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By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

An effort to unite the Winfield and Arkansas City chambers of commerce in 2006 failed.

Each chamber's membership voted on the merger proposition in August of last year, and each turned it down.

"The more people thought about it, the more we thought it would not work for our benefit," said Bob Foster, a member of the Arkansas City Area Chamber of Commerce. Foster recently was appointed to fill an unexpired term as past president of the chamber.

"There would always, always be jealousy over where the leader (of the proposed merged organization) lived," he said. "If it were in Winfield, we wouldn't like it; if it were in Ark City, they wouldn't like it."

Being only 10 miles apart, the two chambers should -- and do -- join forces on projects such as legislative forums, he added.

"Although the merger was voted down at this time, it in no way will hinder our efforts to work closely with the Arkansas City Chamber of Commerce on projects that affect Cowley County," said Bruce Schwyhart, past chair of the Winfield chamber, after the ballots were counted.

Winfield Area Chamber of Commerce board chair Donna Woods cited several ways in which the chambers will continue to work together. These include Leadership Cowley County, legislative issues, community development and retention, and special events.

The executive committee board members of the Ark City and Winfield chambers began working in earnest on a plan to merge the two chambers in June 2006. They held a joint meeting that month.

The merger proposal came to light through a June 5 letter addressed to the members of the two chambers.

"In recent years our Chambers have fostered a culture of cooperation and collaboration that has produced an effective and influential partnership throughout Cowley County, the region and the State," the letter stated.

The merger project was spurred by the resignation of Seth Bate. He resigned his position as president of the Winfield area chamber, the letter stated.

"In light of an executive staff vacancy in the Winfield Area Chamber, a joint task force has been empowered by the full boards of directors to explore the possibility of formally linking the Arkansas City and Winfield Chambers."

The letter said a merger would result in a new entity that would be organized "to optimize resources and reduce duplication wherever possible." However, it would continue to operate in two offices -- one in each town -- with a shared staff.

Former Ark City chamber president Rusty Wright presented advantages to having a single chamber serving both towns:

It would provide a larger, more robust membership; greater sphere of influence; access to more political representation -- two state representatives and one senator in Topeka, compared to "one representative and half a senator"; larger budget to use to help coordinate events in the two towns.

Wright suggested there could be more involvement of both communities in annual festivals such as Arkalalah and Kanza Days. "We would be no longer competing for the same things," he said.

A disadvantage to merging could be a certain loss of a community's identity, he said.

"You would be looking out for 30,000 people in both communities, instead of people in one or the other community," Wright said. "Would (a project) be for the benefit of Ark City or the benefit of Cowley County?"

That question is moot since the members of both chambers decided it would be better for each town to have its own chamber looking out for its own interests.