CAPE CHAMBER, RCGA VOTE TO COMBINE FORCES

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Commerce and Growth Association have joined forces after years of strong and often public disagreements between leaders of the two groups.

The 18-member chamber board voted unanimously Tuesday to join the RCGA. The decision, however, wasn't announced until Thursday afternoon.

Thursday night, members of the RCGA voted to become members of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber officials said their announcement was delayed because John Mehner, chamber president, was out of town earlier in the week.

The decisions could aid the RCGA in its recruitment efforts. The chamber has more than 1,100 members; the RCGA about 230.

RCGA members include the Jackson, Scott City and Chaffee chambers of commerce.

In separate interviews, chamber officials and Walt Wildman, RCGA executive director, praised the move.

"It has been a long fight," said Wildman, who resigned as executive director Thursday night. "It is a landmark event for the future growth of the community."

The chamber board will pay an annual membership fee of $1,000 and will have a representative on the RCGA board. The chamber representative will bring the number of board members to 31.

Ollie Miller, chairman of the chamber board, said the two groups have had "a very divisive past." He hailed the actions as a positive step by both groups to reunite the community and move it forward.

"While it will be difficult for some to accept, the time has come to let past differences be just that -- past differences," Miller said. "It is not healthy for individuals or organizations to dwell on previously negative actions, which can be very detrimental to a community."

A number of key RCGA leaders such as Earl Norman and Jim Drury, who broke with the chamber several years ago, have rejoined in recent months.

"We felt in one respect that they were sort of holding out an olive branch to us and we thought the time has come to try to overcome the differences of the past for the good of the community," said Miller.

He said the chamber board doesn't have a hidden agenda. "This was not a deal of any sort."

He said there hasn't been any talk of merging the two organizations.

The chamber board's decision came at the urging of Wildman.

In a Sept. 2 letter to Mehner, Wildman indicated that participation by the chamber would aid the RCGA in its recruitment drive later this month.

Wildman said Thursday that the RCGA would probably concentrate on signing up the larger companies. The RCGA, he said, needed the membership of the chamber. "You can't ignore the largest chamber in your region."

From its inception in 1987, RCGA leaders had strong disagreements with the chamber. The chamber refused to join the RCGA, decrying what it called the group's "hardball political approach." The chamber's refusal prompted RCGA leaders to form a new chamber of commerce called the Cape Centre Chamber of Commerce in November 1988. The new chamber was short-lived, disbanding in 1989.

Wildman, who promised to mend fences when he was hired as executive director of the RCGA in November 1989, said personal animosities between the chamber and the RCGA have taken time to heal.

"A lot of people have changed and personalities have changed," said Wildman. "I think we have proven we are not out to get anybody and we are not warring with anybody."

Many of the RCGA's activities in the past have centered on efforts to get funding for the Interstate 66 project. Miller said the I-66 project hasn't panned out. "If it is not dead, it certainly is sick at this point in time."

Chamber officials said the RCGA plans to focus on regional issues including education, tourism and transportation.