CHAMPAIGN – The Champaign County Chamber of Commerce plans to move to the former Busey Bank/Suzi Davis Travel building at State Street and Kirby Avenue in Champaign this June.

Chamber President Laura Weis said the new location at 303 W. Kirby Ave., C – just east of Custard Cup – is "more highly visible" than the chamber's current offices on the second story of Illini Plaza at 1817 S. Neil St., C.

"Moving the chamber to a highly traveled road and creating greater visibility for the organization was a key factor in our location selection," said Mark Ballard, the chamber's board chairman.

Weis said the chamber entered into a seven-year lease for the 4,400-square-foot building that most recently served as an office for both Suzi Davis Travel and Busey-Carter Travel, and before that, as a branch for both City Bank and Busey Bank.

The chamber will pay $6,900 a month, including utilities, Weis said. The space is owned by Stadiumview North LLC and managed by Jerry Ramshaw Jr., the chamber's current landlord.

The new space includes a "great-sized training room" that will allow more programs to be handled in-house, Weis said. It should accommodate meetings of 60, and there are 40 parking spaces on the lot, she said.

The chamber has a 10-person staff and membership of about 1,200, Weis said.

For the last 15 years or so, the chamber has shared space with the Champaign County Economic Development Corp. and the Champaign County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

But a search this past year for space that might accommodate all three agencies didn't yield one that was acceptable to all three. The chamber's lease at Illini Plaza expires June 30.

"The chamber remains committed to working with the EDC and the CVB, even though we will not be under one roof," Weis said. "We also remain committed to working together to share costs and resources wherever possible."

John Dimit, president of the economic development group, said Monday his organization is "still working our way through the process" of finding a new location, possibly deciding as early as this week.

He said the economic development group will "probably not" co-locate with the convention and visitors bureau.

"Each (of the three groups) has its own business goals it's trying to achieve through location," Dimit said. "Certainly it has nothing to do with not being able to get along. A rumor is out there that we couldn't get along, but that's not the case."