Beginning in January, members of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce will be able to take advantage of services from two separate entities.

The Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, 449 E. State St., will split in two. The original Chamber of Commerce will focus on advocating for members and a new Economic Development Council at the Innovation Center, 20 E. Circle Dr., will retain and provide resources for businesses, said Jennifer Simon, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and the president of the Athens County Economic Development Council.

The Development Council has been a part of the chamber for more than 12 years, but this is the first time it has been its own separate organization, Simon said.

The Athens City Council approved the split 5 to 2 on Nov. 3, and appropriated $55,000 from the hotel/motel occupancy tax to the project. This funding was combined with $60,000 from the county commissioners, $15,000 from the Athens County Port Authority, $15,000 from the Community Improvement Corp. of Athens and $2,500 from Athens township trustees for the project, Simon said.

OU will also be contribute a $55,000 membership fee to the project from the University Finance and Administrative Service Budget, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to the president.

Originally there was a misunderstanding about OU’s contribution to the split, Watts said. When the chamber approached Bill Decatur, senior vice president of finance and administration, for $55,000, Decatur understood the amount to be a donation from the Ohio University Foundation, Watts said. But with the state of the stock market, the university wasn’t able to make the contribution.

After a discussion with Simons yesterday, it was established that the $55,000 was actually a membership fee, which could come from the finance and administrative service budget, Watts said.

“That’s not an uncommon thing,” Watts said. “Universities are members of Economic Development Councils all across the state and nation.”

Simon said she is also working on getting up to $15,000 in in-kind donations from the Chamber of Commerce.
Planning for the project began last year so the chamber could be independent and speak freely on behalf of its members, Simon said.

“When you mix (the chamber and the Development Council) when taking public funding, it’s a little hard to speak out for members,” Simon said. “We feel like the model needs to be free to advocate on behalf of members directly, not having to provide administrative support.”

These administrative tasks will be taken over by the Economic Development Council, Simon said.

The council will be governed by a board of up to 10 trustees and will have two employees to start out, Simon said. Simon will become the president of the Economic Development Council and a search will be held to find a new CEO for the chamber.

The Development Council will have a marketing and attraction committee that will try to bring potential businesses to Athens.  The Development Council’s retention and expansion committee will address the concerns of Athens business owners, according to the project’s business plan.

The Development Council will also work closely with OU, Simon said.

The university was also discussing helping the Development Council in other ways, such as negotiating a reduced lease rate for the Innovation Center, but these might not be needed because of the membership fee, Watts said.
City Council members were also unsure if they could make the financial commitment to the project, but ultimately the majority voted to support it, Simon said.

“It was a tough investment for the city to make right now. We are in tough times (and the council has) to make sure the city is able to function,” she said. “But if you don’t focus on economic growth, taxes don’t grow and that’s what funds the infrastructure.”

Jim Sands (D-at large), councilman and owner of The Athens Flower Shop, said he supported the split because it would help bring jobs to the area, and make a clear distinction between the chamber of commerce and the Economic Development Council.