Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2009-03-21 12:15:22 - Graham Ellis
Seeing a sign marked "Fannin County - Chamber of Commerce" at the roadside here in Blue Ridge, Georgia, and being elected within the last few months as the President of Melksham's Chamber of Commerce on a platform of "Let's have this Chamber be a really effective voice and help for the businesses of Melksham", I decided to take the bull by the horns, pop in and say 'hello' and learn a bit about how a Chamber of Commerce works in the USA.
Both Fannin County and Melksham have populations of between 20,000 and 25,000 so the comparison seems a fair one - but the Chambers of Commerce are as different as chalk and cheese. Now that's party caused by the different statutory natures of the beasts - in the USA, The Chamber is partly (largely?) funded by a bed tax, levied by hotel and guest houses and self-catering outlets on our of town stayers - and in this county, a holiday area, there are some 1000 beds covered. And that places The Chamber (most of who's members are in the tourist business) in the role of Tourist Information Centre too. Here's me and a Jode Hanson of the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce in their own offices / TIC - open seven days a week for the area's businesses - and for the customers of those businesses too (and that largely means tourists).
In many ways, it's streets apart from the Melksham Chamber, which is still recovering from controversies, at a time before Lisa and I were in town, that related to whether or not the chamber should support certain local developments. For every member that the Melksham Chamber has, the Fannin County chamber has 25. And yet when I look at the Fannin County Chamber - and (we were told) it is one of the most successful around - I see many things happening which fit our aspirations too. Support of local businesses and their customers; supporting members; local networking; an information source.
Lisa and I came away with ideas. And with a variety of samples ranging from maps produced by the chambers to their member directories handed out to area visitors. And copies of member paperwork too, such as the chamber's literature advocating membership, listing benefits and including a joining up form. These will be reminders for us when we get back.
Before the month is out, you'll see more on the Melksham Chamber of Commerce - both here and elsewhere. Much of the preparation work has been done behind the scenes. But it was really great to see a bustling CoC here in Fannin County, giving us confirmation that what we're looking to do is universal, and along the right lines.
Both Fannin County and Melksham have populations of between 20,000 and 25,000 so the comparison seems a fair one - but the Chambers of Commerce are as different as chalk and cheese. Now that's party caused by the different statutory natures of the beasts - in the USA, The Chamber is partly (largely?) funded by a bed tax, levied by hotel and guest houses and self-catering outlets on our of town stayers - and in this county, a holiday area, there are some 1000 beds covered. And that places The Chamber (most of who's members are in the tourist business) in the role of Tourist Information Centre too. Here's me and a Jode Hanson of the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce in their own offices / TIC - open seven days a week for the area's businesses - and for the customers of those businesses too (and that largely means tourists).