CHAMBER NEWS

“Obstacles are things a person sees

when he takes his

eyes off of the goal.”

- E. Joseph Cossman

In This Issue

Create A Marketing Plan

Business Spotlight

Estate Sale

Christmas on the Square

Story Time with Santa

Cookies with Santa - 4H

Open House

Ribbon Cuttings

Candy Land Decorations

Christmas Extravaganza

New Members/Upcoming Cal-

endar

We’re Here For You!

Membership Renewals

It’s time to renew your Chamber Mem-

bership. Be on the lookout for your re-

newal letter over the next couple of

weeks. There are some great changes

and events in store for the 2018 year and

the Screven County Chamber of Com-

merce wants you to be a part of every

opportunity! We look forward to your con-

tinued partnership as we strive to see

growth and unity in Screven County.

For more information, please contact Grace Waits at

director@screvencounty.com or at (912) 564-7878

Screven County Chamber of Commerce Newsletter December 2017

SCREVEN COUNTY

CREATE A MARKETING PLAN FOR 2018

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your business’s marketing efforts this past year? Did you get a good return on investment for every marketing dollar spent, or could resources have been used more efficiently? What did you plan on doing in 2017 that you just never got around to doing, and why didn’t you do it? For business owners wishing to maximize their marketing efforts in 2018, a marketing plan is essential. If you are unsure of where to start, here are some tips to get you started on a marketing plan for 2018.

Determine what worked and what didn’t. It is easy to get caught up doing things as they have always been done. The end of the year is a good time to reflect on what you have done and determine if that is the best use of your resources. While weeding out the less effective marketing efforts, look at what worked well. Would spending more time and money on that continue to yield greater results or have you reached a point of diminishing returns?

Evaluate what has changed. Markets are constantly changing and businesses need to take note and change with it. New competition may need to be addressed. A small retailer that may not have had any close competitors 5 years ago could now find themselves with others opening up shop near them while simultaneously facing increasing competition from online retailers such as Amazon. As demographics change, a business might find that its customer base is also shifting. Businesses need to recognize these changes and adjust their market-ing efforts to meet these new challenges.

Determine how you will implement changes. Business owners have a lot of their plate every single day. Implementing new marketing becomes an item on the “someday” list and gets pushed to next week, next month, and next quarter. By the end of the year, those changes that were desperately needed were never made and your business falls behind. Get specific on what is going to be done, when it will be done, and who is going to do it. Also determine what resources you are willing to dedicate to marketing. Many business owners are excited about the idea of doing more on social media because it is “free.” While it may require less capital, social media can use a significant amount of another resource—time. When creating your marketing plan, be sure to account for both time and money.

Lastly, set expectations for your marketing efforts. What do you expect your return on investment to be for your marketing? When do you expect to see a return? Business owners can sometimes be quick to judge a marketing effort if they do not see immediate results. Be sure to be realistic about when you will start to see results. Different marketing methods will produce results at different rates. Know ahead of time what you are expecting and allow ade-quate time to get those results. At the same time, if marketing efforts are not getting the re-sults they should be, stop putting resources there.

(Source: Valerie Cote, Consultant, UGA SBDC at Georgia Southern University)

What does AgSouth do? AgSouth is a lending institution that provides financing to rural America. AgSouth provides loans for large and small acre real estate, land refinancing, operating credit to farmers, equipment and land improvements, residen-tial lots and home constructions, and long-term mortgages. Why did you join the Screven County Chamber of Commerce? With the leadership of Chamber director Grace Waits, the Screven County Chamber of Commerce is an asset to any local business. Businesses receive monthly newsletters on ways to strengthen their business and to be in-formed of upcoming community networking opportunities. The Chamber does a great job of working to pro-mote local businesses. In your opinion, what is great customer service? Taking care of my customers’ needs in a timely manner, whether they are a full time farmer or someone looking to buy their first piece of land, is a top priority for me. I specialize in land and agriculture financing, and under-stand the unique nature of those loans. I am willing to meet my customers when and where is convenient for them. My goal is to help you purchase your property or have operating money to farm, and will do everything in my power to make that happen for you. Is there anything about AgSouth that you feel citizens don’t realize, but should be aware of? You do not have to be a full time farmer to borrow money from AgSouth. AgSouth provides loans to anyone looking to purchase recreational real estate, lots, home constructions, and home mortgages. AgSouth is also a cooperative. Being a cooperative, AgSouth shares its profits with all of its members. Since 1991, AgSouth bor-rowers have received, on average, over 25% of their interest back! This significantly reduces the cost of borrow-ing money and lowers your effective interest rate. Are there other advantages to borrowing money from AgSouth? Along with receiving 25% of your inter-est back, AgSouth offers low, long-term fixed rates. When buying any size tract, AgSouth allows you to lock in your rate for the life of the loan. In today’s increasing interest rate environment, this provides rate protection not always offered by other lending institutions. AgSouth also makes home loans? Yes! Kelsey Forehand Johnson, AgSouth’s mortgage loan originator, services the Sylvania office. AgSouth pro-vides various mortgage loan products with low 30 year fixed rates. In addition to specializing in long term mort-gages, AgSouth also finances residential lots and constructions of primary residences. What other products does AgSouth offer? In addition to land loans, agricultural loans, and home loans, AgSouth provides crop insurance for local farmers and a leasing program. AgSouth can provide leases for metal buildings, tractors, or any new agricultural equipment. The leases require no down payment and 100% of the payment is tax deductible!

Business: AgSouth Farm Credit Regional Vice President: Allen Daley Address: 302 Mims Rd., Sylvania Phone: 912.564.2522 Email: adaley@agsouthfc.com

Sheppard & Pace Real Estate celebrated their merge at an Open House during the

Christmas Extravaganza, Dec. 2nd. Tri Counties Appraisals and Eagle Properties, a divi-

sion of Evans Real Estate, Inc., have combined their services into one company that can

meet all of your real estate needs. Both companies have been helping Screven County

buyers and sellers with their real estate needs for over thirty years. Whether you are

buying a new home or upgrading to a new home their professional staff can help. Their

staff is experienced in all aspects of real estate transactions from listing homes and as-

sisting in determining the fair market value, to finding the best financing for your new

home purchase. Stop by and see them at 112 South Main Street or give them a call 912-

564-2419 or 912-564-1205.

The winners for the Candy Land theme decorations Possum Eddy, Bank of Newington & Maggie’s Acade-

my of Dance. Honorable Mention to Cottons Tire and Chilitos for all of the staff wearing our shirts!!

Everyone is truly a winner because you have made our town beautiful, festive and did an OUTSTANDING job.

What a terrific crowd we had last month at our Business After Hours

at Queensborough National Bank & Trust! The evening was filled with

smiles, laughs and warm handshakes. Nearly 50 Members and guests

enjoyed an evening of business building conversations and a huge se-

lection of delicious appetizers and drinks.

Interested in hosting Business After Hours? Contact the Chamber at 912-564-

7878 or director@screvencounty.com to receive details and get on our waiting list.

By all accounts, this past Saturday’s 31st Annual Christmas Extravaganza was the most suc-

cessful and best attended Extravaganza ever!

This year’s ‘Candy Land Christmas’ theme was wholeheartedly embraced by our community

and businesses. In fact, when you drive around the city, you will notice that more than 30 of

our local businesses have decorated their retail stores in the ‘Candy Land Christmas’ theme.

This week’s Sylvania Telephone highlights in both pictures and words how wonderful the an-

nual Christmas Extravaganza turned out!

In count, over 80 arts, crafts and food vendors and more than 2,500 participants attended, en-

joyed and supported the Christmas Extravaganza Festival.

In addition to the hundreds of locals, a survey of festival attendees included out-of-town folks

from Savannah, Beaufort, Augusta, Rincon, Swainsboro, Metter, Claxton, Allendale and

Statesboro who got a chance to visit our county and city.

Our annual Christmas Extravaganza Festival demonstrates how, by working together with city

and county officials, and various private, civic and community originations, we can come to-

gether to promote Screven County!

The Screven County Chamber of Commerce welcomes and encourages any and all sugges-

tions, comments and recommendations on how we can make next year’s Christmas Extrava-

ganza festival even better. Please call us at 564.7878 or comment on our Facebook page.

In closing, please remember to shop local and to support our local Screven County business-

es this holiday season.

As executive director of the Screven County Chamber of Commerce and on behalf of Craig

Lariscy, Chair of the Christmas Extravaganza, we thank you for your individual and group par-

ticipation and support.

Warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas to you, your friends and family,

Grace Waits

Craig Lariscy

Presented by the Screven County Chamber of Commerce, the Christmas

Extravaganza’s success was due to many organizations, groups, busi-

nesses and individuals working together.

We want to thank the following for their participation and sponsorships:

Gold Level Sponsorship:

Queensborough National Bank and Trust

Cottons Tire

Bank of Newington

Coastal Air Compressor

KOYO JTEKT

Troy University

Silver Level Sponsorship:

Screven County Middle School

Planters EMC

Chilitos

Donna’s Bakery

Sheppard & Pace Real Estate Inc.

Thompson, Strickland, Waters Funeral Home

Ross Drug

Sanders Monument

CM City Rental

Brower Tire

Bragg Motor Service

RockStar Graphics

Bronze Level Sponsorship:

Screven County Farm Bureau

Farmers & Merchants Bank

Maggie’s Academy of Dance

Glisson Accounting & Tax Group, PC

In-Kind/Gratis/Pro Bono Sponsors:

Horse Drawn Carriage Ride – Covenant Church

Live Nativity and Petting Zoo – First Christian Church

Hay Ride with Shepherd Storytelling – Virgil Arnett Roofing

S’mores Roasting Station – Peach State Media w/help from the City & County Fire Department

Community Christmas Tree & Decorations - The City of Sylvania and the Screven County Commissioners

Downtown Traditional Christmas Decorations – DDA & Better Hometown

Victorian Carolers – Joe Morgan and friends

Christmas Parade – John Rosier

Christmas Cards for Seniors – Syl-View Rehabilitation & Memory Care Center

Fountain Dining Area – First United Methodist Church

Tiny Tot Candy Land Village – Brandon Jones & SCHS Vo-Tech Students

Media Promotion & Coverage - The Sylvania Telephone

Petting Zoo – Randy Smith & Rebecca Friese, Brad & Kelli Chandler, Chad & Allison Wall and Wammock’s

Farm Service

Free Gift Wrapping – Girl Scouts

Christmas Wreath Donation – Bloom Florist

Santa Photos – Tara Lee Marsh Photography

Family Friendly 88.3 and 92.7 WAFJ – Live Remote Broadcast and Event Promotion

CM City Rentals – 65” Curved HDTVs for SEC Championship Live Stream

2Stream Mobile and RC Electronics – Satellite Delivered Live Stream of SEC Championship

Clean up & Public Safety - City of Sylvania

Community Tree - Gary & Brenda Weaver for parting with a very special tree that held precious memories.

Entertainment Stage & Performances

David Boddiford

Bob Good

SC Elementary School Chorus

SCHS Marching Band

Studio 23 Dance Academy

Southern Charm Twirlers

Maggie’s Academy of Dance

Alexis Dynamic Dancers

Welcome New Members: The Chamber is pleased to introduce the newest members of the Screven County

Chamber of Commerce! Please welcome them by visiting their websites, sending them

an email or stopping by to introduce yourself. (contact info on our Business Directory at

www.screvencounty.com)

Whitetail Properties (912) 536-5151 -Owner - Heath Thompson

Consolidated Planning, Inc. - (843) 514-2938 -Financial Rep. - Jenny Daley

Radio Statesboro (912) 764-6000 -Station Rep. - Debbie Boatright

Upcoming Events:

December:

8 - Jewelle’s Antiques Estate Sale, 9 AM - 6 PM, 115 Mims Rd.

9 - Jewelle’s Antiques Estate Sale, 9 AM - 6 PM, 115 Mims Rd.

9 - Story Time with Santa, Library, 2 PM, 106 S. Community Dr.

9 - Christmas on the Square, 5-7 PM, Downtown Newington

9 - Tour of Homes, 1-5 PM, Screven County Garden Club

10 - Jewelle’s Antiques Estate Sale, 1 - 5 PM, 115 Mims Rd.

10 - Memorial Service and Remembrance Tree Christmas Program

-Thompson-Strickland-Waters Funeral Home, 2-4 PM

11 - Board Meeting, 12:00 PM, Chamber Conference Room

16 - Cookies with Santa, 2 - 4 PM, Screven Co. 4H, 321 Rocky Ford Rd.

Wear your membership proudly! SCCoC is a badge of honor, be sure to place your membership sticker where customers can see it and know you are helping the entire community grow and thrive! If you haven’t received your sticker, please contact our of-fice.

Business Cards Drop off business cards for the display rack. Visitors frequently stop in looking for recommendations. And remember; WE ONLY RECOMMEND CHAM-BER MEMBERS!

The Screven County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Center e-newsletter is emailed to subscribers and members once a month. Our e-newsletter is filled with infor-mation from Chamber announcements, community and member events, promotions, enter-tainment and recreation, news briefs and more for the Screven County area. If you have in-formation, a news brief, promotion or event that you want included in our newsletter, we ask that you submit that information no later than two weeks prior to the newsletter going out around the 1st of the month.

Contact Us

Give us a call for more information about our services and benefits.

Screven County

Chamber of Commerce

101 S. Main Street

Sylvania, GA 30467

(912) 564-7878