Chamber board will vote on new plan
By Laura Collins
Published in News on May 6, 2010 1:46 PM
Members of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce board of directors had planned to vote on a new direction for the organization at Wednesday's special meeting, but not enough of them showed up.
The revelation of the new strategic plan came in the wake of personnel action taken by Chamber director Steve Hicks last month. Hicks announced April 16 the elimination of the chamber's membership positions held by membership and marketing director Patty Graham and membership services manager Jessica Bravo.
The Chamber cited financial concerns as the reason for the changes.
To make quorum to vote on the new strategic plan, the board needed 13 members in attendance, but only 11 members of the 25-member board were at the meeting. The vote was rescheduled for Friday at 8 a.m.
Board members were originally expected to vote on the plan at the April 22 meeting, but some said they had only received a summary of the strategic plan and therefore were not willing to vote on a plan they did not get to read in its entirety. A majority of the board decided to table voting on the plan until board members were able to review the entire 50-page plan, rather than the summary.
The plan focuses on financial stability, being a resource for businesses, providing value to the Chamber's membership, awareness of what the Chamber does, increasing volunteers and communication among staff, Chamber members and the community.