Rockmart Business Association agrees to merge with Chamber

The business of one local organization is folding into another after their board decided after 21 years of work to promote Rockmart’s downtown to approve a merger.

The Rockmart Business Alliance is now becoming a part of the Polk County Chamber of Commerce after the board members for the Alliance decided their efforts would be better served by joining the two organizations together.

Board members of the Alliance along with regular members will now be promoting the downtown area through a committee within the Chamber, and act as ambassadors to help Executive Director Blair Elrod with her duties.

“The Polk County Chamber of Commerce is delighted to work with the Rockmart Business Alliance as they transition into their new role as the Downtown Rockmart Ambassadors, a committee housed under the Chamber,” Elrod said.

Elrod, the lone member of the Chamber staff, said the ambassadors will help her by promoting the downtown area through their own committee within the organi- zation, and help market the benefits of being a member of her group.

“This integration comes at a very exciting time,” she said. “The Ambassador program is an essential component to the Chamber as it serves as a liaison between members, the community and the Chamber by promoting Chamber programs, visiting members and providing boots on the ground to further build community collaboration.”

Elrod added it is a program that was already organized within t he Chamber locally, but had been defunct for “a while now.” She added that she hopes to mirror the success of the Chamber Ambassador programs in surrounding counties, including those organized by the Rome-Floyd Chamber of Commerce, and in Bartow County as well.

“Ambassador programs are highly successful and prestigious at Chambers in surrounding counties,” Elrod said. “They provide added value in an unique and neighborly way that is unmatched. I have no doubt that our new Downtown Rockmart Ambassador program will create the same value here.”

Board members voted unanimously to approve the merger during what was their final meeting on the evening of April 17.

Sherman Ross, who has been part of the organization since it was founded in 1997, said that he felt the RBA would do better to merge their efforts during discussions about whether to proceed.

“It has been the same group and the same officers all these years,” he said. “Some of just can’t take that responsibility on. And I think folding into the chamber as a separate committee is the way to go, and still be able to do projects that we’ve always done.”

Though the decision was their last order of business, one other item the RBA approved and will move over toward one of the first items they’ll tackle as a Chamber committee is to finish up a project for new maps for downtown Rockmart businesses.

Elrod, who helped the RBA by providing the design for the new map, will now assist in getting those maps out and also posting it up at the Silver Comet Trailhead building near Seaborn Jones Park.

RBA members also agreed to look at map updates moving forward on a quarterly basis.

That will be one way the committee will continue to promote Rockmart’s Historic downtown, which will be one of the main priorities for Rockmart’s business leaders moving forward.

RBA’s only additional piece of business will be figuring out what to do with excess money that remained in the organization’s bank account. Some $2,600 was leftover, and should cover the costs of printing and distributing new maps for downtown Rockmart, along with extras for visitors to take along with them.

Whatever money that is leftover can be earmarked by the Chamber specifically for use for the committee.

Additionally, the Chamber will have to determine what to do about membership rates for those who are already members of the RBA, and now will be members of the Chamber. Elrod said a plan was being developed and will be forwarded along to members to explain how those fees will be adjusted initially.

Chamber board members also discussed the issue during their meeting.

After the process of folding into the Chamber as a committee is complete, a discussion of what to call the group within the organization will be finalized as well.

The county’s ordinance committee is looking at many edits in the coming months, and recently revisited employee budgets.

Currently department heads sport the ability to spend $1,000 of their general funds without seeking permission from County Manager Matt Denton, but the group is looking to expand that number for the sake of time and efficiency.

The position of county manager might come with an increased $25,000 budget in the future.

“In item 1, it says department heads have the ability to spend up to $1,000,” Denton said. “Public Works alone, some of the parts they have to buy, easily exceed $1,000, so I propose we increase that to $2,000.”

For general expenditures, Denton suggested the position of county manager come with a base $15,000 budget, but should the funds allow it, the manager will have the ability to spend up to $25,000 for the acquisition of cars and car-related items.

“I proposed increasing my spending ability to $15,000 for just regular items,” Denton said. “Provided sufficient funds have been appropriated and provided competitive quotes or vendors have been solicited.”

Denton added that “Purchases from state or federal auctions will not require a competitive bid. In item 3, I added ‘ the county manager can spend up to $25,000 for the purchase of vehicles and equipment providing sufficient funds have been appropriated and competitive bids have been solicited.”

To eliminate an unneeded position, the county revisited the purchasing policy.

Currently the ordinance demands the position of ‘purchasing agent’ be created, but county employees have already created an acquisition system that eliminates the need for such a worker.

“If you read the lined out, it said ‘there is hereby created the office of purchasing agent,’” Denton said. “But we don’t need a purchasing agent. So, I propose we change the language to say ‘commissioners may create the position of purchasing agent ‘as needed.’”

The county had a purchasing agent in the past, but the position naturally created more trouble than it was deemed worthy of.

“The way it was handled, she (the previous purchasing agent) created a store upstairs,” Denton said. “It wound up being full of outdated ink cartridges and different things people said they needed. She stocked up on them and no one wanted them later on, so we wound up throwing them in the trash.”

Since then department heads have been able to order the materials they need themselves for their specific needs. The workers need only order their items online, and Office Depot agrees to deliver the next day.

“It comes out of their budget, and it works best that way,” Denton said.

The committee also took up the issue of how to gain more revenue through grants. With no clear direction related to approaching grants, the group decided to research neighboring counties and research the best way to approach the topic.

“We need to be ready for future grants that might come our way,” commissioner Jose Iglesias said. “Whether its given to us, whether we compete for it, whether we hire a grant writer. Just having a clear language of what is expected for our county would help.”