(828) 526-0173 | [email protected] | Copyright 2024 – All Rights Reserved.
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If There Were No Chamber
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2016/03 - March
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If our town’s financial lifeblood is its businesses, then the group that promotes business, the Chamber of Commerce, is Highlands’ heart. All year long the Chamber pumps out ideas, plans, and projects to keep our township vital and our community safe, beautiful,
and welcoming.
Think of all the things the Chamber does. Then take a step back and imagine our town without it. There would be:
• No one to respond to inquiries about Highlands and its business, work, real estate, and entertainment opportunities
• No Visitor’s Center to greet Highlands’ tourists and steer them to restaurants, hotels, entertainment, goods,
and services
• No one to engage the business community in the public education process and actively seek its input
• No information-gathering center
for businesses
• No center for social gathering of the business community where an exchange of ideas and services can take place
• No political voice to keep our government aware of the community feeling on legislative action and needs
In Highlands’ formative years there was no community voice. Town leaders were keen on establishing a system to help business grow, to make planning become more than just talk. They wanted to make town beautification a priority to attract visitors, thus establishing an influx of revenue to support local business. It was important to them to have a place to address pressing issues whenever they arose, issues that affected the populace as well as business. The Chamber has always been interested in supporting commerce and residents, for there is not one without the other.
In 1931 the Highlands Chamber of Commerce was born. Our thriving mountain destination has gained national attention largely due to the innovative planning of town leaders and the foresight of the Chamber.
To learn more about the Highlands Chamber, Highlands’ heart, go online to highlandschamber.org or
call (828) 526-5841.
Thanks to the Tri-Town & District Chamber of Commerce and Bob Kieltyka for their inspiration for this article.
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