Grand Old City — meet a brand new chamber.

The Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce is currently in the midst of a massive rebranding campaign, designed to bring the organization — and Dowagiac — closer in touch with the tastes and trends of the modern era. Several weeks ago, the chamber unveiled a new redesigned logo, created by St. Joseph marketing consulting firm Holt Bosse, and is currently working with the company to overhaul its website, said Chamber President Kim MacGregor.

Members of the chamber board have pursued the changes to the organization’s image since late last year in response to feedback from younger members of the local business community that the former chamber logo — depicting an image of several downtown buildings over the phrase “Grand Old City” — was dated and in need of updating, MacGregor said.

“We have enjoyed a great time as the ‘Grand Old City,’ but we are moving forward,” MacGregor said. “There was a time for the phrase, especially during the rehabilitation of downtown in the ‘90s, but we feel it is now time to move on.”

The new logo still depicts downtown Dowagiac, but uses a more stylized depiction of a storefront, city hall and a residential home — a reflection of the shopping, public services and housing downtown offers to residents and visitors. The buildings are shaded with a vibrant green color, giving off an energetic feeling, MacGregor said.

In addition, the new logo also features a blue oval near the bottom, symbolizing the area’s wealth of lakes, MacGregor said.

“Not only does the logo look much more up-to-date than it did before, but it is also more inclusive, including not just downtown but the whole area,” she said.

So far, the changes have been met with a positive response, MacGregor said.

While the new website is still a work in progressive, the chamber president said it would consolidate many of the features of the existing site into fewer pages, would be more mobile friendly and would have a new directory that would link directly to the webpages of its members.

“Our website will be very modern when complete, yet be extremely user friendly,” MacGregor said.

The chamber will also continue to work on developing a new moniker for Dowagiac to replace the “Grand Old City,” MacGregor said. The chamber expects for the entire campaign to finish by this time next year, she said.

The chamber is also making several changes to coincide with the rebranding campaign, including expanding its board membership, MacGregor said. The members will be making a major announcement during its upcoming Under the Harvest Moon Festival, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 8.

Local business owners or professionals interested in becoming involved with the chamber are asked to visit the chamber’s website at http://www.dowagiacchamber.com or to call its office at (269) 782-8212.