August 22, 2014

Dear Member,

It saddens us to write to you today. This letter is to inform you of the upcoming closure of our office on Main Street in Greenville. We have been able to keep it open for the past five years without support from the county. But even with all our efforts and the generous support from our members and volunteers we cannot continue to keep the office.

We had to layoff our office manager, Lillian Basham, who has accomplished much over the years and we are very appreciative of all her hard work and efforts. But times being what they are, we can no longer continue to keep her employed. She has offered, and we intend to invite her back, to help with the organization and planning of events when she is available.

Losing an employee is a very difficult obstacle for the Board to overcome. Events and their planning take a tremendous amount of time. Such events are The Annual Crab Feed, Easter Egg Hunt, spring Century Bike Rides, Gold Digger Days, Leaf Peeper Bike Rides, Memorial Christmas Light Fund, April Bingo & Dinner, and Mixers. Plus the organization of all insurance and permits for events such as Taylorsville Pioneer Days, Taylorsville 4th of July parade, all Softball Tournaments, and Veteran’s Day parade. This year as a service we started offering insurance coverage for other events as well such as, Pheasants Forever, GHS Boosters Cinco de Mayo, Taylorsville Grange 4th of July Dance, and other events. You can see, that we need the renewed and continued support of our members and volunteers more than ever.

We will keep the office for now and we are looking for volunteers to keep it open a couple days each week. This person(s) will answer the telephone, help with visitor and relocation information, and do some light office work such as mailings. We really need a friendly face to assist all the tourists needing guidance and information when traveling through our beautiful area.

We also welcome any assistance that you can give regarding the Chamber’s future. What suggestions do you have for making Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce sustainable? Is there something we could be doing differently? What can you do to help keep the Chamber alive? Would you be interested in becoming a Board member? We always welcome new ideas and new board members!

If you are already a Chamber member we greatly appreciate your support and look forward to it continuing. If not, become a member and Board member today! Remember that you do not have to be a business owner to be a member. Community memberships are greatly welcomed and appreciated.

Respectfully,

Bink Huddleston, President
Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce