LUBEC — Like a fledgling that outgrows its nest, the Lubec Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday declared its independence from the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Lubec C of C had been affiliated with the Machias group since the Lubec Chamber’s founding two years ago.

The vote to withdraw from the MBACC came at the Lubec Chamber’s annual meeting, held Wednesday at D&J’s Bargain Box Restaurant in Lubec. Among the people attending the meeting was MBACC Executive Director Joanne Williams.

Lubec Chamber’s secretary, Glenn Greenhalgh, said that the decision to split from the MBACC appeared to stun Williams who, he said, “looked like she didn’t expect it. We’ve been talking about doing this for a while, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.”

Attempts to reach Williams Thursday and Friday for official response to the Lubec Chamber’s withdrawal from MBACC were unsuccessful.

“We’re appreciative to the Machias Chamber for helping us get started,” Greenhalgh explained Thursday. “But there’s been a quiet reality that it’s time to go. We’ve got all the pieces in place and it’s time we do it ourselves.”

Greenhalgh said the Lubec Chamber’s board of directors voted in November to poll the Lubec business community to determine whether it favored an independent Chamber. Support for a locally controlled and operated Chamber was overwhelming, Greenhalgh said.

Directors with the Lubec Chamber of Commerce have set annual dues at $75 for businesses, and $25 for nonprofit groups and associate memberships.

That contrasts with $110 in annual dues paid by Lubec’s member businesses to the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. Only $10 of each dues payment from Lubec businesses were returned by MBACC to the Lubec Chamber for its use, Greenhalgh said.

The Lubec Chamber’s withdrawal from the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce will result in the MBACC losing about one-third of its business members and “more than $3,000” in annual dues, Greenhalgh said.

He predicted that membership in the Lubec Chamber of Commerce, which stands at about 45, would double as a result of both lower dues and local control.

Meanwhile, the Lubec group will retain its affiliation with the Washington County Promotions Board and is arranging for secretarial services through the “Lubec: Beginning of America” project.