Drive nets chamber new members

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce has more than 30 new members, thanks to its membership drive last week, said president and CEO John Mehner.

"By the end of the day, with checks in hand, we had more than 30," Mehner said. "But with the contacts made, we think we'll be able to get to 50 by the end of the month."

That will bring the membership of the business organization back up to about 1,200. The membership is usually about 1,100 to 1,200, he said.

On Friday, Chamber members went door-to-door to businesses that are not members, Mehner said. Members worked all or part of the day encouraging those who don't belong to join.

"We're very pleased," Mehner said. "We like to stay at about the 1,200 mark. That's really the highest we ever are. People drop, go out of business, cut back. So we do a couple of drives a year to stay ahead."