FARMINGTON – The Farmington-Wilton Chamber of Commerce will hold a vote Thursday to change its name to the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.

According to Chamber member Bill Marceau, the Farmington-Wilton Chamber of Commerce has evolved over the years into a more regional organization. “It started out as just the Farmington Chamber,” Marceau said, “and then we came on board with the Wilton Chamber a few years ago.”

Numerous spokespersons for Maine government, including Gov. John Baldacci, have suggested regionalizing municipal services as a way to save tax dollars, most notably in the area of education. Thursday’s vote by the Farmington-Wilton Chamber of Commerce is intended to increase the likelihood that the Chamber will regionalize, for similar reasons.

“The Chamber will be more efficient to run as a regionalized organization,” Marceau said. “There’s power in numbers, and you’ll get more bang for your buck to spend on advertising and other expenses,” he said.

The Farmington-Wilton Chamber of Commerce hopes that by regionalizing its name, it will encourage outlying towns to join. “If we’re going to regionalize, we need a more inclusive name,” Marceau said. “As the Farmington-Wilton Chamber, if you’re an outlying town, you’re not included.”

According to Marceau, most members are in favor of the name change. “There are cons,” he said, “You can’t be quite as specific with all your information if you’re targeting a larger area.” But, “regionalizing will give you a broader array of input and ideas, along with many more opinions. That may be more difficult, but that’s part of democracy,” he said.

The vote will be held at the Homestead Bakery in Farmington on Dec. 9 at 6 p.m., preceded by a social that will start at 5:30 p.m.