2021 Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors named, Emfinger to serve as President

The Tallassee Chamber of Commerce held the annual Board of Directors' Installation ceremony at the Chamber office on Barnett Blvd on Dec. 10.

Melinda Emfinger will serve as President of the 2021 Chamber Executive Committee. Cheryl Henderson is the Past-President, Dustin Funderburk is the 1st Vice President, Kimberly Hammock is the 2nd President, Tina Harris is the Secretary/Treasurer for the 2021 Chamber Executive Committee.

2021 Chamber Board of Directors members include Restoration 49's Haley Daniel, First Baptist Church's Brandon Fomby, James Lyons owner of Louie's SnoKone's, Fuller Reality at Lake Martin's Christy Parker, Max Credit Union's Shaneka Parker, Studio B Dance Center's Brooke Rigsby, First Community Bank's Kimm Sanford, State Farm's Logan Steers, and Ivey Creek Health's Amber Taunton.

Councilman Jeremy Taunton and Mayor Johnny Hammock attended Thursday's introduction celebration.

The Tallassee Chamber of Commerce is organized to advance the commercial, retail, civic and general interest of Tallassee and its trade area. It is a voluntary partnership of business and professional people working together to build a strong economy and to improve the quality of life in the local area.

As the Tallassee Chamber of Commerce works to accomplish these goals it assumes many roles, such as economic developer and planner, tourist information center, business spokesperson, business training center, government, and Public Relations Specialist.

Under the direction of a long-time community member, Jerry Cunningham, the Tallassee Chamber of Commerce continues to grow. The organization holds annual events that highlight the community, as well as ribbon cuttings, grand openings, and more to promote local business.

Located in the heart of downtown Tallassee, there are many benefits to joining the Tallassee Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber provides significant benefits for its members, including Chamber Chats, which provides an opportunity for members to gather and exchange information and to network with each other. Each Chamber Chat focuses on a particular business or community amenity and is a significant promotional tool.

The Chambers website provides information for and about members. It contains a community calendar of events. It provides links so that members can promote business through their own website.

The Chamber provides ribbon cutting celebrations, ground-breaking celebrations, grand openings, open houses, and supports all of these events. It assists members in inviting local dignitaries, promoting the events, providing all of the equipment for the events, including ribbon and scissors. The Chamber promotes the ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings, grand openings, and open houses with local advertising via radio and newspaper and through direct internet communications with other members. It has assembled demographic information for the use of its members in promoting business and making business decisions.

Each year the Chamber has general gatherings– a banquet, which all members are invited to attend. At the Banquet, the Chamber provides significant recognition to many of its members.

The Chamber keeps its members in touch with community leaders. It works to improve the quality of life in the community by working with and promoting the schools, hospital, and churches, civic clubs, The Historical Society, the McCraney-Cottle Arts Council, the Mount Vernon Theatre, and many others.

The Chamber provides members with member discounts for local goods and services by negotiating with other members who provide those goods and services.

Chamber members host the annual "Tallassee Now" campaign. The campaign works at multiple levels to improve the coordination of the events and efforts by community organizations. It is a campaign to improve communications and to provide publicity for the entire Greater Tallassee Area. It promotes the city's historic resources and communicates city attractions and attractiveness to the world. It promotes events that the Chamber creates, as well as events of other organizations.

For more information, you can visit The Tallassee Chamber of Commerce at 303 Barnett Blvd., Tallassee, or call (334) 283-5151.