North Las Vegas and Las Vegas Chambers merge, plan transition

After months of consideration, the Las Vegas and North Las Vegas Chambers of Commerce announced and implemented their merger Oct. 15.

The North Las Vegas chamber office plans to stay open with a full-time staff person. The Las Vegas chamber plans to move its staff to 3365 W. Craig Road, too.

A North Las Vegas advisory council created by pulling committee leadership members in North Las Vegas and their Las Vegas counterparts will continue core events and programs of the chamber.

In addition to the advisory group, the Las Vegas chamber added two North Las Vegas representatives to its board. Members Lisa Beckley and Jeff Grace were selected by the chairmen of both boards and will attend their first meeting Nov. 27, Beckley said.

Also a member of the advisory committee, Beckley said the first transition meeting covered branding and renaming, though no decision had been reached by the time of publication.

"It's really an agreement, a partnership that's brought the two chambers together," she said.

The chamber plans to continue the North Las Vegas chamber's small-business, military and ambassador programs.

Richard Behrens, current chairman of the Ambassadors Committee, said he's taking the "good with the bad." The announcement has caused tension among some former North Las Vegas members, he said.

"When we got the news, by the time it got filtered down to the people that are not on the board, the decision had already been made," Behrens said.

He said as long as North Las Vegas continues to have a strong voice in the joint chamber, he doesn't foresee issues. If its independence is lost, however, he predicts the partnership "will fall flat."

Part of a two-man operation at Colleen Drinnon Insurance Agency, Behrens said North Las Vegas' chamber offered something Las Vegas' didn't - a small- business focus.

"We really needed a voice, and for a small business, the North Las Vegas chamber was better," he said.

While he said he knows some members are angry that the decision was made at the top, he said merging can still be a big opportunity, and he's empowered.

Members of the North Las Vegas chamber will automatically be consolidated into the Las Vegas chamber and be eligible for health benefit plans for small businesses with two to 50 employees.

Las Vegas chamber spokeswoman Cara Roberts said, "North Las Vegas as a community is so important to the long- term growth of Southern Nevada, and so is ensuring there's a strong business voice."

North Las Vegas will continue to handle area-specific events, such as the North Las Vegas Business Summit, too.

"We had a period which we assured that both boards did the due diligence and came to the conclusion that this is a win-win for both chambers," Roberts said.

The Las Vegas chamber sees this as an opportunity for Las Vegas-based businesses to have the resources and support they need to move into North Las Vegas, she said.

She said she's hopeful that the merger "can really help form some synergy and partnership that can really benefit Southern Nevada."

Kirt Kosmicki, a sales manager at Adams Pool Solutions in North Las Vegas said the North Las Vegas chamber participated in his business' open house and ribbon cutting last month, and he hopes to maintain that kind of relationship with the merged chamber. He said that while he's received email updates from the chamber, he feels that he could have been kept better informed.

But Roberts said the small-business relationship is a priority for the chamber's future strategy.

"As we're going forward, this is really a coming together of two organizations, and our goal is to ensure that we have a strong business organization representing North Las Vegas and that they have the resources and support they might need."

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Laura Phelps at lphelps@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.