Ephrata chamber lays off director Tracy

EPHRATA — A drop in revenue led to an Ephrata Chamber of Commerce decision to lay off executive director Tia Tracy.

President Kevin Danby said the decision was difficult, but a decline in dues and a drop in money from the chamber’s main fund-raiser forced the board to lay Tracy off and move its office to somewhere less expensive.

“It’s been showing up gradually,” he said. “Those of us who have been on the board for a while were concerned four years ago. We were really fortunate (with the auction) in 2009. It probably represents as much as two-thirds of our revenue.”

The revenue from the 2010 auction dropped by about 40 percent, Danby said, adding they were hoping the dues would surprise them, but they also came in lower.

“The nature of a small chamber is that you’re always worrying about how you’re going to make ends meet,” he said. “We’re funded by our fund-raising events. The city doesn’t directly fund us.”

Danby explained the group already decided to cancel the Miracle on Main Street event before laying off Tracy, saying it didn’t bring in any revenue to the chamber. The group replaced the December event with the Fall Fling.

“I was looking for a miracle,” he said. “Unfortunately the rains just put a damper on the event. Basically, it didn’t do what it needed to do.”

The chamber won’t maintain traditional office hours, Danby said, adding the future part-time bookkeeper will do the administrative tasks to keep the chamber operational, and the board members plan to handle the communication.

“We may have to refer some of those phone calls to an e-mail address,” he said. “We’ve only been running the office for four hours a day. We haven’t had an eight-hours-a-day office.”

The chamber president said the decision wasn’t due to Tracy’s performance as the executive director.

“Her bubbly personality did more to delay the inevitable,” he said. “She was hoping for a miracle herself. It just didn’t come to pass this go around. She expects to continue to volunteer.”