The West Plains Business Association is considering disbanding at the end of this year to stop duplicating the efforts of the West Plains Chamber of Commerce and Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce.


A recommendation to that effect by the WPBAs board was to be discussed and possibly voted on at its regular meeting this week.


In a letter to members last month, WPBA President Chuck Stocker said, Since the Cheney Chamber of Commerce changed their name to the West Plains Chamber of Commerce (five years ago) there is confusion among elected officials and citizens as to who we are in the business organization. The board does not see the need for one more meeting each month when similar organizations are already meeting.


The area known as the West Plains generally is considered to encompass most of the western half of Spokane County beyond the Spokane city limits, including the cities of Airway Heights, Medical Lake, and Cheney, along with Spokane International Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base.


In his letter to members, Stocker said a WPBA subcommittee had met with representatives from the West Plains and Spokane Regional chambers to discuss the possibility of merging with them.


Tom Lienhard, the West Plains chambers president, says the action makes sense from the standpoint that 40 to 50 percent of us are in both groups, anyway, referring to the West Plains chamber and the WPBA. He says hes sorry about it from the respect that the business association is an individual membership group, whereas the chamber is a company member group, but he says the chamber will seek to accommodate individual members.


The West Plains Chamber has been in existence since 1942, counting its years as the Cheney Chamber, and currently has about 190 members. The WPBA was formed more recently and has about 75 members, down from about 125 last year.