FARMINGTON — Franklin County Chamber of Commerce members voted 54-15 Wednesday to keep the organization going.

“Now we have a mission,” chamber Secretary Shannon Smith said as several members agreed to meet at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, to talk about how to move ahead.

About a third of the membership gathered Wednesday to vote on whether to continue to have a chamber. Another 35 votes were cast by proxy.

The financial picture painted by executive board members and President Ivan Gould was bleak, but the majority agreed that a local chamber was necessary to help with economic development in the county.

With expenses running about $9,000 a month and without the income to meet them, the board has pursued creative ways to keep going, Gould said.

“Income is going down; expenses are going up,” he said.

Fewer people are attending chamber-sponsored events. Membership has dropped from 265 members in 2009 to 178 in 2011-12, said Michael Blanchet, membership chairman.

Perhaps most troubling, the chamber recently signed a three-year lease at $1,400 a month with C.N. Brown for the Wilton Road location.

About $40,000 would still be owed to the company if the chamber moved to a less-expensive location. Board members have asked about sub-leasing a portion or all of the space, Gould said.

Spring is the time to find a new tenant, Chris Farmer of Saddleback suggested. Permission to put up a for lease sign could bring the next tenant and release the chamber from all or part of the monthly obligation.

Other spaces, including one at Mt. Blue Shopping Center, are available, said Matt Packard of Save-a-Lot.

Expenses are the main part of the issue, but for the chamber to continue, people must step up, Gould said. As in many groups, 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work, he said.

Farmer suggested offering a special to entice members to join or rejoin.

A strategic planning process must be undertaken, said Renee Blanchet of the Franklin County Children’s Task Force, as she offered to lead a planning group.

“If there’s no plan, there’s nothing to work toward,” she said.

She suggested looking for a consultant to help with the restructuring of the chamber, as other chambers have successfully done.

In the mid-1970s, 14 members revived the chamber and built it up to 300 members, Ernie Scholl of Everyday Music Co. said, suggesting that it could be done again.

Members gathering next week will have to decide how to make up the nearly $6,000 traditionally earned at the chamber-sponsored Home and Leisure Show. Members do not have time to organize the show by May, when it would have been held.

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