Eric Fithyan, right, president of the Follansbee Chamber of Commerce, and Dan Otto, president of the Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce, announced Tuesday that the groups will merge to form the Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce. (Photo Provided)

Leaders and members of the Follansbee and Wellsburg chambers of commerce recently announced they will be working together to form a new Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce.

Eric Fithyan, president of the Follansbee Chamber, said the idea of merging the groups was put to a vote before the memberships and boards of directors of both, with only one vote of dissent cast in each of the two groups.

He said the intention is to pool the manpower of both groups, which will remain volunteer-led and run, into promoting Brooke County as a positive place in which to live, work and do business.

“This wasn’t a hostile takeover. Both organizations were at their peak, and this will make both stronger,” said Fithyan.

He was joined by Dan Otto, president of the Wellsburg Chamber, in unveiling the group’s new name and logo, which incorporates blue and orange, one-half of the colors that had represented the former Follansbee and Wellsburg high schools.

Otto will remain involved as past president and a member of the new chamber’s board of directors, while Fithyan, also a member of the Wellsburg chamber for a number of years, will serve as the new group’s president.

Fithyan said a benefit from the merger for chamber members is one membership for those who had belonged to both groups.

He said each chamber had between 90 and 100 members, with at least 50 that were members of both. The chambers’ memberships included businesses and other groups as well as individual citizens, with neither limited to those based in Brooke County.

Fithyan said that will continue to be the case.

Asked if there’s a theme or a motto for the group moving forward, he said, “Working together.”

Fithyan said there are plans to continue and possibly expand upon events that have been supported by the two chambers in the past.

For example, plans call for the Monthly Music Madness series of summer concerts held by the Follansbee chamber to be held alternately in Follansbee and Wellsburg.

The idea of merging the chambers has been discussed for some time, and the two have held joint events.

In October, they teamed to present $3,500 in grants for special activities and teaching strategies pitched by teachers in Brooke County Schools.

The collaboration allowed the grant program to be expanded from Follansbee area schools to schools throughout the county.

Fithyan said links to a new Facebook page and website for the Brooke County chamber soon will be posted on the two chambers’ own pages.