The Butler County Chamber of Commerce's upcoming move is a boost for Main Street.

However, it is to be hoped that a way will be found to prominently display the fact that the Chamber's offices will be in Morgan Center. A Chamber of Commerce should be visible in a community, not be rendered invisible amid a cluster of bigger entities.

People seeking the Chamber office should not have to walk Main Street asking people for directions to the office, as is a common practice now for people trying to find the Social Security and Internal Revenue Service offices, which are in the Holly Pointe building at 220 S. Main St.

For those two offices, it is unfortunate that their presence in the city is not more prominently displayed by way of pleasing-to-the-eye signs or directories at the city's main entrances.

Increased visibility also should be a Chamber concern.

It's understandable that Chamber officials are excited about the move, which is scheduled for Oct. 1. In its new quarters, the Chamber will have double the space that it currently has at facilities it shares with the Community Development Corporation of Butler County at 112 Woody Drive at Pullman Square.

The new two-suite Chamber office will have two conference rooms, a kitchen, a lobby and offices for its two full-time staffers and one part-time worker.

According to Alan Offstein, chairman of the Chamber's site-selection committee, the search for a new office began just over two months ago - brought about by the growth of both the Chamber and CDC. The site committee considered more than a dozen locations on both Main Street and Hansen Avenue, Offstein said.

He said the Chamber's goal was to find office space that was centrally located, large enough for conferences as well as offices, and in a location with good exposure.

"It'll be very easy to find," said Stan Kosciuszko, Chamber president.

Morgan Center does have a sign that is impossible to miss for people entering the downtown by way of Route 8 South, the Wayne Street Viaduct or Morton Avenue.

But visitors to the city who don't know that Morgan Center houses the Chamber offices will be faced with the "Where is the . . . ?" exercise in which some people seeking the IRS or Social Security offices are sometimes forced to overcome.

Prominent identification of the office's location would minimize the need for people wasting time or experiencing frustration, such as in trying to determine the most convenient place to park. That time could be better spent sampling other downtown assets as part of the visit to the Chamber.

"Our move comes out of the incredible success of both organizations," Offstein said.

Not only is the Chamber in need of larger quarters; the CDC also needs more "elbow room," said Art Cordwell, CDC project director.

Thus, the Chamber's move portends a win-win situation for both organizations.

In recent memory, the Chamber has not had the most visible of existences. Prior to moving to Pullman Square in 2001, the Chamber office was at 201 S. Main St.; it's sign left much to be desired in terms of visibility.

Prior to moving to 201 S. Main St., the office was on the second floor of what currently is the First Commonwealth building at 100 N. Main St. - which also wasn't the easiest office facilities for visitors to find.

The Chamber has been serving the local business community since 1896. It deserves the modern, more spacious facility that Morgan Center will provide.

Its new location will provide potential new business enterprises an upbeat impression of the community. However, part of that upbeat scenario will be defeated if people can't find the office.

Prior to Oct. 1, Chamber and city officials should address the visibility issue.