 - The Lander Chamber of Commerce has terminated its current agreement with the City of Lander, effective May 30){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – The Lander Chamber of Commerce has terminated its current agreement with the City of Lander, effective May 30.
The agreement outlined the services the Chamber would provide to the city – including promotions and marketing, visitor support services, reporting, and financial management of the local Tourism Asset Development grant program – in exchange for services and financial support from the city, including an annual contribution of $15,000 and the promotion of the Chamber of Commerce as Lander’s official business organization.
The Lander City Council acknowledged the termination of the agreement during a special meeting this week, with Mayor Missy White noting that the city’s working relationship with the Chamber would continue regardless – just not “in that formal way.”
“We both have roles to play in the economic strength and future of our community,” White said. “We’ll have continued partnership, no matter what.”
Chamber Executive Director Brian Fabel agreed, writing in a letter to the city that the Chamber “remains committed to serving our business community and visitors going forward, including continued operation of the visitor center in a manner consistent with the Chamber’s mission and priorities.”
“We are grateful for the partnership the Chamber has shared with the City over the years, including the opportunity to support visitor services, tourism promotion, and community activity in Lander,” he wrote. “This decision is not a withdrawal from community partnership, but a step toward clearer roles and responsibilities so that each institution can focus on the work it is best suited to perform.”
During this week’s special meeting Fabel said the Chamber decided to terminate the agreement with the city because “we believe that public funds should be in public hands, (and) we are not a public entity.”
“That was the main intent behind (this),” he said. “(We) just wanted to move forward in good governance making sure that we were doing the things we were best at and the city’s doing the things that the public entity is best at.”
Councilmember Julia Stuble said she was “excited” to hear that the city’s longstanding partnership with the Chamber would continue into the future.
“We’re going to maintain a lot of shared goals (and) conversations, I hope, as we continue to try to work together for Lander’s future, what’s best for our businesses, and what the city can do to further those goals,” she said. “Hopefully (the) actual collaboration and partnership not only continues but is enriched.”
Councilmember Melinda Cox said she has already noticed the “level of communication” the city has received from the Chamber since Fabel was named Executive Director.
“That really does help build (and) foster relationships through the city and businesses,” she said. “So thank you for that intentional work.”