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Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber to dissolve after city pulls funding

The Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce board members voted to dissolve the chamber last week. Adobe stock photo

The Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce board members voted to dissolve the chamber last week. Adobe stock photo

WILLIAMS, Ariz. - The city of Williams no longer has a chamber of commerce.

According to Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce Board President Jerry Anthony, the chamber board members voted to dissolve the chamber after the Williams City Council cut chamber funding and decided to pay for tourism marketing elsewhere.

"We looked at it eight ways from Sunday," Anthony said about the future of the chamber. "There just isn't enough funding now available to keep the chamber functioning."

During the June 8 meeting, council members voted to terminate the city's agreement with the chamber and hire Front Burner Media to handle tourism marketing for the city.

According to the 2016 city budget, the city allocated $310,479 for the 2015-2016 fiscal year to the chamber for tourism promotion.

The city will pay $220,000 to Front Burner Media for marketing and tourism promotion, almost $90,000 less per year.

According to Anthony, the chamber spent a considerable amount of time evaluating options for keeping the chamber up and running. In a statement emailed to the Williams News, he said over the year the chamber's major strategic efforts have been focused on marketing, tourism and organizing events for the city of Williams.

He went on to say the chamber typically generated 70 percent of its revenue from the city, 15 percent from membership dues and 15 percent from chamber sponsored events. Most of the money was used for tourism marketing and the salary for a president/CEO for the chamber. The city also supplied two paid employees to assist the CEO and provide membership services. Those employees have been reassigned.

Anthony said the board was unable to develop a viable strategy to keep the Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce going.

"We could not obviously afford to pay for a CEO to run it and staff it," he said.

Anthony said the board is also not equipped to run the chamber as a volunteer organization.

"The board members aren't meant to run the chamber," Anthony said. "The board members are to help with functions and set policies and procedures and make sure we are doing our due diligence to run the chamber. But none of those folks have time to volunteer to run the chamber itself, the administration of the chamber."

Anthony said the chamber had leased a portion of the Visitor Center building from the city for $1 per year. He said the city cancelled the lease with the chamber when they eliminated the contract and discontinued funding the chamber.

"It severely restricts us," Anthony said. "We don't have a building, we don't have the people. We basically have a board that would be volunteers."

Anthony said the board felt that at least half of the members would leave the chamber now that tourism marketing was in Front Burner Media's hands. With marketing going elsewhere he felt the loss of the chamber would be minimal to most community members.

"The bulk of what we did was events such as the Mountain Village Holiday, the Fourth of July Parade and the Wild West Williams weekend last year," Anthony said. "So the city is going to take that over also. So I don't see where the city will lose much of anything."

According to Anthony, the chamber had been running smoothly until a community member voiced concerns about the chamber to the city council.

He said the board met several times over the past few weeks to discuss the future of the chamber. He declined to give a specific date, but said the decision was made at one of their board meetings.

He said board members overwhelming agreed to dissolve the chamber and they understand why the city decided to fund Front Burner Media. He said the board has no animosity toward any members of the city government and wishes them success in their new endeavors.

"We are all saddened by it, but it is what it is," Anthony said.

Anthony said he believes that Heather Hermen will do an excellent job continuing destination marketing and tourism for the city as she has done in the past.

He said tourism in Williams has increased 20 percent over last year and 2015 was up significantly over 2014 due primarily to Front Burner's efforts.


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