The MRCC was created on June 19, 1893 as B.C.'s fourth Board of Trade by Harry Brown French, an American sent to Mission after the town's founder sold land to a New York railway corporation. French was elected the Board of Trade's first president, and upon its creation the Board took out advertisements in local newspapers, offering a package of free land, free water, free power and property tax exemptions to potential industrialists, as well as offering to construct factories, mills and other commercial buildings at no charge. In 1946, the Board of Trade suggested that a Strawberry Festival as well as a
Soapbox Derby should be held on June 26. The event was successful and visitors travelled from different areas of the
Fraser Valley to attend the event. The festival was held annually until 1951, despite an interruption in June 1948 when the
Fraser River flooded causing the event to be postponed until July in its third year. In 1951, Langley, BC became the new host of the Strawberry Festival after the decline of berry farming and the increase in employment in the forestry industry in the Mission area. That name stuck until 1970 when it was changed to the Mission City Chamber of Commerce. In 1977, it was suggested by the organization's Vice President Dave Kenyon that the Chamber of Commerce should be terminated due to poor attendance and lack of participation by members. The Chamber persevered, avoiding termination, and in 1979 the name was changed for the final time to its present name, the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce. ==Description==