Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce

As an active member and investor in the Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce, you play a vital role in the success of our community at large. Without your support through the Chamber, many of the accolades and accomplishments that make Dahlonega and Lumpkin County great could not have happened.

Here are just a few of the Chamber’s accomplishments of the past year that are a direct result of your investment in the community and your peer businesses through the Chamber.

Download a copy of the 2009-2010 Annual Report & Program of Work

Delivering Value to Our Members…

• We formed the Membership Value Committee to develop, promote, and retain our Chamber membership base and build community relationships.
• We held the first Membership Appreciation Business After Hours mixer event at the Chamber and Visitors Center in August.
• We conducted monthly Nuts & Bolts Workshops for member education.
• We increased membership renewals by 3 percent over 2008.
• We developed a Chamber-specific website to better serve and inform our members.

Attracting Visitors to Our Community…

• We released the re-designed Tourism website in order to better brand Dahlonega and make the site more user-friendly.
• We released the re-designed Shop, Dine, Lodge, and Wine brochures, and added the new Play guide.
• We held a tourism workshop with a Destination Marketing Professional to assess target markets and the key fundamentals with respect to a sound strategic marketing plan.
• We set up a satellite Visitors Information center at the Southern Living Idea House at Achasta from May through December.
• We created the Dahlonega Facebook page, attaining 3,500 fans.

Growing the Economy…

• We extensively researched the Georgia Work Ready Program and developed a Resolution to endorse the program in its current form, bringing together community leaders in this joint partnership.
• We supported the Lumpkin County Development Authority initiative to develop fiber optics and high speed internet through technology surveys and letter of endorsement.
• We worked in partnership with the Downtown Development Authority, Merchants Association, and the Dahlonega Nugget newspaper on the “Spend $20 on the 20th” buy local campaign.
• We partnered with the Downtown Development Authority on the Heritage Travel, Inc., a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Society.

Serving as a Voice for Business…

• We attended the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Chamber of Commerce conferences and events to stay abreast of current legislative issues and keep Chamber members informed.
• We attended Tourism Day at the Capitol to assist lobbying efforts for the tourism industry.
• We supported city and county efforts of fundraising for Dahlonega’s Historic Gold Museum in an effort to keep it open 7 days a week, after state budget cutbacks.