,<\/strong> and <strong>Mr. Wilfred de Weever<\/strong>. They were supported by a staff of two persons \u2013 <strong>Mr. Louis Peters<\/strong> and <strong>Ms. Syrma Alberts<\/strong> \u2013 with intermitting staff members. <\/p>\n<p>With the development of Philipsburg and the influx of various other services and off-shore businesses, there was a growing demand for a Chamber of Commerce and Industry in St. Maarten. <\/p>\n<p>After leaving Island Gem Enterprises N.V. in January 1979, Mr. Louis Peters, with encouragement from the Lt. Governor, <strong>Mr. Theodore Maxwell Pandt<\/strong>, solicited the Minister of Economic Affairs of the former Netherlands Antilles, <strong>Mr. Mauritz Larmonie,<\/strong> to provide the necessary decree to realize the Dutch Windward Islands with its own Chamber of Commerce and Industry. That solicitation formed the incentive for the minister to issue his ministerial decree to establish <strong>The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Dutch Windward Islands<\/strong> on March 12, 1979.<\/p><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"eclt-history-section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-4\"><div class=\"history-img-wrap\"><span class=\"history-year\">2010<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/LOGO-512X512-1.png\" alt=\"\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"col-md-8\"><div class=\"history-content-wrap\"><h2>The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry<\/h2><p>In 2010 the name changed to The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI)<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3936620 elementor-section-stretched elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3936620\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;stretch_section&quot;:&quot;section-stretched&quot;,&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-869e977\" data-id=\"869e977\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c1ce84f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c1ce84f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\"><strong>+1 721 5423595 \/ 5423490<\/strong> &#8211; Call Us T<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">oday<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1573aea\" data-id=\"1573aea\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32d545c elementor-widget elementor-widget-vt-elate_button\" data-id=\"32d545c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"vt-elate_button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"eclt-btn-wraper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/contact\"   class=\"eclt-btn\">Contact Us<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Executive Club Before 1979, the only place where various private sector\u2019s points of view could be exchanged was at The Executive Club, which consisted of hotel owners and managers. These meetings, which were held once every month, rotated from one hotel property to another. They provided good opportunities for private sector members to voice[&#8230;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":774,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-789","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=789"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4997,"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/789\/revisions\/4997"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chamberofcommerce.sx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}