Membership in the Blue Hill Area Chamber of Commerce has declined by about 10 percent in the past year.
The chamber’s executive director, Kurt Stoll, spoke briefly to several dozen members who attended the annual meeting Friday at Parker Ridge.
The chamber currently has 255 members down from 275. Non-renewing members either had closed their businesses, moved away or didn’t renew for economic reasons, Stoll said.
Despite the decline, the chamber is “
doing well,” Stoll said.
In other business, Cullen Schneider, owner of Fairwinds Florist, stepped down as president of the chamber’s board.
Schneider was succeeded by Blue Hill native Scott Gray, who is assistant store manager at Tradewinds Marketplace.
Gray also offered a bit of advice.
“When customer service is dealt with properly, you will not have problems staying in business on the peninsula,” Gray said. “You can beat them every day by your customer service.”
The chamber announced several awards:
• Business of the Year: Blos som Studio.
• New Businesses of the Year (tie) Kingdom Bikes and the De-Li Coffee House and Deli.
• Nonprofit of the Year: Tree of Life Food Pantry.
• Chamber Champion Award: Marci Roraff.