CRANBERRY TWP — It’s been a year since THE CHAMBER of Commerce officially changed its name to the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber, and officials with the organization said Friday they’re happy with the rebranding efforts.

Chamber Executive Director Jim Boltz, who’s been on the job for a month after replacing former director Rebecca Martin, said the name change gave “better clarity” to the geographic region covered by the chamber.

Chamber officials have received a lot of positive feedback in the year since the name change. The Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber serves 1,100 businesses in 16 municipalities in Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties.

Boltz said the rebranding of the chamber has resulted in more people coming back into the fold, either as dues-paying members or volunteers.

“We’ve gotten so much positive feedback about the direction of the organization,” Boltz said. “There’s a lot of energy around here and a lot of volunteerism has stepped out in the last few months.”

Boltz has only been on the job for a month after beating out nearly 250 other candidates for the job of executive director. He was formerly a chamber member who owned Minuteman Printing in Cranberry and also served as general manager of a Kaufmann’s store for a decade.

The new executive director said his first month on the job has been “fabulous.”

John Laslavic, the current chairman of the chamber’s board of directors, agreed with Boltz that the name change has been a positive development in terms of rebranding the organization.

“Changing it to the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber really made more sense because we want to focus more on the Interstate 79, Route 8 and Route 19 corridor,” he said. “Most folks heard the name change and could relate to it, although when you rebrand it obviously takes some time to settle in.”

Laslavic said the organization has been very busy in the month since Boltz took over as executive director, working both on new outreach endeavors and on internal communications.

Laslavic said he’s as optimistic as ever about the direction of the chamber.

“I think we have a great region with a lot of passionate business owners,” he said. “The talent we have in our footprint here in Western Pennsylvania is tremendous. If we can unlock more talent we have a bright future in this region for the chamber.”

For now, chamber officials are busy organizing and promoting the annual Taste of Cranberry event at the end of September. They also are looking forward to a career fair on Oct. 31 at the Four Points by Pittsburgh North Sheraton in Cranberry Township.

The Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber has been around since Jan. 1, 2010, when the Cranberry Area Chamber of Commerce merged with the Northern Allegheny County Chamber of Commerce.

The two entities formed THE CHAMBER of Commerce under the direction of then-executive director Susan Balla. The organization kept that name for three years before changing it last year.

The chamber currently operates offices in Cranberry and in Wexford, Allegheny County.