Chamber Is Busy Working For Members
chamber, chamber check program, chamber of commerce, fulton county, fulton county chamber of commerce and industry, staff, wally hart,
Fulton County is entering a particularly exciting time in terms of its development, and the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and Industry is right at the heart of it.
“We’re on the upswing with new development, whether it is retail, manufacturing or logistics,” says chamber President Wally Hart, whose chamber has hit an all-time high with membership numbers.
With 955 members and growing – impressive numbers for a community of 55,000 – the businesses of Fulton County are solidly behind the chamber.
“I give our staff a lot of credit for our success, but the real credit goes to the businesses who are supporting us,” says Hart, a Fulton County native. “They know what we’re doing for the community, and they are wanting to support it.”
And there is plenty to support, whether it falls under the heading of tourism, business advocacy, membership affinity programs, small business and entrepreneur assistance, leadership development or education initiatives.
A former business owner, Hart understands the challenges of owning a small business. “We started looking at why businesses who joined the chamber were closing before they reached their first anniversary,” Hart says. “We wanted to help, so we started doing seminars on what it takes to start or expand a small business.”
Hart presents the seminars, going through steps necessary to develop a business plan, and then he will work one-on-one with business owners to help them through those difficult first years. The chamber also offers a small-business “desk,” providing direct contact with state and federal programs for small business assistance.
The area is getting a lot of attention these days, thanks to promotion of such resources as Great Sacandaga Lake, which has been the site of two ESPN-promoted bass tournaments, and another on the horizon in 2008.
“This has brought new dollars, new interest and great exposure,” Hart says. Funded in part by the state and by Fulton County, the chamber is the selected entity to handle the county’s tourism effort. “We are starting to develop partners and ask them to co-fund certain aspects of the tourism program,” says Hart, and a new Web site is being developed specifically for tourism-related activity.
A “shop local” campaign is well under way with the Chamber Check program, which provides gift certificates good at more than 50 businesses – and returns as much as $100,000 to participating members. That’s just one of the benefits of being a chamber member; others include health insurance and communications discounts and energy usage evaluations.
“We are fighting for our businesses,” Hart says. “We do work on behalf of all businesses, making this a better place to do business. We’re getting things done.”
Story by Betsy Williams
Photo by Wes Aldridge
