Carver County’s largest business groups recently voted in favor of merging.

Over the past few weeks, the boards of directors for the Chaska Area, Chanhassen Area and Victoria chambers of commerce voted in favor of disbanding their own organizations and forming a regional chamber of commerce, representing about 520 members.

The move has yet to be finalized, said Deb McMillan, president of the Chaska Area Chamber. Bylaws are being reviewed to determine if a general membership vote is necessary, she said. “We certainly have some work to do,” McMillan said. (The Victoria Chamber general membership will vote on the measure, according to President Jay Swenson.)

Chamber leaders hope that deal will be done by Jan. 1, 2009.

Chaska board chair Lon Hand and Chanhassen board chair Mark Halla both issued almost identical press releases, touting the benefits of cost savings, larger networking possibilities; regional tourism promotion; elevating the chamber’s profile; and acting as a communication “conduit” with local governmental bodies.

“For the most part, there’s not going to be any changes in what’s done, it’s just a matter of how it’s done – more cost effective, more efficiency and, hopefully, we’ll have much more productivity,” said Halla, in a phone interview.

The new organization would “certainly be much more effective to work to promote tourist attractions and the economic growth of the area, as a region rather than individual cities – those are some other things of the things we feel will definitely be a benefit,” McMillan said.

“The (Victoria) board thinks it’s a good idea,” said Swenson, citing increased resources and better networking for the smaller chamber.

“As the smallest of the three chambers involved in this right now, our members stand to gain a lot to be able to be connected with members of the other larger chambers of commerce that we’re merging with,” said Victoria chamber Vice President Andrew Schultz.

The Chaska and Chanhassen chambers have been discussing a possible merger since July 2007. Officials had asked McMillan to bring back a recommendation by October. However, the recent resignation of Chanhassen Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Linda Walton sped up the move, according to chamber officials.

Concerns

There were some doubts over the merger among at least two Chaska chamber board members, who voted against the move.

“We have a lot on our plate, a lot of significant projects that are important to our future and the future of Carver,” said former Chaska mayor Bob Roepke, a board member who voted against the move. “I’m fearful it could get lost in the wash or have a lesser priority.”

“I understand that you can create individual business councils for each city,” Roepke said. However, he added that he was concerned the primary focus would be on having a larger chamber and more of a presence at the state Capitol. As a result, “the smaller voice would maybe be lost,” he said.

Roepke said a larger chamber could also create challenges when building a sense of community, if the various towns have “disparate views of the future.”

“The Chaska Chamber has had a long history of supporting community and building community and I think it important that we, as we look to the future, we remember the past and understand the past,” Roepke said.

The Chaska and Chanhassen chambers issued surveys earlier this month, asking members what they thought of a regional chamber. Although representing a small portion of overall membership, those who responded overwhelmingly said they would “support and be a member in a regional business organization.” (See related graphic.)

However, the Chaska survey also illustrated that responses were more evenly split when members replied whether their business would be best served by a community business organization or a regional business organization.

McMillan understood anxieties over the merger. “There is some concern about loss of identity, and I think … part of what we need to address is we really do represent the business community,” she said.

“I think that the only concern that anyone has ever addressed that I have heard of is the worry of losing our individual identities as a community, and we certainly intend to keep that intact,” Halla said.

Questions

There are several questions officials can’t yet answer, such the name of the future organization.

 Another tricky question is where the chamber would be headquartered. “At this point we’re hoping to have a storefront visibility in each community,” Halla said. “And so each community we’ll have somewhat of a face or presence. I don’t know details,” he said.

Staffing details are also unknown, although, McMillan may be heading up the organization. “We anticipate that Deb is going to be the president of the new regional chamber. She is well suited, well qualified for that,” Halla said. “She is, effective immediately going to represent the Chanhassen Chamber as well as the Chaska Chamber.”

McMillan is reviewing responsibilities for the other three part-time employees and one full-time employee. “We have a phenomenal staff. We’re looking to assess everybody and make sure everyone works in their best area and we get the most out of those folks. We’re taking a look at how that will all shake out in the end, as far as responsibilities and tasks,” McMillan said.

The individual chambers also host numerous city events, such as Chanhassen’s July 3rd Business Expo in Chanhassen, Victoria Volksfest or the Chaska Area Taste. “What happens to events like the Taste? Those don’t go away. We love those events. It’s part of who we are and what we do,” McMillan said.

“We didn’t get the chambers together to go ‘We’re all about business and not about community,’ because that’s not who we are,” McMillan said.

Trend

Jennifer Byers, a representative with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said she’s seen more of a trend toward local chambers “joining forces, sharing resources.”

For example, the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce includes 10 cities, such as Hopkins, Brooklyn Park and Minnetonka; and the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce includes about five cities.

In these chambers, some of the cities are represented by individual chamber business councils.

There are benefits to larger chambers, Byers said. “It helps to have a broader voice.”

“Certainly, if you start looking at trends around the county … you’ll find a lot of this going on,” McMillan said. “As the economy changes and the economy becomes more of a global economy, people are not recognizing their zip code designation anymore and are working to draw businesses from a larger circle.”

“This is a really exciting time for this region and I’m thrilled to be here at this point in history to take part of this,” McMillan said.

Chambers statistics  

                       Chaska Area          Chanhassen Area   Victoria

Vote to merge  7-2                         Unanimous            Unanimous

Members*        245                        225                        50

Staffing              1 full-, 2 part-time  2 full-time**         1 part-time            

Source: Chaska Area Chamber President Deb McMillan

* Approximate; ** Executive director position currently vacant

Chamber Survey

I would support and be a member in a regional business organization                               

                         Yes         No           Undecided/No answer

Chaska               34           11           7

Chanhassen        10           4             9

Source: Chaska and Chanhassen chambers/Victoria chamber did not take survey