Winfield chamber may join consortium

Small business owners in the Winfield Chamber of Commerce could see membership fees increase in 2012 if officials approve a plan to merge with two other local chambers later this month.

But chamber President Mary Lee Geraghty said Wednesday that the benefits of joining the Western DuPage Chamber of Commerce, which consists of the Warrenville and West Chicago chambers, would make the added fees worth it.

She said joining the consortium would expose businesses to more customers and give them more chances to attend educational seminars.

“They are really dependent on networking and if they are tripling who their networking potentials are, it seems to be a very good value,” said Geraghty, co-owner of Prairie Path Cycles in Winfield and Batavia.

Winfield chamber officials declined an offer late last year to join the newly created group. But Geraghty said they continued to monitor its events and now think the merger would be prudent.

“(At the time) we really hadn’t had a vision of where we wanted to go as a chamber,” she said. “But as the year went by, we were able to witness some of the great programs they can offer.”

The move would completely restructure fee schedules for Winfield businesses. The smallest and largest businesses would see their rates increase.

For example, the lowest current rate charges businesses with one to three employees $125 in membership dues a year, according to an email from the chamber on Tuesday.

Under the new structure, a home-based business would pay $215 and any businesses with up to five employees would pay $245.

Churches, schools and other civic organizations also would see their rates increase.

Geraghty stressed that the 36-year-old chamber has not decided whether to move forward with the plan. However, she said she hopes it gets approved at a meeting later this month. Officials have discussed the possibility extensively for about two months, she said.

“We don’t have the support group we need as individual types of businesses,” Geraghty said. “Networking, educational seminars, those are the main things. We just have not been able to offer those things for our members.”

But whether enough members agree remains to be seen. A meeting Friday will formalize a resolution that would ask board members about the move. Geraghty hopes a final vote can be taken Nov. 18 to open the door to the new fee structure in early 2012.

She said quick action would allow Winfield to be part of Western DuPage’s 2012 planning.

If approved, Winfield’s 10-person board of directors would have to disband and would be given four positions on Western DuPage’s board before open elections take place, Geraghty said.

She said she does not expect that to be a problem because interest in the board has decreased.

Membership fees

Winfield:

Businesses with 1-3 employees: $125/year

4-6: $195

7-9: $295

10 or more: $395

Newspapers, banks, hospitals, utilities and businesses with 50 or more employees: $395

Associates, schools, churches, local not-for-profit clubs and organizations: $75

Western DuPage:

Home-based business: $215/year

Businesses with 1-5 employees: $245

6-12: $295

13-25: $345

26-50: $445

51-75: $495

76-100: $575

101-250: $845

Churches and civic clubs: $95

Not-for-profits: $245

Schools: $245