Commission to contract with Chamber/EDC

In a 2-1 vote, Wahkiakum County commissioners agreed Tuesday to contract with the merged Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce and Lower Columbia Economic Development Council (EDC).

The two organizations are merging this year as state funding for EDCs is drying up.

Commissioners Lisa Marsyla and Dan Cothren voted to make a $25,000 appropriation; Commissioner Blair Brady voted against it.

The funds come from the state and are specifically set to be used by a county's economic development organization, selected by the county commission. Brady suggested the funds be split between the Chamber/EDC and WSU Wahkiakum Cooperative Extension. Extension offices in other counties have been selected as economic development organizations, he said, and by allocating the funds to Extension, the commission would help protect the organization from potential state funding cuts this year. The county fair could also be involved, he said.

Four representatives of the merged Chamber/EDC spoke of their organization's plans and services, and after 50 minutes of discussion, Marsyla, commission chair for 2011, moved that the county contract with the agency to fund $25,000 and with the understanding that the funds could only be used for tightly controlled services.

Richard Erickson, volunteer interim executive director of the Chamber/EDC, said the new organization would continue to provide the economic development and marketing services it has in the past, and it would continue with the marketing and festival services the Chamber has provided.

"It's a bigger Chamber," he said. "It's not uncommon for a Chamber to have options like these."

The Chamber/EDC would pull back on recruitment efforts, said Chamber member Sandi Benbrook Rieder, but in the current economy, businesses aren't looking to move, and most groups aren't in a recruiting mode.

"Marketing is so important," Erickson said. "If people have a good experience, they will relocate. Marketing is crucial to get the first look at the community."

Commissioners raised issues that had concerned them.

Marsyla, who represented the commission on the old EDC board of directors, said she opposed the EDC board's decision to give its administrative assistant a severance pay package.

Erickson said the EDC board had stumbled on that move but had made sure the package came out of membership dues, not money from the county or the state.

Brady said constituents in western Wahkiakum County have complained to him that the EDC and Chamber do little for that area and focus on the Cathlamet area instead. Perhaps a visitor center could be established in Rosburg at Johnson Park, he suggested.

Erickson reminded the board that the EDC had put together the community meetings that led to the formation of the farmers' co-operative. The Chamber had obtained funding for a full-time director, and she established an office and formed a Chamber group in Naselle that lasted until her funding ended.

Current Chamber/EDC President Jennifer Hanigan commented that the Chamber has been able to put together a group of volunteers who work hard putting on community events such as Cathlamet's Bald Eagle Festival.

"It's a huge job," she said of the festivals. "We like working with everybody. As for the Westend, we try as hard as we can to address their concerns.

"I would like to move forward," she said, asking the board to decide where it's going to allocate the economic development funds and name as its associate development organization.

Cathlamet Mayor George Wehrfritz offered his concerns. He would like to see development addressed on a broad spectrum, he said. He asked what the Chamber does to promote business in the off season, and he supported the idea of getting funds to Cooperative Extension.

He also suggested expanding the group's board of directors so that it's not "stacked with the same people who run local government."

Erickson responded that the Chamber/EDC welcomes members, and they're looking for people willing to work on the projects. Community events start in March, he said, and continue into December.

The group's board of directors will have 13 members, he said, eight of these will be non-designated members of the Chamber. (He and Rieder added after the meeting that the group will seek nominations to the board at its membership meeting next Tuesday, 12 noon, Riverview Restaurant and Lounge, Cathlamet. People interested are urged to attend.)

Commissioner Dan Cothren said he shared Brady's concerns about funding for fair and Extension, and that the merger had created a lot of change.

"I would back the Chamber," he said, "and we should move ahead and we should work with other groups."

Marsyla moved that the commission contract with the Chamber/EDC for economic development services and appropriate $25,000 on condition that the Chamber/EDC board offer seats to the fair board and Cooperative Extension, that there be seats for the private sector, that the visitor center be open five days a week, and that funds be used appropriately, not spent on severance packages. Cothren seconded the motion.

"It's in general," Marsyla said. "If I see you do things that weren't appropriate, you would see me come jumping the fence to give money to other groups.

"As long as you use it for its original intent, I'll be happy."

In voting, she and Cothren supported the motion, and Brady opposed it.

Marsyla said she and Chamber/EDC representatives should meet with Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow to develop a new contract.