Hi, jpgraft :)
It's really easy to start a local group. You just need to post a message on a forum or on Facebook to meet up with other people.
A few of us in NARC used to hang out in a local forum on Reef Central. Some of us had an extra frag or two and wanted to trade them for something. I asked if someone wanted to trade frags and a few responded. We met in an LFS after work, traded the frags, and decided to meet again in a month. During the second or third meeting we decided to form a local club and decided on the name North Alabama Reef Club (NARC). Eventually we decided to meet over lunch on a Saturday once a month. We have no president or officers. There is no dues, either. We are just a friendly, informal group. One important thing is to meet regularly like every month. It does not matter how many people you have. Two people is enough to have a meeting, but off course the more the merrier. I just take a little bit of time to post a message (or request a next host to post one) for a monthly meeting in our local forum on R2R. That's really all there is to it.