Greene Chamber Excited About Growth, Activities

By Jay Crawford
Editor, Greene County Record

STANARDSVILLE (March 2006) - Not only is the Greene County Chamber of Commerce growing, it also is adding activities and benefits for its members.

Those were the key notes from last Thursday's meeting of the Chamber's Board of Directors, which held a lunch meeting at The Lafayette with president Alan Pyles, vice president Jay Crawford, treasurer Gray King, secretary Ruth Parsons, Bill Welch, Robbie Morris and Tom Zakielarz in attendance.

 The Chamber, reorganized last summer after several years of inactivity, has grown to 48 members, King announced.  Board members agreed that activities within the last year had not only been successful on the social and business level, but had also helped to increase membership.

After praising the success of the Chamber's last event, a networking breakfast held in early March, Pyles and Welch announced the next activity, another networking breakfast scheduled for 7 a.m. April 5 at either the Blue Ridge Café or The Lafayette.  The networking breakfasts are open to members in good standing only, but non-members will be given the chance to join the Chamber and participate in the breakfast.

An additional benefit to be offered to members will be name tags purchased by the Chamber to be worn at Chamber events.  Each member business in good standing will receive one name tag, but additional name tags or replacement name tags for those lost may be purchased at an additional charge.

The name tags, which are being designed by Morris, will be professional-style name tags similar to those distributed to members of the Charlottesville Area Chamber of Commerce during the Chambers' joint meeting at the Virginia Company/Visitors' Center in Stanardsville in February.

The first opportunity to order name tags and approve name spellings and titles will be during the April 5 networking breakfast.  If you are interested in attending the next networking breakfast, RSVP to Board member Marianne Shepard at 434-990-8377 or greenecoc@gmail.com.

In addition to these added benefits, the Board also proposed a discount list or tradeoff between Chamber businesses.

As the list of benefits and activities grow, Chamber members are looking for additional ways to increase membership and the benefits offered to members.  Additional information on membership may be obtained by calling Ruth Parsons at 434-245-1536 or Gray King at 434-985-9709.

In other business, the Chamber:

*Announced an ice cream social planned for Blue Ridge School in May, for which details will be announced at a later date, and another event planned at Stone Mountain Vineyard later in the summer.

*Learned that the Economic Development Authority, the Greene County Record and The Lafayette had joined forces to co-sponsor the first Stanardsville Chili Cook-Off in late summer.  The day will be filled with the chili competition, followed by an awards presentation and jazz music during the evening.  Additional details will be provided as they are finalized.

*Discussed a Places29 Overview distributed by Crawford, who wanted to inform the Chamber of upcoming dates for future events surrounding the controversial solutions to increased traffic congestion on U.S. 29, including the proposed "Ruckersville Bypass."

During the discussion, Pyles informed the group that, during a recent visit to Richmond, members of the Chamber had been told by 58 th District Del. Rob Bell that any action that may include Ruckersville is not likely within for between 25 and 30 years.

*Heard a proposal from Morris about the Chamber's involvement in the construction of "Welcome to Greene" signs at each of the major entry ways into the county (along U.S. 29 north and south, and U.S. 33 east and west).  Morris estimated the cost of the signs to be approximately $15,000 per location.

While the Chamber agreed that the signs would be beneficial, Board members also agreed that they would have to have financial support from the Economic Development Authority (representing the county), the Chamber and businesses.  It also was agreed that it would be beneficial for the signs to include indicators of major points of interest within the county.

*Heard a brief presentation by EDA Director Dennis Jarvis, who discussed the EDA, the role of the EDA, and his plans for the organization.  Jarvis also complimented the Chamber for serving as a conduit for building wealth and spreading the message of Greene County to a larger audience, citing the networking breakfasts and the recent visit with Del. Rob Bell as beneficial examples of leadership that the Chamber has taken since it was reorganized.

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