VIDALIA — Concordia Chamber of Commerce President Mike Smith resigned from his duties early last week, and the chamber wasted no time naming a replacement for the vacant position.

Smith’s wife took a manager job at a radio station in Brookhaven causing the family to move, and since June 14, former chamber vice-president Judith Bingham has been serving as acting president.

“(Smith) did a fantastic job, and I have some big shoes to fill,” Bingham said. “This is a really big responsibility, especially since this is a brand new entity after the combination of the two chambers.”

The new chamber vice-president will be chamber member Vernon Stevens, who was nominated for the position by the other chamber members.

“We hate to lose (Smith) because he was such a hard worker and did so much for the chamber,” Stevens said. “But (Smith) had an opportunity business wise to relocate, and he did. That is his opportunity that he can’t pass up, and we are just going to have to go on without him.”

Bingham said she was familiar with the chamber and excited about the job.

“I have been working with the merged chamber since the initial planning started with it,” she said. “I really desire to see our parish flourish under this new combined effort.”

Bingham said that while many expected the merger of the Vidalia and Ferriday chambers into one would cause problems, the first six months have gone extremely well.

“I think a lot of the main fears from a few of the members was that some things may be lost for each town, but I am seeing that this is not the case,” she said. “This is truly a united parish chamber.”

Stevens said the chamber has made sure that both Ferriday and Vidalia have benefited even more from the combined chamber.

“Everything is going really good so far, and I think it will continue to be good,” he said. “Membership is growing, and maybe we can continue to reach further out into areas in the parish to get those who haven’t joined.”

Bingham said the chamber’s main goal will continue to be putting an emphasis on helping parish businesses.

The chamber has already put on a training program for businesses looking to train their employees in crisis management, and Bingham said the chamber plans on hosting more training and business seminars throughout the year.

“A chamber is made up of businesses, and we are there to help them and help the parish economically,” she said.

Georganna Berry will continue to serve as chamber secretary and Scott Christian will remain as treasurer.