Walker County’s Chamber of Commerce: Leaders, drivers, makers, and shakers
Over the past year, the Chamber of Commerce has seen many highlights, set goals for the upcoming year, and had fun along the way.
In 2018, the Chamber partnered with county government to launch “Walker Rocks” initiative to promote tourism in Walker County. Walker Rocks highlights local scenic destinations for activities such as kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, and other outdoor adventures. According to their website, “this new tourism focus invites outdoor enthusiasts around the world to come explore Walker County’s environmental wonders.”
The Chamber also secured a $3,000 grant from Partners for Excellence in Education to fund EKG certification tests for Georgia Northwestern Technical College. The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education selected six local chambers of commerce as winners of the
These $3,000 mini-grants to local chambers of commerce are granted to leverage their visibility, voice, and influence in efforts to recruit more high school graduates – especially low-income – to enroll in college, and encourage more adults to return to college.
Also in 2018, the Chamber held its first pitch contest with Peach State Federal Credit Union to award a $5,000 business grant. David Bridges, owner of Battlefield Outdoors, won a $5,000 grant at the first ever
pitch competition. Bridges competed against two other finalists, selected from a pool of applicants. He pitched the idea of adding a passenger van to his business to transport outdoor enthusiasts to hiking, biking and kayaking destinations in Walker County and other parts of the southeast. The van was wrapped with the logo, along with artwork featuring Walker County based attractions.
The City of LaFayette and Chamber of Commerce, both received tourism awards from Historic High Country Travel Association. HHCTA named the City of LaFayette’s Honeybee Festival as Best Event and LaFayette Mayor Andy Arnold as Tourism Advocate of the Year.
At the annual awards banquet and dinner, several were recognized for their diligent work in the community in 2018, including the 2018 Chair, Gretchen Neal. The position of Chamber Chair for 2019 was passed onto Alicia Moore, of First Volunteer.
Also recognized were Elizabeth Wells as young professional of the year, Christy Anderson as ambassador of the year, Big Brothers Big Sisters as nonprofit of the year, Labrie Parts Corp as manufacturer of the year, and Treetop Hideaways as small business of the year.
The Chamber also has several exciting plans and developments for the coming year, according to Lacey Wilson, the Chamber President.
“As the voice of business in the area, one initiative the Chamber will promote in 2019 is the need for a county-wide business license. This will not only bring the county in line with other counties in establishing a business permit process, it will also eliminate the confusion that new business owners face when starting a business in Walker County.”
She said. “We will continue promoting tourism through the Walker Rocks initiative as part of the Chamber’s role as a Regional Visitor Information Center with the state of Georgia. We’re also working with the City of LaFayette to promote their Honeybee Bike Ride, held in June. This ride has offered three different routes in the past: a 6 mile community ride through LaFayette, a 35 mile historical ride from LaFayette to Chickamauga, and a 63 mile “See Rock City” metric ride from LaFayette to Flintstone Added to these routes will be the “Walker Rocks” Century Bike Ride, a 100 mile journey through Walker County. Last year we offered the first Walker Rocks start-up grant and we plan to offer similar programs and events in 2019 to foster business growth and tourism in Walker County.”
It is no secret that Walker County is growing and developing every day, and it seems that the Chamber of Commerce is present to help support that growth. Chamber members are looking back at a busy year, and looking forward to what is in store.