Two local chambers of commerce consolidate [The Daily Review, Towanda, Pa.]

Jan. 09--TOWANDA -

The Wysox Community Chamber of Commerce, which dates back to the 1800s, was recently consolidated into the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, local chamber of commerce officials said.

"It's a very positive move," said Susan Portnoff, administrator of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce. "It will benefit everyone."

Officials from the two chambers of commerce no longer wanted to have two separate chambers of commerce in the Towanda area, one based on the east side of the Susquehanna River, and the other based on its west side, said Bill Them, who had served as president of the Wysox Community Chamber of Commerce until the consolidation occurred.

"We all that felt with the gas industry in the area, there was a need for one centralized, vital organization," said Them, who now serves on the board of directors of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce.

As a result of the consolidation, the Wysox Community Chamber of Commerce no longer exists and all of its 80 members are now members of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, according to Them and Portnoff.

The Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, whose size swelled from 120 members to 200 members as a result of the consolidation, will continue to called the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, they said.

The consolidation went into effect earlier this month, after the members of the Wysox Community Chamber of Commerce approved the consolidation at a meeting in December, Them said.

The board of directors of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce had previously approved the consolidation, said Lou Ann McGuire, president of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce.

When the Wysox Community Chamber of Commerce existed, neither it nor the Central Bradford Chamber of Commerce had enough volunteers to accomplish their goals, said Sharon Kaminsky, who entered into discussions with Them about the consolidation two years ago, when she was the administrator of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce.

"There were projects we wanted to do, but we didn't have enough people to do them," she said.

Through the consolidation, a more effective, combined pool of volunteers will be available to carry out the mission of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, said Kaminsky, who continues to serve on the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce as a representative of the Bradford County Regional Arts Council.

Another reason for the consolidation is that the Wysox Community Chamber of Commerce was an all-volunteer organization, and those businesses that had been members of the Wysox chamber will now be served by the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce's part-time paid administrator, Portnoff said.

The duties of the paid administrator include "promoting members (and handling) inquiries about everything from available campgrounds to the phone number for an engineering firm," according to written information from the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce.

Another advantage of the consolidation is that Wysox businesses will now have the option of participating in a group-purchasing program of electricity that the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce offers its members, which reduces their electric bills, Portnoff said. Still another advantage of the consolidation is that the Central Bradford Chamber of Commerce offers its members an option to purchase health insurance option through Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which can, depending on the health insurance plan, save them money, said Kaminsky.

Because the Wysox Chamber of Commerce did not have a charter registered with the state, it was not able to offer the health insurance and electricity cost-saving programs to its members, she said.

As part of the consolidation, three former officers of the Wysox Chamber of Commerce will now serve on the board of directors of the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, Them said.

Besides Them, those three officers are Dr. Avery Boardman and Kyle Lane.

The funds of the Wysox Chamber of Commerce will be transferred to the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, but will be earmarked for Wysox projects until they are used up, local chamber of commerce officials said.

The Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce has its office in the CareerLink building at 218 Main St. in Towanda, which is where it moved in July. The chamber of commerce is located on the first floor of the building, and the entrance to its office is the same entrance that is used to access the CareerLink office.

Prior to July, the Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce had been located at 421 Main St. in Towanda.

The Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce, formerly known as the Towanda Chamber of Commerce, was founded in 1924.

The Central Bradford County Chamber of Commerce will serve Towanda, Wysox, and the surrounding areas, Them said.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: [email protected].

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