A big announcement Wednesday morning is going to change the landscape of business and industry in our community. The Glasgow Barren County Chamber of Commerce is going to merge with the Barren County Economic Authority to allow the two entities to focus together on the economic and industrial needs of our community. The joint press conference was hosted by Chamber President Treva Shirley as the plan and the timeline were explained. A number of groups will be involved as preparations begin to make the change effective January 1st of 2022. The current Executive Director of the Barren County Economic Authority is Maureen Carpenter. She says she is ready to take on the role of leading this new force in advancing our community.
“Its just a great opportunity to continue to serve Barren County and help it grow. Obviously, there’s still a high priority on economic development to take care of our local industry and bring new industry in. We’re going to be able to do some shift change with our staffing so that we have someone that’s dedicated 100% to membership and program development. I think that’s going to be vital to making sure that our membership is heard and that we can grow the organization and sustain the chamber as well as economic development.” Said Carpenter.
For 17 years the Executive Director of the Chamber has been Ernie Myers, who announced to the crowd that he will be retiring from that role on December 31st of this year. Myers said he has been pleased to contribute, but the roots of the chamber run deep.
“For 100 years this chamber been in existence The spirit of this chamber has remained the same. The foundation was set long before I got here. I can give the credit to our board; give the credit to our President’s Club; give the credit to the regular members we have. Every member is extremely important!” If they do nothing other than pay their dues! We need that and we need that cooperation and I hope the new directions that the chamber is taking will simply be the first step in a spirit of cooperation throughout the community.” according to Myers.
A Consolidation Review Committee has researched the merger thoroughly with 5 groups breaking down the intricate details of the operations of both organizations.
The Board Chairman of the Barren County Economic Authority is David Peterson. He said this effort will have broad reach.
“This is very exciting for Barren County, Glasgow, Cave City, Park City and all the other small communities in the county. We’re going to concentrate on our end on recruitment of industry, but most of all supporting our existing businesses. I think that’s very important! I see a lot of history in this room and that’s what I really enjoy. Seeing the history of where we have been, where we come through in the past and we’re moving forward. It’s exciting.” Peterson said.
On July 6th at 8 am a Zoom Meeting will be conducted where membership can hear much more about the merger. I