News

Chamber seeks $10,000 from city

By Bill Moss, Published: August 1, 2012

Hit by the slow economy and lower revenue, the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce has embarked on a campaign to raise money to reduce the debt remaining from its headquarters move four years ago.The chamber has received pledges from members of $125,000 toward its goal of raising $200,000 by October to trim the debt. This week it will ask the Hendersonville City Council to make a three-year pledge of $10,000 a year.
The Chamber moved to its current offices on Kanuga Road at Church Street after renovating the building in 2007.
"Timing is everything," said chamber president Bob Williford. "We made the move in 2007. We could have timed it a little bit better."
The chamber has $780,000 in debt that will be down to about $720,000 by the end of the year, Williford said.
"We're paying all the interest out of our operating budget," he said. "That's why we went from five employees to three. When people left we didn't replace them. We're kind of cut to the bone and there's not a whole lot more for us to cut."
The recession and anemic pace of recovery has cut the membership, too.
"We're down probably 15 percent from peak, 1,200 to about 900," he said.
Williford said the chamber plans to ask other local government to contribute as well. The chamber is making the requests now for the 2013-14 budget year before it goes to a bank with a proposal to refinance the debt and pay part of it down. Reaching the $200,000 goal "will position the organization to be able to absorb all debt costs by the end of 2015," he said in a letter to the city. The City Council is scheduled to take up the request on Thursday.