CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HOLDS ANNUAL BOARD RETREAT

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce will revise its fee structure next year to compensate for revenue lost with the departure of the city's license fee office.

John Mehner, chamber president, said the budget was one of the key topics of discussion at the annual chamber board retreat held Friday at Lone Star Industries Natatorium.

In September, Gov. Mel Carnahan announced that the patronage offices of the license bureaus in Cape Girardeau and Jackson would be taken over by the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation.

Mehner said Friday the loss of revenue will have to be made up through other means.

"We took a hit," he said. "Everybody realizes it, and this is the time to do something about it."

Mehner said the board agreed to re-evaluate and redesign its dues structure.

"Of all of the chambers in the state close to our size, we charge the lowest dues in the state," he said. "We're not even going to raise ours to those levels, but there will be an adjustment."

Mehner said the chamber this year also will work to simplify the dues structure and will hold "fun-raisers" to boost funds for the chamber.

"We want to brainstorm and come up with something that nobody else is doing," he said. "We want it to be fun, and we want people to participate."

Mehner said the loss of revenue from the license bureau will total about $30,000 for the year. He said it shouldn't be difficult to make up the shortfall.

"A very small dues increase and a fund-raising event will allow us to make up for that loss and to increase our programs," he said.

Ollie Miller, president of Mercantile Bank of Cape Girardeau and the new chamber board chairman, said he anticipates a banner year for chamber membership.

"It's going to be a challenging year," he said. "Obviously, we're going to have to restructure some financing due to losing some sources of revenue.

"But we're going to continue to try to increase our membership, restructure our dues, and have some special projects.

Miller said he wasn't particularly concerned about making up the revenue shortfall from the license bureau.

"I think it will be a great year for us," he said. "We've got almost 1,100 members, and when you have that strong of a membership almost anything's possible."

Mehner said he expects an increase in membership in the chamber this year due to passage of riverboat gambling in the city. He said that at least a riverboat operator likely will become a chamber member.

That alone should be sufficient to compensate for the loss of revenue the chamber has derived from the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The CVB this year was moved to the city from under the control of the chamber.

"That move will amount to a loss in revenue of about $6,000," Mehner said. "That shouldn't be too difficult to make up."

Mehner said board members strongly supported the move to increase dues.

"There was total support," he said. "I think the board agreed there needs to be a simplified process for paying dues."

The chamber board also heard updates Friday from the city, the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority, the Cape Girardeau School District and state Sen. Peter Kinder.

"One thing, I think the chamber will be much more active this year in legislation," Mehner said. "We're also going to continue to stress community development as we've done in the past."

New chamber board officers elected Friday were Ollie Miller, chairman; Jim Rust, chairman-elect; Wayne Smith, vice president; and Ken Hayden, treasurer.