Abbeville County Chamber of Commerce

“Expenses advertising and promotion 6,963 office 1,954 conferences/meetings 68 dues & subscriptions 2,864 bank fees 121 credit card processing fe 292 total 12,262”

“The abbeville county chamber of commerce is a nonprofit with the mission of promoting business, developing tourism, and serving the townships of abbeville county, including abbeville, due west, donalds, calhoun falls, and lowndesville. We recognize that business and tourism are intertwined for abbeville, and the services and programs we provide address both needs. For our businesses, we offer a range of programs and services to strengthen them. Our promotional avenues to make our businesses more visible include digital ads, traditional print ads, and radio ads as part of our business spotlight program, and we offer development opportunities like our business education classes to all members at no cost. Through programs like the brew and business after hours, we connect businesses with the community and foster business-to-business connections. Our ambassador program is another tool for business exposure; it allows member businesses to have a representative at chamber events and to be a part of important events like grand openings. We also developed our inspire abbeville initiative in an effort to address concerns over abbeville's aging population and shrinking workforce by offering a combination internship/workforce development program that places college-aged individuals with partnering organizations and businesses for a work based learning experience augmented by professional development training here at the chamber, ideally keeping our youth here by making a job opportunity for them and integrating them into the business community. Through our future entrepreneur scholarship program, we incentivize young entrepreneurs who want to use their college degree to start a business in abbeville county. Additionally, we develop and execute events that attract shoppers to area businesses such as our downtown walks, our artisan faire, and small business saturday. As the only organization in the county that creates and promotes destination marketing, we are at the forefront of tourism in abbeville. Our staff operate and run the visitors center six days a week to serve the tourists who come to abbeville and connect them with points of interest, visitor information, lodging, food, and much more. In 2023, we also became a sc certified visitor center, a notable distinction. Our explore abbeville initiative attracts tourism through our dedicated social media accounts, our point-of-interest brochures, and our marketing videography, and we also partner with travel writers to spread the word about our unique offerings. We also generate tourism by offering events like the blue crab and blues festival, our farm tour, and victorian christmas. Through programs, events, outreach, and advocacy, we have promoted and served our members and our county since 1982. With a focus on both business and tourism, we work to make abbeville the location of a thriving business environment as well as a destination for rural tourism, leading to growth and opportunities for all.”