NEAL APPELBAUM, President, Chamber of Commerce
Sunday, June 24, 2012 5:24 am

The Chamber of Commerce has a mission of increasing visibility for the community, increasing customer traffic for the community, and increasing sales revenue for the community. That work benefits the community through the creation of jobs and increase in tax revenues which then go to support the schools, parks, roads and other basic government functions.

The Chamber is not a government entity, but has a role that benefits the public and private sectors. As a realtor doing business in Cannon County, I believe the Chamber helps set an atmosphere and image that attracts potential new residents to the area and helps current residents to see the benefits of staying in this community.

The sale of houses, especially in this economy, impacts the local tax base and throws many dollars into the community beyond the price of a home: advertising dollars flow through our media outlets and print shops, attorneys and title companies prosper, contractors find new work, hardware and furniture stores generate new revenue, real estate transfer fees benefit local and state government coffers.

The Chamber is now exploring various marketing options which have the potential to bring in new tourists and their money. Sales tax levied on those visits replenishes potential tax allocations to partially fund the Chamber.

Members of the Chamber span the breadth of the local economy and well understand the returns needed to justify an investment. Investing in the Chamber with modest local government funding has the potential to return significant dollars to many sectors of our local economy.

Neal Appelbaum
Affiliate Broker, Reed Realty
President, Cannon County Chamber
of Commerce