By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

PARIS – The Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce announced Monday it has redefined its geographical borders, accepting three new communities into its fold.

“At the request of businesses and citizens from Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner, we are adding those communities to the service area of the Oxford chamber,” President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Livingston said prior to the announcement.

Livingston said that for a long time, the chamber has used the definition of Oxford Hills created by SAD 17, which includes the towns of Harrison, Hebron, Norway, Otisfield, Oxford, Paris, West Paris and Waterford. When he took his post in May, he said, he saw the opportunity for growth. “I was immediately interested in expanding it to include an area that had some sort of cultural, or business, or community feel to it.”

When Buckfield resident and business owner Terry Hayes suggested her town, Hartford and Sumner, it seemed a perfect fit.

Hayes runs her guardian ad litem business, Hayes & Associates, out of her home. While her work does not benefit directly from chamber exposure – she assists families and the court system in legal disputes and provides services for other court-appointed guardians – she said organizations such as the chamber provide her with valuable networking opportunities. Through a chamber, she said, she has access to everything from advice on accountants to computer assistance.

When Hayes was looking last year for a chamber to join, she realized her business was in a kind of “no-man’s land,” she said Monday. Buckfield was closer to the Oxford Hills chamber than those based in communities, such as Rumford or Lewiston. However, Buckfield was not directly served by Oxford Hills. Hayes joined anyway, and had lunch with Livingston as he came on board. That’s when she asked whether more towns could be included in the chamber’s service area.

“It’s been really pleasant to have them be open to the suggestion and to have it take form, and to have it be accomplished so quickly,” said Hayes, who has since agreed to join the chamber’s board of directors. “Certainly it brings some opportunity to the businesses in our little towns.”

Livingston is equally pleased. “We’ve always had members in those communities, but the fact is that they are recognizing kind of a synergy with Oxford Hills,” he said.