There’s a lot going on in our community and at your chamber.  Our recent member survey showed that networking opportunities and exposure for your business are just two of the prime reasons you and 1,600 other businesses belong to the chamber.  Being a chamber member provides opportunities to grow your business.

Your chamber supports business in a wide variety of ways. I wanted to glance back at the last two weeks at the chamber to give you an idea of the depth and breadth of the work our professional staff handles each day to support our member businesses and our community.

Just a few highlights from the last two weeks at the Chamber:

• Met with Governor Nikki Haley to talk about issues of importance to the Lowcountry community.
• Launched a golf microsite addition to our website designed to drive additional revenue to our golf partners and our community.
• Hosted Coffee Talk:  Connecting Businesses in Bluffton.  This popular networking event helps our Bluffton Business partners connect with one another each month.
• Welcomed 11 new businesses as chamber members.
• Hosted the Reality Store in partnership with Hilton Head High School.  It’s an event that shows students the “real world” after graduation and what it’s like to pay a mortgage, find childcare, the price of groceries and more.  It received coverage on all three Savannah network news stations as an innovative program that’s garnering positive attention.
• Met with Bluffton business leaders as part of our Bluffton Regional Business Council.  What are they working on?  Their Hwy. 278 beautification program, understanding the successful marketing story of how the chamber is promoting this growing area to our visitors, planning for the very-popular regional business luncheons and more.
• Partnered with the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport and the Savannah Chamber in communications with Delta Airlines to help lower the cost of Delta flights out of Savannah.
• Hosted a very successful Business After Hours event in Bluffton attended by 200 chamber members.
• Launched a small business tool kit section of our website to give your business great ideas on doing business better.  Have a question about marketing, human resources or financials?  You’ll find answers here.
• Attended local governmental meetings to hear what’s happening in government that impacts your business.
• Met with editors from Southern Living to garner coverage for our destination.
• Partnered with U.S. Airways magazine on a Hilton Head multi-page feature on golf that will reach over 5 million flyers in April.
• Discussions with Heritage Classic Foundation and RBC Leadership regarding the upcoming RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

This is just a small sampling of the work your chamber does on behalf of this community every day.  Have ideas?  Bring them on.  We get our best ideas and input from you, our members.

Hope your week ahead is positive and productive!

Last week Hilton Head Island’s Town Council gave a strong commitment to additional tourism marketing funding.  The council awarded $240,000 to be used to market Hilton Head Island in three important niche markets: golf marketing, culinary advertising and additional funds to market our destination’s rich cultural heritage.  Every dollar goes directly into advertising for these very distinct areas of the visitor experience.

In addition to the traditional marketing we do year-round, these dollars allow us to reach potential visitors in a very targeted manner.  How do we know what they’re interested in experiencing while on Hilton Head Island?  We ask them.  Everything we do from a marketing perspective is based on consumer-driven research.  As the saying goes, we “fish where the fish are.”  With limited budgets for marketing, it is extremely important to make sure each dollar spent is directed toward attracting new, upscale visitors to our destination.

When we present to Town Council our plan for exactly where the dollars will go and what the goal of that marketing plan is, we always keep top-of-mind that the funds aren’t for the benefit of the chamber, they’re for the benefit of the entire community.  If you think your business doesn’t have much to do with cultural heritage or golf marketing, think again.  That visitor who comes to Hilton Head Island because of golf, spends dollars with our local merchants, stays in our hotels and villas, eats in our restaurants and spends money in our grocery stores.  That all has an impact on our tax base, your business and your quality of life in the Lowcountry.

Hope your week ahead is productive and successful!

Saturday evening’s Chamber Ball was such a positive and powerful night for the Lowcountry.  Board Chairman Tom Upshaw talked about the fact that today marks the chamber’s 55th anniversary.  That’s incredible longevity for any organization and speaks to the growth and vitality of our business community.  Thanks to all of you for your support.  Whether you’ve been a member of the chamber for 30 years or one year, together we can accomplish so much.

While the theme for the Chamber Ball, was Mardi Gras Magic, the true theme that seemed to shine through was the momentum we’re experiencing as a business community.  I touched on that momentum, investment and redevelopment that’s happening in the Lowcountry in our last Monday Morning Briefing and it was exciting to see the crowd’s enthusiasm.

I’d like to say thank you to the hundreds of you who came out not only in support of your chamber, but in honor of the evening’s award winners.

The Zonta Woman of the Year award honored realtor Gloria LaCoe for her leadership contributions to the Lowcountry through her work founding the annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner at Hudson’s and her commitment to the youth of our community.

The Bluffton Regional Business Council Member of the Year Award was given to Blufftonian Matt Green, development partner with Buckwalter Place/Buckwalter Commercial.  Mayor Sulka may have said it best when she deemed Green “Bluffton’s greatest cheerleader.”

The Sue West Educator of the Year award went to Lois Lewis, seventh grade teacher at Bluffton Middle School who in addition to teaching science, teaches her students about community involvement and the environment.

The organization of the year award honored the very-deserving Hilton Head Humane Association and its vital role in supporting our community’s four-legged friends since the 1970s.

The coveted Alice Glenn Doughtie Good Citizenship award was given to two individuals, Betsy Doughtie and Ida Martin who have been feeding and clothing area residents for many years via their respective organizations the Deep Well Project and Bluffton Self Help.  It was noted at the event that both women have been honored by two different US Presidents along with other recognition for their efforts in meeting the needs of those in our community who struggle with some of life’s most basic necessities.

The Chamber Ball truly is so much more than just another community event and I’m so proud to be part of it.  It’s an evening that renews our faith in what’s possible and reminds us of what’s important.