The Chamber Newsletter March 2008

Dahlonega-Lumpkin CountyChamber of Commerce13 South Park StreetDahlonega, GA 30533(706) 864-3711(800) 231-5543

www.dahlonegacelticmusicfestival.com

April 1

Business After Hours

Come celebrate April Fool's Dayat Dumond's Patio Grill, hosted by400Edition. Enjoy networking, food,and drinks. Don't forget to bring$1 for the cash prize drawing! Andremember door prizes are always agreat way to showcase your busi-ness!

April 18-20

The 12th annual Bear on the

Square Mountain Festival is anincredible weekend of music andart held in the foothills of the NorthGeorgia mountains. Come enjoybluegrass and old-time mountainmusic, crafts, and folkways on theDahlonega Square and Hancock Park.

April 25

Tour de Georgia

THE ROAD TO THE GREAT RACES

OF EUROPE BEGINS HERE!

The opening stage of the mountainphase of America's premier bicyclingevent returns to Dahlonega. Enjoyspecial activities and events at theStage 5 Finish.

Dahlonega - Lumpkin County Chamber of CommerceThe ChamberThe Chamber

2008 | MARCH2008 | MARCH

The Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce presents g p y pthe fi rst annual Celtic Music Festival with a full weekend of Celtic Concert performances at the Historic Holly Theatre, along with p yCeltic workshops and arts & crafts vendors and exhibitors.

The Chamber of Commerce announces

Dahlonega’s First Annual

Celtic Music Festival, March 8th & 9th

SAVE THE DATES

INSIDE:Perspective From Your Local Government 4

Mayor Gary McCullough shares his thoughts on Dahlonega...

Chestatee Regional 5

Hospital generated more than $44.8 million in revenue for the local economy according to a recent report...

Bear on the Square Festival 9

Annual 3 day event featuring Bluegrass Music, Old Time Music, Appalachian Crafts, and many workshops and more!

Entrepreneur Friendly? 10

Lumpkin County Receives Entrepreneur Friendly Designation...

Read More | Page 4

The Dahlonega Celtic Music Festival

By Gary L. Powers

As I See It we need a Chamber Newsletter as well as Weekly Broadcast E-mails. In our busy world today we get so much material that we often don’t or can’t take the time to read all the e-mails sent to us every day or every publication. In order to reach out to more mem-bers and the general public, we have decided we will try a print newsletter that will go to members and be in placed in offi ces were people are waiting for an ap-pointment. It will also be launched to the web site for historical purposes and to give our sponsors greater exposure. Your feedback will be critical as we publish this newsletter each month.

Each month you will hear from our Chair of the Board, read about upcoming events, board members, ambassadors, and spotlight on busi-ness. We will have our political leaders write articles to keep us informed on specifi c issues aff ecting business and the community.

We will be highlighting the diff erent Chamber Committees and the work they are do-ing to help your business succeed. We will talk about how the Chamber supports Edu-cation, Non-profi ts, and the Community. Members wanting to promote their business can advertise in the newsletter or have a fl yer inserted in the newsletter. We encourage you to off er a Member 2 Member Discount which will be published each month in the newsletter.

Business After Hours will be featured each month and we will thank the draw-ing sponsors and recognize the monthly businesses who hosted the event. Ribbon Cuttings and New Members will be showcased.

Our Staff and Board are working very hard to provide YOU the member with a return on your investment. We know that times are tough but this is the time when you need the Chamber more than ever. Supporting each other and Buying Local and from members will help strengthen our community.

In my fi ve months here I have come to love Dahlonega, Lumpkin County and the Northeast Georgia Mountains. The people of Georgia are some of the most polite and helpful I have ever encountered. As I See It, this is now HOME. Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Mission Statement

Board of Directors

OFFICERSJennifer Herring, ChairmanBB&TEddie Wayne, Chair ElectAppalachian Community BankEddie Wayne, TreasurerAppalachian Community BankCyndi Fraser, SecretaryBelle Avance SalonKarl Boegner,Immediate Past Chair of the BoardWolf Mountain VineyardsGary L. Powers, President & CEODahlonega-Lumpkin CountyChamber of Commerce

DIRECTORSDon Bacek, Lily Creek LodgeLarry Banister, Banister Funeral HomeMax Burns, North Georgia College& State UniversityKristy Fairbanks, RefrigiWearTommy Folger, Folger’sAlan George, Chestatee RegionalHospitalAlan Grizzle, EXIT Four SeasonsRealtyKelso C. (Casey) Horne, Horne andHorne, P.C.Donna Minnich, State Farm InsuranceJ. Kevin McCraney, Georgia PowerCompanyTony Owens, The Fudge FactoryEd Willis, The Louver ShopAngelia Wilson, Dahlonega TastingRoomEX OFFICIO DIRECTORSMayor Gary McCullough, City of Dahlonega

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Commissioner Steve Gooch,Lumpkin CountyBruce Abraham, Development AuthorityJoel Cordle,Downtown Development AuthorityStan Kelley, Lumpkin County

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Bill Lewis,City of DahlonegaSheriff Mark McClure,Lumpkin CountyDewey Moye,

Lumpkin County SchoolsSTAFFAmy Booker,Projects & Events Coordinator

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Mary Ann Knight,Visitors Center Manager

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Sheila Litherland,VP Membership Services

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Stefani Logsdon,VP Operations

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The Chamber | Page 1

As I See It

Gary Powers, President and CEO

Making our community a great place to live, work, visit,

and do business.

Leadership Lumpkin CountyOn February 11th, Leadership Lumpkin County, Class of 2008 attended the 7th Annual Leadership Day held at the Georgia Freight Depot in Atlanta. LC High School, Youth Leadership students accompanied the adults for a day fi lled with performances by 4-H students, and inspirational speakers. The day was complete with a walk over to the Capital for a brief history lesson and photo.

Class of 2008 began in September with a Welcome Reception at the Cottrell Ranch and will conclude with graduation on April 24th. The Leadership class consists of 8 sessions, designed to further inform and prepare individuals to serve as leaders in our community.

Recruitment for the Class of 2009 will begin this summer.

For more informationabout the Lumpkin Leadership pro-

gram contact:Brenda Cronan

706-265-8389

or email to:[email protected]

The Chairman’s Circle

I sat down to write my fi rst Letter from the Chair for the fi rst edition of the news-letter and wondered, “What should I speak about?” After a few minutes in reviewof our fi nances and in discussion with Gary, it came to me. I need to tell everyoneexactly what we are all about.

We are a nonprofi t organization that works to promote business and tourism inDahlonega and Lumpkin County. We are charged with promotion of our beautifulcommunity as well as ensuring we are looking out for the interests for our busi-nesses. We are the marketing department for Dahlonega and Lumpkin County aswell as a small business advocate. We work very closely with City, County and Stategovernments, but we are not government funded. The only monies we receivefrom the City of Dahlonega and Lumpkin County are of the monthly bed taxes.With these monies, the Convention and Visitors division of the Chamber is able todo things like contract with the Georgia Turner Group for great articles through-out the year in top magazines across the country. We can constantly improve theweb site and improve how we track our web visitors. The monies go to ensure wecontinue to play host to over 2 million visitors to Dahlonega with 280,000 comingthrough our Welcome Center doors. Our web site received over 11 million visitorsto the site from 104 countries. Gary works relentlessly to ensure that the laws andregulations passed by City, County and State governments are equal and fair to allsmall business owners and attends meetings to ensure your future is protected.

So, you are probably asking yourself, “If all they get is the bed taxes each month,how do they do all that they do?” I will tell you with an operating budget of $400,000for 2008 and rising every year, it is getting increasingly diffi cult. The majority of ourincome comes from Bed Taxes from the City and County as well as your member-ship support. We have 1 fund-raiser each year, Six Gap Bike Ride, which also fuelsour budget. All of the other events we are involved in usually end up putting us inthe red for the event.

I know that it seems like every time you turn around, you are being asked for asponsorship. We are a very unique community. We have always been a touristtown; we will continue to be a tourist town. The struggle we face is what can wedo new or diff erent to bring people to town to spend their money. In the past, thisburden has been shared by not only the chamber, but other civic groups. Overthe last several years, I have seen the role of the Chamber changing. We are beinglooked to as the organization who can take over events.

For the future of the Chamber and our community, we need to get back to morecooperative eff orts between everyone for these events or I fear the events willhave to be scaled back to those we know we can at least break even on. So, if youget a call for a sponsorship or to volunteer time, before you say “no”, think again.Our Future could very well depend on your answer.

From the Desk of Jennifer Herring


The Chairman's Circle has been created to prominently recognize companies whose continual support has been instrumental in the growth of the Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce.

BronzeDaniel's Charters

Georgia Power Company

Habersham EMC

North Georgia College & State University

Regions Bank

Mint Club Members

PlatinumBB&T Bank

Chestatee Regional Hospital

Jackson EMC

GoldAppalachian Community Bank

SilverAchasta, A Residential Golf Com-munity

All About Storage

Mountain State Bank

Nicklaus Golf Club at Achasta

Northeast Georgia Health System, Inc.

The Smith House

Timken US Corporation

United Community Bank of Lump-kin County

Wal-Mart SuperCenter

Windstream Communications

Member Testimonial

The Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Cham-ber of Commerce proudly announces Dahlonega’s fi rst annual Celtic Music Festival! You will not want to miss the exciting concerts, fun and interesting workshops and demonstrations or miss shopping at the Celtic Marketplace.

Highlights of the festival are concerts by the traditional Irish bands Altan, High-land Way, Emerald Rose, Shamrock, John Maschinot and Katie Baughman of the Buddy O’Reilly Band and Celtic Fire, the Atlanta Junior Ceili Band and the Appala-chian St. Andrews Pipes and Drums.

Accolades for these top bands, includ-ing Ireland’s leading traditional band Altan, are many. Irish Echo says of Altan “They’re poised for greatness and under no circumstance should they be missed in concert”. The Boston Globe says Altan is “The hottest group in the Celtic realm these days”.

Highland Way from San Diego, under the

direction of Brian Caldwell of Glasgow, Scotland has re-ceived rave reviews for their blend of traditional Scot-tish music, both instrumen-tal and vocal, from the San Diego and Seaside Scottish Highland Games, with their superb blend of vocals, in-strumentation, and unique arrangements. Highland Way is one of the most acclaimed on the southern California circuit.

Our wonderful community of businesses in downtown Dahlonega have sponsored exciting workshops in their

place of business ranging from work-shops and demonstrations on fl y fi shing, musical instruments, such as pipes, tin whistle, bodhran drums and Irish fi ddle, to Scottish spinning and weaving.

There will be Celtic storytellers, includ-ing Heloise Love from the Highland Way band who will read her fun book of Celtic tale with song and art called “The Dragon and the Fir Darrigs”, along with Cayce Terrell and Donna O’Kelley Butler who will enchant audiences with their stories from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany.

Arthur Hinds and Brian Sullivan of Em-erald Rose will discuss the “Bardic Spirit” and Brian will share “Rambling Through Ireland: Adventures from the Emerald Isle”. Families will not want to miss the lively energetic family concert by Highland-Way a the Holly on Saturday, where they will entertain children and people of all ages! Don’t miss the Scot-

tish Tartan Museum as they answer questions about Scotland, kilts and tartans.

Use their tartan look-up service and research a erson’s name and see their tartan!

Adding to the fun of the festival will be “tunes” played through

out the day on Saturday and Sunday by pipers Sam Johnson, Gary White, Roy McKee, Joshua Whitener, Joseph Adams, Joshua Craig and Daniel Bollinger. Don’t miss the Celtic Marketplace and artisan’s selling their special arts and crafts and Irish food items!

For a concert schedule and a detailed list of all workshops on Saturday and Sunday, March 8th and 9th, please check out our web site:

www.dahlonegacelticmusicfestival.com

Tickets for these amazing concerts can be purchased on-line at:

www.hollytheater.com

or by calling 706-864-3759.

For questions call the Dahlonega-Lumpkin County

Chamber of Commerce at (706) 864-3711,

or send email to Amy Booker at: [email protected].

Announcing Dahlonega’s First Annual Celtic Music FestivalThe First Annual Dahlonega Celtic Music Festival Offers A Special Weekend of Music, Entertainment and Shopping!


Sheila -

I just wanted to acknowledge all the work that you and the other Chamber offi ce professionals did to make this meeting possible and successful. You all do a great job and if I can do anything else to help you - please let me know.

Once again, thanks!

Paul Carmody

Mountain Top Lodge

at Dahlonega

447 Mountain Top Lodge RoadDahlonega, GA 30533

(706) 864-5257 (800) 526-9754 Fax: (706) 864-8265

As Vice-President of MembershipServices I would like to explain some newand exciting changes in our benefi ts pro-gram. One of the fi rst changes you willnotice is a change in our dues structure.We believe these changes will bring morevalue to your membership, by addingtwo categories and a web site link at NOadditional charge. We just ask that youreciprocate our link, www.dahlonega.org, to your web site. We have also addedalong with your yearly window decal abeautiful wooden plaque which displaysyour business name and renewal monthand year. The plaques will either be deliv-ered by the Ambassadors or picked up atour monthly Business After Hours on yourrenewal month.

Our Member to Member weeklyannouncement is also going throughsome changes. In order to be more user-friendly we will put a short two sentenceteaser about your announcement anda link to your web site, which will allow

Membership Mattersmore items to be displayed in the announcement. We will continue to edit the cal-endar of Chamber affi liated and sponsored meetings and events.

In the upcoming newsletters we will include additional pages, which can featurea Restaurant Guide, Lodging Guide, Arts and Entertainment Guide, Winery Guide,Non-Profi t and Educational information, and more.

Thanks for your valued investment, support and for “Making our community a great place to live, work, visit and do business.”

Sheila Lawson Litherland

E-mail: [email protected]

Perspective From Your Local Government

15 years as Councilman and 3 years as Mayor. I appreciate the trust and support you have givenme during this time.

Dahlonega has grown a lot but I think the Mayor and Council are working hard to keep the charmand history preserved in our downtown area. The Historical Commission, Downtown MerchantsAssociation, the Better Hometown and Main Street programs and Downtown Development Au-thority as well as the Chamber of Commerce, and all the volunteers are to be commended for theirsupport, hard work and commitment for being good stewards of our history, a history that is cher-ished by all of us. We are adding to our history as time goes on. The “Arts” are bringing people toour area in large numbers as the infl uence of the Holly Theatre and our local artists are attracting attention not only statewide but nationally as well. Dahlonega has been rated as one of the top 10 places to retire in the USA by several national media outlets. The wineries surrounding us are bringing a great deal of attention to our area. The Smith House is expanding. Achasta is growing and putting a lot of money into our local economy. They are using local contractors as much as possible. Our two largest industries Mohawk and Timken are expanding. NGCSU is expanding, so you can see we have a lot of work to do to keep our infrastructureahead of the curve. The Downtown Development Authority is completing a “Master Plan” of our downtown area. We will have onemore public meeting on March 25 at City Hall at 7:00 PM. You are welcome to come and see what is happening. The streets around the square are no longer state highways. They now belong to the city from the traffi c light at Highway 60 to the traffi c light in town,and from the traffi c light at the cemetery to the square. We will be getting big trucks off the square and are planning additional improvements, such as removing all the state highway directional signs, some raised pedestrian crosswalks, and directional signs for the merchants on the square. All of these improvements are in the planning stage now.

You can see we have a lot going on at this time. I am excited about what is happening and about the future of Dahlonega. I look forward to being involved and with the help of the Council, staff and all of the great people of our community we will remain a greatplace to work, live and raise our families.

It has been an honor for me to serve the citizens of Dahlonega since 1989...

Gary McCulloughMayor


7516

84AURGENT CARE

134 Ansley Drive, Dahlonega, Georgia 30533 | 706-867-4356

Chestatee Urgent Care offers care and treatment for conditions that require immediate attention, but

don’t pose a serious life threat. Our nurse practitioners can

diagnose and treat most commonillnesses, without a costly visit to

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Chestatee Urgent Care charges a at fee of $30.00 per visit. Services include:

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Chestatee Urgent Care is close to Chestatee Regional Hospital, which affords our medical team access to a full array of healthcare specialists and resources.

No Appointment Necessary!OPEN

Fridays: 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.Weekends: Noon - 9 p.m.


Chestatee Regional Hospital Generates $44.8 Million to Dahlonega’s EconomyAtlanta, Georgia January 18, 2008

In 2005, Chestatee Regional Hospital inDahlonega, Georgia generated morethan $44.8 million in revenue for the lo-cal economy according to a recent reportby the Georgia Hospital Association, thestate’s largest hospital trade association.The report also found that during thesame time, Chestatee Regional Hospitalprovided approximately $1.3 million inuncompensated care while sustaining

more than 375 full-time jobs throughout Dahlonega and the rest of the state.

The report revealed that Chestatee Re-gional Hospital had direct expenditures of more than $18.2 million in 2005. When combined with the economic multiplier developed by the United States Depart-ment of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total economic impact of

those expenditures was more than $44.8million. This output multiplier considers the “ripple” eff ect of direct hospital ex-penditures on other sectors of the econ-omy, such as medical supplies, durable medial equipment and pharmaceuticals. Economic multipliers are used to model the resulting impact of a change in one industry on the “circular fl ow” of spend-ing within an economy as a whole.

“This new report shows Chestatee Regional Hospital has an enormous, positive impact on our local econo-my which

makes us very proud,” said Alan E. George, CEO of Chestatee Regional Hos-pital. “We thank Lumpkin County’s unwavering sup-port through the years and will continue to work hard to ensure that the citizens of this community have access to health care services that are second to none in qual-ity and aff ordability.”

While Chestatee Regional Hospital remains a major component of the area’s economic engine, the hos-pital leadership, like the rest of the Georgia’s hospital community, is concerned about a wide array of eco-nomic challenges that have made it increasingly diffi cult to meet the community’s health care needs including continued cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments and a fast- growing uninsured population. Presently, more than a third of all hospitals in Georgia are operating with negative margins.

“We’re extremely concerned with the current operating environment for hospitals,” said George. “We’ve made a commitment to every

January 2008

On a beautiful evening in January, Pura Vida USA hosted 150 cham-ber members to an outstanding night of networking and promo-tions, with the added bonus of great food and fun in the beauti-ful surroundings of the North Georgia Mountains. Jennifer Herring,Chamber Board Chair and AVP/BSO III at BB&T, welcomed everyone,thanked our generous hosts, and introduced our new members:

Mountain Geek Computers 3by400

Jennifer also made several announcements including information on theDahlonega Celtic Music Festival March 8th & 9th, Annual Banquet March1st at Montaluce Vineyards and Estates, Tour De Georgia April 25, and theFebruary BAH Hosted by The Artist Palate Café and Paul Thomas Chocolates. With the help of our Ambassadors she gave away adozen door prizes. Thanks again to our Host:

Pura Vida, USA

400 Blueberry Hill • Dahlonega, GA 30533 (706) 865-7678 • (866) 345-4900 www.puravida.com

Business After Hours

February 2008

With Fat Tuesday looming in the air and animated masks and costumes afl oat, the February Business after Hours was off to a colorful start. Jen-nifer Herring, Chamber Board Chair and AVP/BSO III at BB&T, welcomed everyone, thanked our generous hosts, The Artist Palate Café and Paul Thomas Chocolates, and introduced our new members.

Etowah River Pottery Brooks Point Apartments Haventouch Enterprises Inc Tugaloo Home Health Lee’s Home Interiors Rich Printing, Inc KDA Communications Dahlonega Lutheran Mission Church The Common Thread

Appalachian Skate Klub

Jennifer also made several announcements including information on the Dahlonega Celtic Music Festival March 8th & 9th, Annual Banquet March 1st at Montaluce Vineyards and Estates, Tour De Georgia April 25, and with the help of our Ambassadors she gave away fi fteen exceptional door prizes. Thanks again to our Host the Artist Palate Café and Paul Thomas Chocolates. Our next BAH will be hosted by 400 Edition and 3by400 April 1st at Dumond’s Patio Grill.


citizen of this community to be on call for them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But ourability to do so is being compromised when, in many cases, we’re being paid less thanwhat it actually costs to treat a patient.”

According to George, state lawmakers must work to protect the state’s health care systemwith the same fervor that they do other initiatives like education and public utilities.

“Our local health care system is indispensable,” says George. “It is the primary guardian of health in our community and is the key building block for everything else in our commu-nity including education and economic vitality. It is our hope that our elected lawmakerswill do what is necessary to protect our local health care system and to preserve access tohealth care for every resident of Lumpkin County.

Chestatee Regional | Continued...

Appalachian Skate KlubA.S.K. Task ForceAppp

750604b

The A.S.K. Task Force is made up of professionals as well as ell ace is made up o s weyouth members of A.S.K. volunteevolunteers.

Our services includede: • tingPaint••Sheetrock RepaSheetrock Repair••Yard WorkYard W••MovingMoving••House Cleaningouse Cle••Odd Jobs you don’t want to dowant td Jobs you don’t w

O JOB TOO BIG OR SMAOur services are FREE.Your donation of any size is appreciated!ted!cianation of an

770-617-7955The Chamber | Page 7

The Appalachian Skate Klub is an organization that is dedicated to bringing skaters and the community together by helping to com-municate the needs of the community to skaters and the needs of skaters to the community. Our mission is simple: we are fundrais-ing for the skateboard project at the Yahoola Creek Park by involving the skating youth of this community, and their supporters, in a campaign run by the skating youth for the skating youth, in an eff ort to give kids a place to practice their sport safely.

To fi nd out more about A.S.K. Contact: Greg Moore (770) 617-7955

The Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center would like to express our heart fi lled thanks to Greg Moore and the Appalachian Skate Klub for the improvements on the Chamber building, public rest rooms, and walkways. This has been the most incredible GIFT the Chamber has received. We encourage our businesses to support this Non-Profi t and what they are trying to do to build a Skate Park at the Yahoola Creek Park.

Appalachian Skate Klub

JANUARY 2008

Achasta, A Residential Golf CommunityAmerica’s Home Place, IncAppalachian Heritage PropertiesAppalachian Outfi tters River OutpostBanister Funeral HomeBlue Mountain Builders, Inc.Brooks Point ApartmentsByrd’s Mini Storage #3Chestatee FordChick-fi l-ACrown Mountain Women’s HealthDahlonega Healing ArtsDays InnGeorgia Power CompanyHummingbird Lane Art GalleryNaturally Georgia LLCNeighborhood Healthcare CenterNorman Adams Insurance Agency

Northeast Georgia Health System, Inc.Paradise Cabins Resort & SpaPicket FenceRefrigiWear, Inc.R-Ranch in the MountainsSheffi eld & Co. Marketing/AdvertisingState Farm InsuranceThe Frog Hollow CompanyThe Fudge FactoryThe Rehabilitation Institute of DahlonegaThe Smith HouseThe Wagon Wheel RestaurantVillage ToysWeekend Gold Miners ClubWest Carpet SalesJewell WestWillow Trace ApartmentsWindstream Communications

NOVEMBER 2008

Golden Classics Gabee’s Cajun KitchenCohen, Neal Psy DWatts Chiropractic of Dahlonega JMJ Trucking Company, LLCGold City Classifi eds & TrayBrook Designs Joni Bell ServicesGold Rush GalleryStudio Twenty-One Makeovers

DECEMBER 2008

Mountain Geek Computers3by400

JANUARY 2008

Etowah River Pottery Brooks Point ApartmentsHaventouch Enterprises IncTugaloo Home HealthLee’s Home Interiors Rich Printing, Inc KDA Communications Dahlonega Lutheran Mission ChurchThe Common ThreadAppalachian Skate Klub

Member Renewals

Welcome New Members

On January 30th, Friends,Chamber staff , and Ambassadors’ en-joyed a delicious fun fi lled evening, compliments of owner and Chef Charles Mikel.

Located on the North side of the square up-stairs, above Bleu Art Gallery. Gabee’s off ers a vari-ety of Cajun cuisine and seafood. Starting February 8th, Gabee’s will be off ering full breakfast served from 9:00am till closing.

For more information, call (706) 864-4417.

Ribbon CuttingsGabee's Cajun Kitchen


SAVE THE DATESMarch 1 Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet at Montaluce,7:30 pmMarch 8 - 9Dahlonega Celtic Music Festival, 1st AnnualMarch 13Executive Committee, 12:00 pmMarch 18 Economic Development, 8:00 amMarch 19Women In Lumpkin Leadership Breakfast at Stewart Center for

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Continuing Education, 8:00 amMarch 20 Board Meeting, 12:00 pmMarch 25 Ambassadors Meeting, 12:00 pmApril 1 Business After Hours at

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Dumond’s Patio Grill, 5:30-7:30 pmApril 10 Executive Committee, 12:00 pmApril 10-12 Vintage Chevrolet Club National

p

Meet, 6th Annualg

April 15Economic Development, 8:00 am

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April 16 Women In Lumpkin Leadership

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Breakfast at Stewart Center forp pp

Continuing Education, 8:00 amApril 17 Board Meeting, 12:00 pm

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April 18-20 Bear on the Square Festival, 12th

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AnnualApril 25 Tour de Georgia Stage 5 Finish

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April 29 Ambassadors Meeting, 12:00 pm

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A gated Active Adult 55+ CommunityLuxury Condominium Flats

From $274,900706-864-6698

Great Mountain Views

Spacious ClubhouseSwimming PoolHiking Trails

www.SummitofDahlonega.com

On an early spring morning in 1996,merchants on the square in Historic Dahl-onega, Georgia were visited by an unlike-ly "tourist". A baby bear had managed toclimb a sycamore tree on a busy corner of the square and refused to come down. Af-ter a prolonged eff ort, the bear was even-tually rescued safely. But not before creat-ing quite a stir in the community.

Dahlonega residents Nick and GlendaPender, both respected musical and en-vironmental activists, joined forces with agroup of local merchants and used the in-cident as inspiration to create the annualevent known as The Bear on the SquareMountain Festival. 12 years later, "Bear onthe Square" has become an annual rite of spring in the North Georgia Mountains asit kicks off the festival season every springin April.

The Festival, whose purpose is to cel-ebrate, preserve, and promote the tradi-tion of bluegrass and old-time mountainmusic, crafts, and folkways, is held everythird weekend in April on and aroundDahlonega's quaint Historic Town Squareand in Hancock Park, adjacent to thesquare. The park is the focal point for con-certs and other festival activities. Dozensof vendors descend each year upon thetown to market wares that are hand madeand are representative of the SouthernAppalachian Mountain Region. They areaccompanied by a multitude of bothamateur and professional acoustic musi-cians who gather from miles around forimpromptu jam sessions that create thesoundtrack to the old time atmosphere.

Headlining the stage performances areold-time music legends Norman andNancy Blake and the dynamic CarolinaChocolate Drops with their exciting, au-thentic string band music. Jamming goeson day and night around the square whileother local, regional, and national mu-sicians take the stage all day Saturdayand Sunday. A juried artist's marketplacefeatures traditional mountain art andcrafts. Extensive music workshops, a Sun-

day morning Gospel Jam, a street dance, a live auction, children's activities, a heri-tage center demonstrating mountain tra-ditions, and of course, food, complete the off erings, making Bear on the Square the perfect outing for the whole family.

The Bear on the Square Mountain Festi-val committee is in the process of gath-ering donations from the local business community for the Friday night Live Coun-try Auction at the 2008 festival.

The annual Bear on the Square Moun-tain Festival auction, a major fund-raiser for the festival each year, is a highlight of Bear on the Square, which is a signifi cant revenue-producing event for the Dahl-onega communityand our local mer-chants. The auctionis open to the pub-lic and off ers a fun,casual event on theopening day of thefestival. All dona-tions are fully taxdeductible, sinceBear on the Squareis a registered501(c) 3 not-for-profi t cultural artsorganization.

Drop-off pointfor donations willagain be at Cran-berry Corners, oryou can call Mela-nie Pruitt, auctionchairperson, toarrange for pick up of your dona-tion. You can reachMelanie by calling

(706) 864-0374 or (706) 265-9459, or byemailing her at [email protected].

Please remember that the auction com-mittee needs a description of the donat-ed item, its approximate retail value, yourname and the name of your business.

Bear on the SquareApril 18-20, 2008

Bear on the Square Seeks Donations for

Live Country Auction.


Property ManagementSmall Business Consultant

Turnbull Associates

Greg Moore

Offi ce (404) 406-3949

Owner Fax (706) 867-4815

On Tuesday, February 26th, representatives from the Georgia Department of Economic Development's Small Business & In-novation Division came to Dahlonega to designate Lumpkin County as an "Entrepreneur Friendly" county. This designation is the result of a seven-step process that helps Dahlonega and Lumpkin County create an environment that recognizes entre-preneurs and small business strategies that can be worked into the community’s economic development strategies.

The Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce be-gan leading the community through the designation process in May 2007, starting with the creation of the Economic Develop-ment committee. As a result of going through the process, the committee, with the assistance of NGCSU student intern Chloe Krueger, created a "How to Start a Business in Lumpkin County" booklet that is now available at the Chamber of Commerce.

The last steps of the designation process included interviewing thirty-eight local businesses and compiling the results in order to determine the needs of the small-business community. The committee, joined by students in the NGCSU Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team, set out in late January and early February to complete the interviews. Through the interviews, the commit-tee discovered that one of the biggest needs in the small-busi-ness community is development in their marketing and sales eff orts and technological skills. Armed with this information, the Chamber will begin working with state and federal resource pro-viders in order to host educational sessions and workshops that will add value to your Chamber membership.

More information about the Entrepreneur Friendly Designation can be found at www.georgia.org.

Stefani LogsdonVice President of Operations

Lumpkin County Receives Entrepreneur Friendly Designation

13 South Park Street, Dahlonega, GA 30533Tel: 706-864-3711 Toll Free: (800) 231-5543

www.dahlonega.org

Site of the First US Gold Rush.

Dahlonega - Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce

Documents

The Chamber Newsletter March 2008