Holland, Zeeland Chambers of Commerce to merge

The Holland Sentinel reports that two prominent business support groups plan to merge in an effort to improve services to their business communities.

According to excerpts from the story:

The Holland Area Chamber of Commerce and Zeeland Chamber of Commerce plan to rewrite their bylaws, becoming a “united organization” to serve area businesses.

The two business-support organizations on Monday afternoon announced their intent to merge, following two years of talks between the board of directors for each group. A re-written set of bylaws still have to be approved by each board of directors.

“We don’t want to lose that small-town feeling that we have in Zeeland and Holland,” Zeeland chamber President Jim Schoettle said. “But ... we will have a much bigger voice together.”

He said the design and framework of the final organization are still very tentative. “We’ve talked about the (idea), but now we have to talk about what the organization will look like,” he said. For instance, what would each town’s representation be on the new organization’s board?

Read the complete story here.