Council hears chamber, visitor’s bureau annual reports

by John Fischer
Staff Writer

The Athens Chamber of Commerce and the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau presented their annual reports at last night's city council meeting.

The chamber's job has been to promote the city, university and county, said Larry Payne, president of the chamber of commerce. The chamber has encouraged new businesses to locate in Athens, helped businesses already here and improved the area through various projects, including the Court Street renovation project.

"If you have a healthy business climate, businesses will come," Payne said.

Being a member of the chamber can be beneficial, Payne said. Cooperative advertising sponsored by the chamber can help small businesses reach many people at a low cost.

Membership is a good opportunity to network with other local businesses, Payne said. But a business does not have to be a member to benefit from the chamber’s work, he said.

"We try to promote the whole area, not just member businesses," Payne said.

Councilman Jim Sands, D-At Large, said he appreciated the chamber’s work for the community.

"I think it’s a good use of our money," Sands said.

Council also heard from Sally Dunker, executive director of the visitor’s bureau. She said the bureau and the chamber had a shared purpose.

"We're all about economic development as well," Dunker said.

Tourism brings an economic benefit to Athens County, and the bureau encourages this by promoting Athens as a tourist destination, Dunker said. More than 1,500 jobs in the county are related to tourism.

"(The bureau) delivers a solid return to the city of Athens and Athens County," Dunker said.

The bureau's Web site (http://www.athensohio.com) attracts more than 40,000 visitors each month, Dunker said. The number of hits has increased about 40 percent from last year.

The bureau also published 40,000 copies of its visitor's guide and won an award for the Bobcat Weekend brochure they produced with Ohio University.

Also at the meeting, council voted unanimously to allocate $15,000 for the installation of the "Little Old Schoolhouse" in its new site near the Athens City Bike Path near West Union Street. The schoolhouse was moved Saturday from the site of the former Athens Lumber Company.