The Better Business Bureau that serves Nebraska, South Dakota and southwest Iowa has announced a merger with The Kansas Plains Better Business Bureau that serves most of Kansas.

The new combined territory will have nearly 10,000 accredited businesses.

Jim Hegarty is president of the bureau based in Omaha says that the merger will let each bureau "build on each other's strengths, combine resources and initiate new programs to meet the needs of today's businesses and consumers."

The bureaus expect the merger to be completed in the next few months. The merged bureau will have its headquarters in Omaha, with in Lincoln, Neb.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Wichita, Kan.