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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
Lit for the holidays
This house at 148 Washington Street in Commerce is one of a number of in the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Tour of Lights” holiday
local houses decorated and lit for the Christmas holidays. It is also a nominee promotion. See the other nominees on the chamber’s Facebook page.
Jackson chamber gets its
2017 leadership team in place
The board of directors of
the Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce
adopted a 2017 budget and
confirmed its 2017 leadership
team in its final meeting of
the year.
Meeting on Friday, the
board adopted a $563,326
budget that is $12,327 — or
two percent — higher than
the 2016 budget following
a brief explanation of the
spending plan by president/
CEO and economic develop
ment director Jim Shaw.
On the income side, the
budget projects a 24-percent
increase in new-member
dues and an eight-percent
hike in overall dues revenue,
due to an increase in mem
bership during 2016.
Shaw said the chamber
might do even better.
“We are contemplating
this year doing a member
ship drive,” Shaw told the
directors, pointing out that
the budget does not reflect
the drive.
“It’s not in the budget and
I don’t know when we will
do it, but whatever we do in
a membership drive will be
positive for the budget,” he
advised.
On the expense side, the
budget calls for total spend
ing of $562,352, which is
up three percent or almost
$18,000 from the anticipated
total spending in 2016.
Spending for economic
development is expected
to rise by 73 percent, from
$36,942 to $63,801.
“In 2016, I took the
approach that the most
important thing for me to
do was to establish the rela
tionships and build the rela
tionships with people inside
the state of Georgia that I
thought could best help Jack-
son County,” said Shaw, who
took over the chamber’s top
position early in 2016.
For 2017, Shaw said he
added money for attending
more functions, for improv
ing an event the chamber
held for brokers, and to
acquire marketing materials.
Costs for building mainte
nance are expected to drop
by almost $20,000, mainly
because the 2016 spending
in that area was inflated
by about $18,000 worth of
unbudgeted emergency
repairs to the chamber office.
Spending for a couple of
laptops and an overhaul of
the website pushed the facili
ties, office and administrative
line item up 23 percent to
$42,661.
Personnel costs are antic
ipated to increase by $3,888
— one percent.
Leadership Team
The directors confirmed
the election of new directors
Linda Foster, John Howell
and Adam Emrich, although
Emrich is already on the
board, having filled an unex
pired term during the year. In
addition, Commerce Mayor
Clark Hill and Nicholson
Mayor Jan Webster will serve
as voting members repre
senting the county’s munici
palities, while April Howard
will represent the county’s
educational community.
Matt Benson will succeed
Bill Cornell as chairman.
Larry Ebert will be vice
chairman, Joe Hix will serve
as secretary and Andy Garri
son is treasurer.
Membership Drive
While Shaw could not say
when the membership drive
will take place, he stressed
the need to put a member
ship retention plan in place
first.
“We need to know how
we’re going to retain our
new members before we get
them, rather than to try to fig
ure it out after we get them,”
he said.
Melissa Britt, vice presi
dent of operations, is work
ing on that. She said she
is looking at similar plans
from other chambers and
observed that most of them
focus on retaining new mem
bers, whereas she wants
a system in place to care
for both new and longtime
members.
For 2016, Britt said the year-
to-date retention rate was
80.4 percent, but that the
chamber “is really making
a last-ditch effort to contact
people” about renewing —
and to learn the reasons why
they are not renewing mem
bership.
Humane Society taking
nominations for awards
The Humane Society of Jackson County is taking nomina
tions for its annual recognition event.
Nomination forms for people who have contributed to the
well-being of Jackson County’s homeless and abandoned
animals are available at http://hsjc.com/events/.
The public is invited to attend this event, Thursday Jan. 26,
at 6:30 p.m., at the Jackson Electric Membership Corporation
auditorium. Light refreshments will be served.
From a flagpole to a Christmas tree
With school closing for the Christmas holi
days, Commerce Primary School, Minish Drive,
Commerce, transformed its flagpole into a lighted
Christmas tree.
“Okinawa
Etched Deep
in My Mind”
By Herman Buffington
A Georgia Soldier’s
Recollection of
Okinawa, The Last Battle
of World War Two
This book by Herman Buffington, the long-time pub
lisher of MainStreet Newspapers, is again available in a
limited quantity.
Buffington, who passed away in 2014, was a combat infan
tryman in the last battle of World War II, the Battle of
Okinawa. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army’s 96th Infantry
“Deadeyes” Division and this book is his personal recollec
tion of the Easter Sunday, 1945 Okinawa invasion and other
memories of that battle.
The book is available for $10 plus tax at The Jackson Herald
office, 33 Lee Street in Jefferson.
To have a book mailed to you, send a check for $13.70 ($10
plus tax & shipping) to Helen Buffington, 162 Jett Roberts
Road, Jefferson, GA 30549. For more information, call 706-
614-4354.
Howard gets contract extension
Jackson County School System superintendent April How
ard has secured a three-year contract extension. The Jackson
County Board of Education approved the extension following
a closed session and superintendent’s evaluation on Dec. 12.
Howard was named JCSS superintendent in 2013. Contract
details, including salary, have not been set.
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Commerce school
board wins accolade
The Commerce City School has achieved the status of
“Quality School Board,” by the Georgia School Board Asso
ciation (GSBA). The recognition pregram is designed to
showcase best practices in school governance and leadership.
GSBA recognizes good school board governance to foster
educational community cultures in order to advance student
learning and achievement.
Commerce City School Board met and or exceeded the
criteria set forth by GSBA to earn this honor of a 2016 Quality
Board.
The GSBA Governance Team Recognition Program was
developed by Georgia superintendents and board members
based on the state board of education’s standards for effective
governance to recognize quality leadership.
In 1998, the Georgia School Boards Association was one of
the first school board associations in the nation to develop a
program of standards for local boards of education.
The GSBA Board recognition program is a three-year, three
tiered pregram. For more information, visit the GSBA website.
Commerce Planning panel
cancels its December meeting
The Commerce Planning Commission has cancelled its
December meeting for lack of agenda items.
The group, which makes recommendations to the Com
merce City Council on land use and zoning matters, meets on
the fourth Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Commerce
Room of the Commerce Civic Center.
Its next regular meeting will be held Monday Jan. 23, at 6
p.m.
Commerce council changes meeting dates
The dates of both of the January Commerce City Council
meetings will be moved, due to holidays.
The “work session” will be held on Tuesday Jan. 3, because
New Year’s Day falls on Sunday and the city will take Monday,
Jan. 2, as a holiday. The regular (voting) meeting will be moved
to Tuesday Jan. 17, because the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
falls on Monday Jan. 16. That meeting will be moved to the
Cold Sassy Room in the civic center because municipal court
will be using the Commerce Room.
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'16 Dodge Dart SE Sedan $13334
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'14 Ford Focus SE Sedan $14542
'15 Kia Soul Hatchback $15120
'09 Dodge RAM 1500 Big Horn Truck $15354
'14 Nissan Rogue Select S SUV. $16114
'15 Kia Optima LX Sedan $16831
'13 GMC Terrain SLE-1 SUV. $17206
'14 Toyota Camry SE Sedan $17281
'13 Ford Escape SEL SUV. $17485
'15 Toyota Camry SE Sedan $17522
'15 Chrysler 200 Limited Sedan $17831
'16 Dodge Journey Crossroad SUV. $18055
'14 Ford Fusion S Sedan $18156
'15 Chrysler Town & Country Minivan $19287
'14 Ford Taurus SEL Sedan $19556
'15 Jeep Cherokee Latitude SUV. $21301
'09 Toyota Tacoma Truck $22370
'14 Ford Mustang GT Coupe $22800
'12 Dodge RAM 1500 SLT Truck $23488
'15 Dodge RAM 1500 SLT Truck $23526
'14 Chevy Silverado 1500 LT Truck $25792
'15 Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner Truck $29164
'14 Ford Explorer Limited SUV. $29193
'13 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport SUV $30298
'14 Dodge RAM 1500 Express Truck $31555
'15 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 SUV. $31771
'14 Dodge RAM 1500 Truck $32446
'15 Dodge RAM 1500 Big Horn Truck $32810
'14 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon SUV. $36366
COMMERCE
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Highway 441 in Commerce
706-335-2800
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