Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Cherokee County gets international attention
Chamber director to participate in national conference

By DWIGHT OTWELL
dotwell@cherokeescout.com

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 8:07 PM CDT

Murphy – Cherokee County will be promoted as a beautiful place to visit and live to representatives of 135 countries and all 50 states.

A new coalition to promote tourism and economic development of five counties in Georgia and North Carolina has been formed, and its first big endeavor will be to have a strong presence at the National Association of Realtors Conference and Expo in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 7-10.

Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sande Kimball has been approved by the chamber board to participate and attend the conference and expo to help open up new markets to the region. The new coalition of business and professionals includes Cherokee and Clay counties in western North Carolina and Fannin, Towns and Union counties in north Georgia.

“This is an opportunity that we can’t afford to pass up,” Kimball said. “I am working on a souvenir DVD to take along with me, along with our visitor’s guide.”

Kimball is upgrading the chamber’s Web site and looking for sponsors.

Hiawassee, Ga., Realtor Faron King said the general consensus is the region has not been receiving the recognition it deserves as one of the most beautiful places to visit and live in the country.

“Meetings [of the coalition] started in May and have taken shape quickly,” King said. “This is our first big event. I think it will lead to other events for our region.”

King said they have found that people who aren’t from the Southeast often don’t know that this region has mountains, lakes and wonderful, natural beauty.

“So we need to create awareness,” he said. “I don’t know that we can measure the impact that the [Orlando conference and expo] will have. Not only is it international exposure, but it is being hosted in Florida, which has been a strong region for us in the past. We want to re-establish with them for when the market there turns around.

“This could be huge for our entire region. It comes at a very necessary time. This could be beneficial for all of us. This would be the perfect venue for our region to educate between 35,000 to 40,000 attendees as to who we are and what we have to offer.”

King said the coalition is looking for partners in the endeavor. Commitments are needed in time, materials and money. Anyone wishing to become a partner will be given the opportunity to be represented at the event and be prominently included on the coalition’s Web site – which will be established soon – via a live link.

For details, call Kimball at 837-2242 or King at 706-781-7199.

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