Loss of membership has Girl Scout councils consolidating

Four Girl Scout councils representing 22,000 girls will consolidate this fall to form the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois.

The move will affect most Girl Scouts in northern Illinois, excluding those in Cook County and the eastern parts of DuPage and Lake counties, areas that will remain under the jurisdiction of the Girl Scout Council of the Greater Chicago after the reorganization.

The four councils to be combined are Sybaquay, based in Elgin; Fox Valley, based in Sugar Grove; Green Hills, based in Freeport; and Rock River, based in Rockford.

Mary Carroll, the CEO of Green Hills, said the move is part of a nationwide business strategy devised four years ago that's meant to save money.

"In 2005, there were 312 councils in the country, and that number will be down to 109 by end of this year," Carroll said.

The current headquarters of the four different councils will remain open as service centers, but a central headquarters for the new group has not yet been determined. These service centers will continue to be used as administrative, membership and program offices.

Nothing has been determined on whether there will be layoffs during the consolidation, but it has not been ruled out, either, according to Sybaquay Girl Scout Council director of communications Cindy Kocol.

In recent years, the Girl Scouts of America has seen revenue and membership decline, and Girl Scout troops in the suburbs have been no different. In 1998, the Sybaquay Council had more than 13,000 members, but that number has dropped since to fewer than 10,000 this year.

"The general trend has been that Girl Scout councils everywhere are having serious membership challenges," Kocol said.

Like any other business, the Girl Scouts must remain solvent when the money flow slows.

The national organization conducted a study and found these four councils would benefit for a few reasons if combined.

The highways throughout the area will make it easy for girls to get to Girl Scout events in other cities. The new group will now be in the Rockford and Chicago media markets, which the organization feels would mean greater news media coverage of Girl Scout events.

Caroll said that while the consolidation is a practical business decision, it will ultimately help the girls.

"It used to be that if we wanted to send a girl to an event in Elgin or Rockford, we couldn't," Carroll said. "But now we can."