By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — The Caribou Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board of Directors voted 7-2 yesterday to separate the marketing and promotion responsibilities from the agency’s economic development and loan portfolio management functions.
The decision, according to CCC&I board member Sean Pelletier, will separate “the Chamber of Commerce from the Caribou Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hopefully relocating the Chamber to a new location [strongly suggested to be the Lion’s Building] but if not, keeping it at its current location; the Chamber Director [will] be a city employee with benefits; the creation of an economic development director with the existing community development director with support staff for a total of four full-time employees.”
Seven Board members — Lisa Cantafio, Shawn Pelletier, Shawn Anderson, Steve Buck, Richard Soloman, Troy Heald and Chris Bell — voted in favor of Option 1. Jim Cyr and May Marin voted in favor of Option 2; President of the Board Joseph Sleeper II abstained. Board members Tom Ellis and William Tasker were not in attendance at the July 20 meeting.
A printed version of the new arrangement was not available at presstime.
The Caribou Chamber of Commerce and Industry was created in 2000 when the former Caribou Development Corp. and the Caribou Chamber of Commerce merged into one agency, becoming the only combined economic development agency and chamber of commerce in Maine. The CCC&I, as a non-profit organization, has provided economic development services and business loans, as well as traditional Chamber of Commerce benefits for its members and the residents of Caribou since that time.
While details and a timeline regarding the restructuring of the chamber have yet to be set, a Board members are currently working to organize a meeting within the next two weeks to configure the bylaws of the new entities, establish board members and draft a course of action.
Option 2, which did not pass, aimed to establish three separate CCC&I boards to better meet the needs of the community — an economic and community development board, a chamber of commerce board and a Caribou development loan portfolio board.
“The city of Caribou will continue to have a Chamber of Commerce and Development/Industry Corporation but will soon operate independently of one another: each entity will have its own separate Board of Directors,” said Sleeper. “The development aspect of the office will soon be housed with Caribou’s Community Development office overseen by the city of Caribou,” he added.
“The reason behind the move is to more effectively operate each aspect of the CCC& I,” Sleeper said. “[Many] CCC&I directors feel that by separating Chamber of Commerce and The Development Corporation, a more concentrated effort can be given to each worthwhile entity with savings to the city in terms of operating costs,” he added.
While changes for the chamber are eminent, board members assure the community that favorite chamber based events — such as the Caribou Cares About Kids parade — will not be affected by the reconfiguration.
Addition information regarding the Chamber and its new role in Caribou will be available in next week’s issue of the Aroostook Republican.
