Should Putnam Have a Mega Chamber?

The buzz has been around for nearly two decades: Can and should Putnam’s businesses form a unified chamber of commerce?

This week, on Wednesday, all the Putnam County chambers of commerce will get a taste of that possibility when they meet at The Garrison for an “Icebreaker Networking Extravaganza.” In February, an exploratory committee made up of members from all of Putnam County’s business organizations will begin to outline the details of a structure that would unite the chambers into a countywide organization, while retaining at least some of the structure of the individual organizations.

“The idea has been floating around a long time,” said Jennifer Maher, who leads the Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce and has been spearheading the effort to unite the chambers. “I think one of the reasons it flopped [in the 1990s] was that most of the members that pushed for it were from Mahopac,” said Maher. “We need to make it a collaborative effort, not a takeover, which wouldn’t be good for everyone.”

The current exploratory committee includes members from the Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce, along with members of the Brewster, Lake Carmel-Kent, Patterson, Putnam Valley, and Cold Spring Area chambers of commerce, as well as the Putnam County Development Corporation and the Putnam Independent Business Association.

Maher sees a united chamber as a vehicle for giving business interests a bigger voice in Putnam County and New York State. “Networking is great, and that should surely be a component, but it’s only a slight part of what we need,” Maher said. “We need to do something about the lack of infrastructure; it’s hard to create viable business districts in Putnam. Who is holding the towns accountable for proactively looking for money to build infrastructure?”

Maher also argues that the multiplicity of organizations is an unnecessary cost to certain business owners. “This county is so small,” Maher said. “Why should you belong to seven organizations to network in Putnam County? That costs $1,200.” Further, Maher believes a bigger organization could attract the involvement of larger businesses and investors.

“Big corporations or even banks are more willing to give money to a countywide organization than a town organization,” Maher said.

Maher’s vision and enthusiasm for a Putnam-wide chamber of commerce is shared by other members of the exploratory committee. “Some of the local communities aren’t necessarily business friendly,” said Sal Gambino, president and CEO of the Putnam Federal Credit Union and member of the Brewster Chamber. “When it comes to going through zoning boards and architectural review boards, the needs of local business aren’t always considered.”

“Personally, I like the concept,” said Richard Osmers, head of the Putnam County Business Alliance and owner of Oscom. “I think it’s a win-win, but there are always going to be obstacles.”

Maher is aware of the common objections. “The argument is people are afraid of losing the local flavor, but that’s one of the reasons you can’t copy someone else’s model,” she said. “Demographically it’s east-versus-west. So you have to be very careful structuring the board and the bylaws, and make it part of the mission statement to preserve local character.”

Others are afraid that the Greater Mahopac Carmel chamber, by far the largest in the county with over 400 members, would exercise undue influence and swallow smaller chambers in Kent or Patterson. “Obviously Mahopac-Carmel, we’d be the ones staffing it, so naturally we’d have more influence,” Maher said. “But we feel each town has something to bring to the table, and we’ll work to make sure that each town has an equal say.”

“The Mahopac Chamber has gone out of its way, to say, ‘Yes we’re bigger, but that the local chambers will maintain some of their local personality,’” said Nat Prentice, president of the Cold Spring Area Chamber of Commerce.

But Prentice notes that while Maher and other proponents of the countywide chamber present their case with enthusiasm, others remain unconvinced. “They’ve seen the light on that side,” Prentice said, “but we haven’t yet.”

“I understand the vision of having more influence, or attracting the involvement of larger institutions, but in my informal conversations with member businesses here, those particular points don’t seem to resonate,” Prentice said.

“Implementing the strength of a county wide chamber, while keeping the local favor, is difficult,” he added. “And that difficulty is why it hasn’t been done and why it’s, in my view, a long way from being done.” Prentice pointed to countywide chambers such as the one in Orange County: “I think all the local flavor has gotten lost there,” he said.

Prentice added that he was a “listener” in the process. “We’ve had nothing to vote on yet, and so there is nothing to accept or reject,” he said. But even skeptics like Prentice are looking forward to the Icebreaker.

It’s precisely these new opportunities that Maher and other proponents of a county-wide chamber hope will drive their mission in 2010.