In my most recent post I gave a few reason as to why the Greater Richmond Chamber and the Greater Richmond Partnership should combine forces.  There is a third Richmond-region organization that would also be a good candidate to join with the Chamber, the Retail Merchants Association. 

Much like the Chamber, the RMA is a membership organization that charges member companies, retailers in this case, annual dues.  In return, members receive RMA-related communications, discounts from other members and invites to RMA events.  Pretty much the identical to what the Chamber offers its members.  Think of the RMA as a Chamber for retailers.  While the RMA has around 960 members and the Chamber around 1,800 members, there are several hundred companies that are members of both associations.  While the RMA has in recent years expanded its reach to cover most of the northern part of Virginia, most of its members are located in the Greater Richmond region.  A glance at the Board of Directors will find many of the same people and companies involved with each organization. 

Staff wise the RMA has around ten full-time staff compared to the Chamber's staff of 30.  However, the titles appear to be very similar within each organization.  They each have an events person, a government affairs person, a membership person and a finance person.  So the organizational structure of both the RMA and the Chamber are pretty much identical.  The services they offer are pretty much identical.  Quite a few of their members are identical.  I can understand why Richmond region companies, retailers in particular, are having a hard time deciding where the dwindling dollars should be spent. 

Will any of this consolidation of organizations actually occur? In a word, no way.  The Chamber and the RMA both lost long-time leaders to retirement within the past year.  The Chamber's president stepped down after 18 years with the Chamber while the RMA president retired after being at the helm for the past 15 years.  While I would argue this transition is the perfect time to reorganize and strategically re-evaluate the future of the organizations, my guess is the newly appointed CEO's of each organization will want no part of it.  It is the non-profit equivalent of asking the City of Richmond and the Counties to come together as one.  Oh wait.....