May 6, 2016 3 min read

Power of Southpointe, an 8-year-old organization that focuses on building strong leadership qualities among the area’s business and professional women, is merging with Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

The announcement was made Friday at the annual Washington County Athena Award Presentation Luncheon at Hilton Garden Inn.

With the merger, Power of Southpointe will fully incorporate its organization, programming and assets into Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

Officals of both organizations said the consolidation, which will be completed in about a month, will allow them to align common missions, combine resources and reduce administration costs.

Speaking to more than 400 business and government leaders at the event, Melissa Stein, founder of Power of Southpointe, said the consolidation with the chamber is part of the continued evolution of the organization.

“Since 2008, the Power of Southpointe’s mission has been to provide a dynamic base for successful, professional women to celebrate diversity and recognize the importance of building strong and effective women leaders in the business community,” Stein said.

“And for the past two years, we have partnered with the chamber on those initiatives in women’s business leadership. We now believe that it is in the best interest of our organization as well as our business community to combine our team with the chamber team and together expand our mission, realize organizational efficiencies and create new opportunities for women business leaders in Washington County.”

Jeff Kotula, president of Washington County Chamber of Commerce, said the merger is a new step in expanding the chamber’s programming to promote women’s business leadership in Washington County.

“When the chamber brought the internationally recognized Athena Awards to Washington County 14 years ago, we wanted to focus on highlighting the accomplishments of women business leaders in our county,” he stated.

“Through our partnership with Power and now their consolidation into the chamber, we can greatly increase our initiatives in not only honoring but now developing women’s leadership opportunities.”

As part of the merger, the chamber will continue to sponsor Power initiatives such as the Athena Young Professional Leadership Award, Annual Champagne Toast and Women in Politics event.

According to Power President Megan Chicone, continuing her organization’s goals was an important part of merger discussions.

“We believe this is a great partnership because the chamber is well known for its quality programming and value it brings to its membership. However, we wanted to insure that our mission remains a focus in the chamber and that we retain our most important initiatives. By keeping these core programs, we have full confidence that the chamber will continue to build upon these efforts and expand them into new opportunities.”