Chamber

"WHAT DOES THE CHAMBER DO" AND "WHY SHOULD MY BUSINESS BE A MEMBER?

The Chamber promotes the community as a whole that encourages people to conduct their business within that community.  The Chamber also promotes its individual business members.  Fine, but just how does it promote; what does the Chamber DO?  The following is a list of some of the Chamber's activities.  Please take a couple of minutes to read them and see if you don't agree that these things are important to your business.

1.  Responds to inquiries about products.  Every day the Chamber receives calls from individuals (local and out of town) on where to buy something specific.  This brings people to town and money to your pocket.

2.  Answers questions about reliability of a business.  The Chamber serves as a Business Referral Center.  Inquiries about a business’ reputation, whether or not the business is a Chamber member, length of time in business, etc. are directed to the Chamber.  For members only, we respond with a glowing report if we have received no negative comments from consumers.

3.  Responds to inquiries about the community.  The Chamber mails over 20 packets per week to individuals considering moving to Putnam County.  Packets include information on real estate, churches, historic sites, restaurants, schools, businesses, festivals, events, health care and more.

4.  Distributes brochures about Chamber member businesses.  The Chamber distributes brochures, business cards, flyers, and booklets about any member who brings these pieces to the office.  Our goal?  To gain exposure to potential new clients for your business.

5.  Answers questions about community events and organizations.  The Chamber responds to numerous calls requesting dates, times, places, and costs of the Azalea, Catfish, and Blue Crab festivals, the County Fair, recreational events,  Mug Race and numerous other events or activities. . . which brings more people to town!

6.  Creates publications about the community.   The Chamber publishes and distributes current brochures  including: Putnam County Tourism Brochure, Restaurant, Accommodation and Attraction guides, Special Events, Demographic Summaries, Civic and Social  Organization lists, Manufacturers list, Media lists  and many others.  Most of these are produced by the Chamber out of the general operating budget.

7.  Influences governmental policy.  The Chamber keeps abreast of government activities, primarily local, but also state and federal changes that might affect your business.

8.  Informs people where Putnam County is located.  The Chamber is constantly striving to have our community included in regional and area brochures, publications, and media information.

9.  Promotes tourism.  The Chamber  promotes tourism opportunities  in an ongoing effort to bring new people to town.

10.  Creates jobs.  The Chamber endeavors constantly to create new and primary jobs to improve the economic climate.  Recently the Chamber facilitated the location of two new industries that together will create over 1,000 jobs by 2005.

?. Who would answer the questions, pay the postage, look out for business interests, make certain that Putnam County is not forgotten, or work to bring people (and jobs) to the community if the Chamber wasn't around to do it?  The Chamber is you - your business - working to make your business and your community better.