UPDATED — PA United presents ideas to chamber, business association for merger
Published 11:35 am Friday, July 11, 2014
PORT ANGELES — PA United presented its recommendations for possible consolidation to the boards of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce and Port Angeles Business Association this week.
No action was taken by either board after a two-and-a-half hour discussion at the Port Angeles Red Lion Hotel on Thursday.
Members of both boards committed to discuss the proposal to form a single organization that would streamline economic development efforts in the greater Port Angeles area and make decisions in the near future.
“I think there was tremendous support for the PA United effort that has been underway for six months,” said Jim Haguewood, a business consultant and former Clallam County Economic Development Council executive director, who has helped facilitate the consolidation talks. “I was very pleased.”
The board of the Port Angeles Downtown Association, which originally considered the idea, voted 7-1 last month to withdraw from the drive toward a merger. The board’s president, Bob Lumens, said the group would not participate in Thursday’s meeting.
The general membership of the downtown association — about 170 business owners in the city’s Parking and Business Improvement Area, a special tax assessment district — has not voted on the issue.
