At its first Board of Directors meeting for the new fiscal year, the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce kicked off the year with a number of new and enhanced initiatives designed to provide training and educational resources and networking opportunities to directly benefit its members in the business community.

Beginning in August, the Chamber will launch the first in a series of Lunch-and-Learns designed to provide valuable information on subjects vital to the success of Effingham businesses.  On August 29th, the Chamber will host Jordan Tippett from The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center in Keiffer Hall at Effingham Hospital to provide information on using social media to help market and grow your business.  On October 31st, the Chamber will host Mark F. Butler, the Area Director of the SBDC at Keiffer Hall to provide information on crowd-funding and venture capital.  Future Lunch-and-Learns will be announced in the coming weeks and will include topics ranging from how to ensure business continuity immediately following a natural disaster such as a hurricane or other significant weather event, health insurance legislation’s impact on business, project management, and working with QuickBooks.

The Chamber also will be launching a series of Business-After-Hours starting in September.  Hosted by a Chamber member, these valued networking events will provide members the opportunity to share business leads and learn about other local businesses, while giving members the opportunity to discuss ideas and concerns with Chamber board members and staff in a casual setting. 

As part of its leadership development efforts, the Chamber will be expanding its existing committees to include the new Effingham Chamber Young Professionals Committee.  The idea for the committee originated from a project presentation by the recent graduates of the Chamber’s Leadership Effingham Program.  The purpose of the committee is to foster the growth and development of future leaders in the Chamber and business community, and to bring young professionals from the Chamber membership together through the hosting of networking and developmental opportunities. The ECYP also will provide the Chamber with another direct link to the talents and ideas of an additional component of the Chamber membership through both the committee and the direct Board involvement of its chairperson.  This will be in addition to the valuable member perspectives gained through the Small Business, Ambassadors, Tourism, Events and Programs, and other Chamber working committees.  An ECYP Launch Event will be announced in the coming weeks.

 “These series of events along with the new Effingham Chamber Young Professionals Committee are just the beginning of our plan to engage and empower our membership,” said new Effingham Chamber Board President Ed Vance.   “We want to ensure that the Chamber is a valuable channel for connecting our members with resources, an incubator for leadership development, a proactive business partner with our members, and a catalyst for job and business growth in the County.”

In the next few months, new Chamber Executive Director Brad Carr and various Chamber committees will be reaching out to members to continue the engagement and feedback process, and to ensure that future Chamber events and initiatives continue to benefit Chamber members and the community as a whole. “We want the Chamber to be the place for business in Effingham County. From networking, to training on the latest business trends, the Chamber seeks to provide our membership with the very best resources for sustainability and growth” said Executive Director Brad Carr.