Chamber, development council work on merger

Members of the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce and the Lower Columbia Economic Development Council are continuing to iron out details on their merger.

The boards of directors of each organization have agreed to merge effective January 1. They hope to save money by ending duplicative services, and they hope their combined funding will allow them to maintain a level of staffing.

The economic development council is facing a loss of state economic development funding. The EDC and Chamber share sales tax funds collected for promoting business and tourism.

A variety of issues remain to resolve, representatives of the two organizations said Tuesday. Among these are defining staffing levels and job descriptions; defining organizational structure to satisfy non-profit organizational status for the Internal Revenue Service; defining a scope of work; setting a dues structure, and deciding on a location for offices.

"We have solutions to every problem," Sandi Benbrook-Rieder told members of the Chamber of Commerce at the monthly luncheon meeting on Tuesday.

The new group may contract with its executive director for six months to see what the state legislature does with funding, Lisa Marsyla, the representative of the county board of commissioners on the EDC's board of directors. The groups originally planned to employ the director part-time, but because of the potential loss of state economic development funds, they're looking at a contract.

The group must also decide where they'll have their office. Both have offices in the recently constructed Scarborough Building, but they are considering moving to the Julia Butler Hansen House, which has been used by Wahkiakum Community Foundation. The foundation has lost its funding and cannot afford to operate the house as a historical site and community center, and proponents of the move to relocate offices there say that may be the only way to keep the building going.

However, some members oppose the move, saying the house's musty smell will deter people from using Chamber and EDC services.