Cole Co. Commission and JC Chamber will reach agreement

The Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce may continue to get its contract renewed with the Cole County Commission as early as next week.

The Chamber met with the Commission Wednesday morning behind closed doors, but after the meeting, both groups said they reached an understanding.

The Commission was supposed to vote to approve the $150,000 economic development contract with the Chamber last week, but did not vote, saying it was disappointed with the Chamber’s efforts over the last few years.

Chamber officials came before the Commission again, this time to prove they are worth the investment.

The Commission heard the Chamber’s appeal for more than an hour.

It appeared to have been successful, because commissioners came out of the meeting saying they felt much more confident in the Chamber than they did last week.

“We talked about some of the issues that were raised before again with communication, work with local communities; particularly the small communities outside Jefferson City. I think we’re encouraged to move forward,” said Cole Co. Presiding Commissioner Marc Ellinger.

Ellinger said there was a lot of negotiating done behind those closed doors, but would not go into specifics.

“We had a good meeting with the executive committee at the Chamber and we negotiated some terms and talked about some things and I think we’re very encouraged now,”said Ellinger.

Chamber officials told ABC 17 News they decided to spend Wednesday’s meeting explaining the work they are currently doing, and what they have planned for the future.

“We had a great meeting. We talked about what their expectations are. In this business, economic development is a pretty broad subject, so just understanding what their expectations were is what we’re after and we heard that, and working toward our economic development services agreement,” said Bob Gilbert of the Jefferson City Chamber.

Commissioners did not vote to approve the contract at their meeting, but told ABC 17 they expect to approve it within the next week.