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Phelps Chamber Says Size Doesn't Matter - Small Communities Can Provide Big Value to Businesses
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Phelps may be small in size, but the Phelps Chamber plans to prove that size doesn't matter when it comes to providing value to the community and member businesses. In the midst of the 2006 membership drive, the Phelps Chamber has committed to learning from the best practices of larger Chambers to create big value for small town prices. There are four areas that the Phelps Chamber is focusing on in 2006 to create new opportunities to support local businesses and to assist in promoting the community spirit of Phelps: a renewed commitment to the PhelpsNY.com website, enhancing the business of the month effort, creating publicity opportunities and highlighting new businesses. As with many smaller chambers, the Phelps Chamber has no paid staff. However, by hiring a local business (Creators of Time) that provides business support services, the Chamber is able to execute the necessary tasks to achieve the goals that have been set.
The official Phelps website (www.PhelpsNY.com) has significant traffic, with nearly 1.8 million hits over the last 22 months. To ensure a continued commitment to this communication channel, the Chamber has spearheaded an effort to secure funding for Cobblesoft International; a Phelps based company that manages the site. The Chamber is offering enhanced advertising opportunities for member businesses and is facilitating the process of bringing all local organizations together on the site. In addition, Creators of Time is now responsible for gathering the input data from the various community organizations and providing it to Cobblesoft in a timely manner. By the second quarter of 2006, all who visit PhelpsNY.com will consistently be provided with a wealth of up-to-date community information.
In the past, to be honored as the business of the month in Phelps meant that you were able to display the Chamber Business of the Month sign to promote public awareness. The Chamber wanted to do more to support local businesses, so now the honor includes a profile in the quarterly newsletter, a press release and a business card sized ad in a local publication.
Without the draw of large networking events that are often found in the larger communities, the Phelps Chamber decided to maximize opportunities that are available in order to create additional exposure for member businesses. The Chamber has been granted permission by the Village of Phelps and the Phelps Community Center to utilize a large display window located in the main hallway of the Phelps Community Center building for the purpose of allowing member businesses to create displays to promote their businesses. For additional publicity opportunities, the Chamber included writing press releases in the outsourcing contract with Creators of Time. The Chamber has committed to a quarterly newsletter that will include the profiles of all business of the month honorees as well as continuing the annual Treasures of Phelps brochure. A new publicity opportunity for this year is a ribbon cutting ceremony for any newly opened or recently updated business that is a Chamber member.
The Phelps Chamber is committed to creating big value for a reasonable investment. The Chamber wants to continue to be creative in finding ways to support every business in Phelps and promote the great spirit of this small community. To find out more about becoming a member, visit the Phelps Chamber page at www.PhelpsNY.com.
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