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Friday, August 19, 2011
Local News / Business Done deal: Chamber and EDC will announce merger
Posted by Pam Zubeck on Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 2:00 PM
After several months of discussion and negotiation, and years of contemplation, a deal has been worked out to merge the region's two chief business groups.
At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Antlers Hilton, the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp. will unveil the results of all those dealings.
In a media notice, the two agencies said:
A joint agreement has been reached by the Chamber and EDC to forge a new organization for the purpose of improving the region’s economy. Details will be provided as to the next steps in the unification of these two organizations.
Those details likely will include:
— Whether Chamber executive Dave Csintyan will head the new group or take a backseat to a new face.
— Whether the EDC's former CEO Mike Kazmierski will be replaced.
— What size budget the merged organization will have compared to the existing two entities.
— Who will sit on the board of the new organization.
— How the new agency will balance recruitment of new industry (now an EDC function) with existing business support and development (the chamber's current role).
— Whether the new agency will have a political action committee as the Chamber now does, but the EDC does not.
— How long it will take for both agencies to physically co-locate. Today, the two have different office locations. The EDC is at 90 S. Cascade Avenue, Suite 1050. The Chamber is at 6 S. Tejon St., Suite 700.
— How one agency might better serve the community than two separate ones.
Go here for more background.
