I receive emails once in a while wanting me to post one thing or another and depending on the subject I'll either choose to post it or not. Normally, I will post only things effecting our city and it's government but this is important to our city's business community. This anonymous letter was received this afternoon and I happen to agree with it so here it is:
As you know the Wentzville Chamber of Commerce is voting on merging with the Lake St Louis & Dardenne Prairie Chamber of Commerce on Monday July 23, 2012.
Please consider voting against the merger for the following reasons:
1) Wentzville will lose the identity as The Wentzville Chamber of Commerce
2) We were promised an open meeting to discuss the advantages & disadvantages at our monthly general membership meeting on July 18, 2012. (THIS DID NOT HAPPEN)
3) The chamber board did provide a meeting to the members with a very short notice after many members complained that we did not have the opportunity to discuss this merger. This meeting was held Friday, July 20, 2012 at 12:00pm at Century Link. Also another meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 23, 2012 from 7:30am to 8:30am at Century Link
4)Membership meetings may alternate between the three communities
5) Please go to the Wentzville Chamber of Commerce on Monday, July 23, 2012 at 210 S Linn Wentzville, Mo; between 9:00 & 3:00 to VOTE.
6)ONE NO vote will CANCEL TWO YES votes
Please consider the above reasons for VOTING NO.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL OF YOUR
WENTZVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FRIENDS!
I would like to share my reaction to some of the points made in this letter.
ReplyDelete1. This makes no sense- The City of Wentzville does not have an identity as the Wentzville Chamber of Commerce. These are two separate entities.
2. The scheduled meeting did not happen because very little interest was shown. The potential merger was announced over a month ago, and the Chamber office received fewer than 5 calls asking for more information. The Chamber Board did drop the ball on this, as it found out when a small group of members expressed their displeasure with how this was handled. The Board agreed, apologized, and immediately scheduled 2 meetings to give members an opportunity to ask questions and share opinions.
4. Meetings will definitely be rotated between the three cities. This will give members an oportunity to market/network with a larger group of people, and also to learn more about the cities where others do business and live.
5. There are over 100 common members between the 2 Chambers. Of the 400 Wentzville Chamber members, 41% do not live in or own a business in Wentzville. These statistics show how much these 3 cities already cross over their borders to work together and promote commerce in the western part of St. Charles County.
6. The cities of Dardenne Prairie, Lake St. Louis and Wentzville all support this merger.
7. The Boards of Directors of both Chambers voted unanimously to recommend this merger to their members.
I would encourage members of both Chambers to vote "yes" for growth by voting to approve this merger.
The thing that bothers me about this merge and name change is this:
ReplyDeleteIf someone is looking at Wentzville from out of the area and looks up the Wentzville Chamber, it wouldn't find one. It could be perceived that since Wentzville belongs to a chamber of several cities,we are not organized enough to have our own. If we can't sustain our own Chamber of Commerce how could a prospective new business be confident that their business could survive? I don't see this as a plus when attracting new businesses or an indication that our city's economy is well.