AUBURN – Dick Gleason is on a crusade.

To improve the public’s awareness of the Chamber of Commerce. To promote the area that he calls home. And to get the ball rolling on an ambitious agenda that includes reducing L-A’s turnpike toll burden and opening a convention center.

“Lewiston is positioned to be a hub,” said Gleason in an interview. “We as a Chamber have to find a way to get people behind that.”

As the newly appointed chairman of the Chamber board, Gleason is eager to get started. His term is for one year – not nearly long enough to see tolls eliminated or reduced, or to see Mill No. 5 at the Bates complex become a convention center.

But he’s happy to be the catalyst.

“I know these require a 20-year vision, but they could be done if enough people got behind them,” he said.

Gleason said it irks him that people who live in Lewiston-Auburn area are penalized by a turnpike system that imposes tolls to north- and southbound travelers. He said he has recently begun researching options so tolls can be eliminated or shifted so that turnpike travelers in the southern part of the state pay more, allowing local tolls to go down.

“It amounts to a penalty for living here,” said Gleason of the tolls at New Gloucester and Augusta.

He also has his eye on finding some federal money to help convert the saw-tooth-roof Mill No. 5 into a convention center – an oft-mentioned project that developers have estimated would cost at least $40 million.

“It would bring great prosperity to the area,” he said.

Gleason is rarely at a loss for ideas. Although new to the chairman’s post, he’s been an active board member for the last five years. As head of the Chamber’s Regional Image Committee, he initiated the downtown tours for incoming college freshmen. He’s also been an outspoken proponent for luring retail to the area – a necessary component to improve L-A’s image, he says.

An unabashed promoter of the area, Gleason said the area has to get aggressive about marketing itself.

“We’re not even on their radar screens,” he said of Portlanders.

Gleason knows a thing or two about promotions. He is the owner of a group of radio stations, and has both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration with an emphasis in marketing.

He said he doubts people realize how much good the Chamber does, beyond its membership base. It raises about $30,000 a year for scholarships – more than it contributes to promotional campaigns.

“Education is a really big deal to us and I don’t think people are aware of that,” he said.

There is a Chamber committee that works on educational initiatives all year long, as well as committees dedicated to fund raising, business advocacy, health care and tax and fiscal policy.

Gleason says he is excited to preside over a Chamber that is growing and active, two trends that he attributes to the hard work of Chamber President Chip Morrison. The Chamber just signed up its 1,200th member. By way of contrast, the Portland-area Chamber has 1,400 members and the Bangor area has 850.

“We are one of the most influential Chambers north of Portland, both in size of numbers and commitment to our community,” said Gleason, who ticked off a list of events the Chamber sponsors. “I can’t imagine why someone would not be a member.”