Chamber staff to vacate Walhalla’s Earle House

Walhalla’s elected leaders are being told that the Oconee Chamber of Commerce is changing to a more county-wide approach to promoting and developing business and will phase out its local office at the Earle House. Brent Taylor, city administrator, sees an opportunity for the city to step in and hire a Main Street coordinator as part of a program through the state Municipal Association. Walhalla financial assistance to the county chamber has run in the neighborhood of $18 thousand annually. Taylor believes by reducing the city’s annual allocation to the chamber to $4 thousand, the savings could be applied to hiring a part-time coordinator who would assume roles such as event coordinator, recruit business, and act as liaison between the city and downtown business. The available state Municipal Association program is called Main Street South Carolina. It would require a $400 dollar fee to enroll and dues of $1,200 a year.