January 2007 - Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce

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January Convention BureauTravel Itinerary for Trade ShowsJan. 21-23 Meeting Professional International New Orleans, LaJan. 28-Feb. 1 American Bus Association Grapevine, TexasJan. 30-Feb. 2 Religious Conference Management Louisville, KyGroups Scheduled for ServiceFive groups representing 1,395 attendeesTravel Itinerary for Consumer ShowsJan. 4-7 2007 San Antonio Camping Show San Antonio,TexasJan. 10-14 Cincinnati Travel, Sports & Boat Show Cincinnati, OhioJan. 16-17 Snowbird Extravaganza Lakeland, Fla.Jan. 18-21 Toronto RV Show & Extravaganza Toronto, CanadaJan. 24-25 Senior Fun Fest Tampa, Fla.Jan. 27-28 Adventures in Travel Expo Chicago, Ill.Meet & Minglewith your statesenators and representativesOn Jan. 24, 6 to 9 p.m., join your Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce inthanking the state senators and representatives for the work they do and the endlesstime they will spend January through May working on the many issues impactingGrand Strand businesses. The reception is an ideal opportunity to emphasize keyaspects of the chamber’s legislative agenda from your business perspective.The event is hosted by the chamber and sponsored by Coastal Carolina University,Horry-Georgetown Technical College and Horry County Schools.EventGrand Strand Legislative ReceptionDate/Time Jan. 24 from 6-9 p.m.LocationClarion Town House Hotel1615 Gervais St., ColumbiaRegister Amie Lee, executive project coordinator, at (843) 916-7238or e-mail leea@mbchamber.orgU.S. 501 Welcome Center closes for winter seasonThe Ashby Ward Official Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand Welcome Center, located on U.S. 501, will be closed during January and February and will reopen Thursday,March 1. During this off-peak season time, in lieu of dropping off brochures or business cards at the U.S. 501 welcome center, please feel free to drop off literatureat the Myrtle Beach Welcome Center located in the chamber’s 1200 N. Oak St. office.Ashby Ward Official Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand Welcome Center1800 U.S. 501 W.(west of S.C. 22 intersection)Aynor, SC 29544Phone: (843) 626-7444, (800) 356-3016Hours:Closed January and FebruaryMarch and April8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday & SundayMay through Labor Day8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. DailyPost Labor Day through December8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday & SundayMyrtle Beach Office1200 N. Oak St.Myrtle Beach, SC 29577Phone: (843) 626-7444, (800) 356-3016Hours:Post Labor Day through March8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday10 a.m.-2 p.m. SaturdayClosed SundayApril through Labor Day8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday10 a.m.-2 p.m. SundaySouth Strand Office3401 U.S. 17 Business S.Murrells Inlet, SC 29576Phone: (843) 651-1010, (800) 356-3016Hours:Post Labor Day through March8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday10 a.m.-1 p.m. SaturdayClosed SundayApril through Labor Day8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday12-5 p.m. SundayMyrtle Beach Area Chamber ofCommerce Airport Welcome CenterMyrtle Beach International Airport1100 Jetport RoadMyrtle Beach, SC 29577Phone: (843) 626-7444, (800) 356-3016Hours:8 a.m.-8 p.m. Dailyd
The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’smission is simple–promote, protect and improvethe Grand Strand and its business community.To truly serve our members, we must find out if weare doing what we say and exceeding your businessexpectations.You can help us do that by taking a few minutesto fill out a membership survey located onPage 10. If you prefer, you can complete the surveyonline at MyrtleBeachAreaChamber.com, click onMembership Survey.The membership survey will help us determinehow we are performing on issues of importance toour members, and what areas of focus the chambershould spend our time and resources.Is this survey worth your time? Do we reallyfollow-up on your feedback and ideas for newservices? The answer is unequivocally yes. …In past surveys you told us that you wished thechamber provided more affordable trainingopportunities. You wanted classes that spanned avariety of business topics and reached all levels ofemployment. We now offer more than 20 uniquetraining opportunities each year ranging fromtechnology classes to leadership workshops tosmall business forums.You said we needed to grow the tourism base tofill our many new rooms and to promote the areamore aggressively. A new ad campaign was tested,a new Web site is on its way, and we have investedheavily in advanced market research to determinewhy those visitors who choose to go elsewhere donot visit us. And, in 2007, you will see an aggressiveadvertising campaign with a record level oftelevision and Internet promotion, as well as a newpublic relations campaign led by a national leader indestination public relations, M Booth & Associates.We heard you ask for more networking andpromotional opportunities. The chamber nowoffers South Strand, North Strand and MyrtleBeach expos. And our usual member-to-memberexpo was expanded last year as we invited the publicto drop by for a free look at our area businessesand enjoy local dishes from various Grand Strandrestaurants. The annual Business & RestaurantExpo is taking on a whole new life in 2007 as wecombine this expo with the Can-Am WelcomeReception and create the Celebration Expo(see Page 3 for details).Forming community and organizationalpartnership to better meet the interests of thebusiness community was on a lot of your mindsin previous surveys. Back in November 2005, agroundbreaking partnership among the MyrtleBeach Area Chamber of Commerce, MyrtleBeach Area Hospitality Association, HospitalityAssociation of South Carolina, National RestaurantAssociation and American Hotel & LodgingAssociation was formed. And after just one year,their list of accomplishments keeps multiplying–a new Myrtle Beach Marketing Cooperative,including a Web site, VisitMyrtleBeach.com; a newhealth care benefit, FlexMED; a stronger focus onhospitality issues that have yielded more lobbyingpower and allowed the chamber to place addedemphasis on general business issues that impactbusinesses outside of the hospitality industry; anew Web site, HospitalityPartnership.com; andseveral new promotional opportunities, includingrestaurant and dinner theater member listings onGrandStrandRestaurants.com in both the diningsearch and dining grid areas.Small businesses said to add new services andbenefits aimed at their business needs. Along withcreating additional educational classes for workforce development, a Small Business Council wasformed that will focus on initiatives specifically forthis group.Many of you noted that the Grand Strand neededto move customer service up notch. You askedthe chamber to not only continue offering regularservice training programs but to help promotethe importance of good customer service. OnJan. 18, the I.C.E. Awards (Impeccable CustomerExperience) will recognize 20 local heroes ofcustomer service. These are the businesses andindividuals who excel in providing outstandingcustomer service (see Page 14 for all the details).These are just a few of the suggestions received frommembership surveys that we have implementedover the years.We want our member businesses and organizationsto succeed and grow. And to accomplish this goal,we need to work together. Please take a few minutesand complete the membership survey on Page 10or online at MyrtleBeachAreaChamber.com. Thissurvey will help us develop benefits, services andprograms that you would like for us to concentrateon. Thank you in advance.Brad DeanPresident & CEOMyrtleBeachAreaChamber.come
Page 2 and 3: Board of Directors2OfficersChairman
Page 6 and 7: f• Technology Workshop“Excel-Ba
Page 8 and 9: Hospitality PartnershipHospitality
Page 10 and 11: Are we doing what we say?The Myrtle
Page 12 and 13: Centex Homes Myrtle Beach division
Page 14 and 15: The event of the year-I.C.E. Awards
Page 16 and 17: ECONOMIC INDICATORSSept. Unemployme
Page 18 and 19: Chamber welcomes new employeesKimbe
Page 20 and 21: Chamber Anniversaries for December
Page 22 and 23: u Continued from page 21How long ha
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January 2007 - Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce

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