The Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau won’t be merging anytime soon, just cohabitating.
That doesn’t mean it may not one day turn into something more, Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins said Friday.
“The analogy we’ve been using in the office is, ‘Hey, before we get married, let’s move in and live together and see if we like each other,” he told The Dispatch.
Regardless, the chamber and LINK, its longtime umbrella organization, are getting a divorce – one that will be final Oct. 1.
The chamber is breaking off into a standalone organization by next fiscal year, both Higgins and Chamber Advisory Board President Ashleigh Guyton confirmed to The Dispatch.
It has filed for its own 501(c)6 nonprofit status, drafted new bylaws and is preparing to file its own articles of incorporation with the state, Guyton said. It will lease office space at the CVB’s downtown headquarters on Third Street South.
The CVB and chamber have both signed the lease and agreed to terms, Guyton said, but they haven’t established an occupancy date.
“We’re excited to be our own organization,” Guyton said. “… It made sense to talk with the CVB who had an extra office space where they’re located. … We both do a lot to serve the community and work to see the community grow. So it was a good fit.”
For $1,250 per month, which Higgins said includes utilities and phone, the chamber will have an office for its executive director and access to the CVB conference room.
The LINK, which serves Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Clay counties, is moving next year to the Golden Triangle Regional Airport – a more central location than the office building on Main Street in Columbus where it’s now housed.
Higgins said the LINK should open construction within the next month and hopefully move into its new digs by June 2025.
Director searches
Though the chamber has worked under the LINK umbrella for years, Higgins said it wasn’t practical for the chamber to operate from GTRA.
The chamber and CVB co-locating comes at a transitional time for both organizations, as each is looking for a new executive director.
Chamber Director Cathryn Borer left in December to take a job at Mississippi University for Women. Longtime CVB CEO Nancy Carpenter is leaving at the end of March to lead the former CVB nonprofit, the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation.
Guyton said the chamber is still accepting applications for its top spot.
“We’re not going to fill that position until we find someone we feel will be great for the chamber and for our members,” Guyton said. “It will be a big deal to start from the ground up with us while we do this transition.”
LINK staff is supporting the chamber’s director search process, including vetting applicants. Higgins said he hopes someone is in place by July 1.
With the transition, the chamber advisory board will become its governing body. The organization will start having to pay for some things – namely rent – it didn’t have to before.
“They’re going to have to live on the membership (dues) they bring in and the income they make off their programs,” Higgins said. “… They bring in enough money to pay their employees, insurance, benefits, all that stuff. It’s those things like rent, utilities, copy paper, postage machines … that they haven’t been having to buy on their own.”
CVB board president Liz Terry did not return calls or messages seeking comment.
Merger later?
At the chamber’s annual luncheon in December, Higgins suggested a merger between the chamber, CVB and Main Street.
There wasn’t enough time to pull that off by Oct. 1, he said Friday, but it’s still something worth considering down the road.
“We’re a small town,” he told The Dispatch. “And it seems to me that having a separate chamber, a separate CVB and a separate Main Street, that’s probably not the best setup.”
Something more like the Greater Starkville Development Partnership might work better, he said. There, each organization has separate staffers and boards but a single executive director.
“That’s not ours to decide,” Higgins said. “But it seems to me like it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to sit down and … throw all the money in the pot, hire a jam-up, jelly-tight director that’s in charge of all that stuff and have separate staffers (for each entity).
“… Theoretically, with four to five people, you could run the chamber, CVB and Main Street and do a damn good job,” he said. “But you can’t specialize, you have to work together (on projects and events).”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 39 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
