NEWS RELEASE

The Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce and the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce were recognized with several “Excellence In Communications” awards last week by the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP) for their outstanding achievements and precedence within the area of communications. The Indian River County Chamber organization was also the recipient of a “Certified Plus” designation. Awards to both chambers were presented at the FACP Annual Conference in Panama City.

Both Chambers received CVB Communications Awards for Marketing Materials.

Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce was recognized for their outstanding Business Directory in the Membership/Communications/Marketing Materials category and for their Visitor’s Guide in the CVB Communications/Marketing Materials. The Sebastian River Area Chamber projects were developed and designed in house with Britney Melchiori, the Marketing and Communications Director for the Chamber, as the project leader.

According to Beth Mitchell, President of the Sebastian Chamber “The Business Directory and Visitor Guides are our primary marketing pieces used to promote the Sebastian River Area and are distributed throughout the State and County to encourage visitors and residents to visit the area and to support local business.”

Indian River County Chamber of Commerce was the recipient of a communications award for their “Come Discover Love Wedding Guide.” The Chamber partnered with Kerry Firth and Treasure Coast Almanac to publish the first guide in 2012. The guide is a featured part of the Chamber’s promotion of Vero Beach and Indian River County as a wedding destination and is distributed at Wedding shows, for inquiry fulfillment, web sites requests, walk-ins at the Chamber and provided to Wedding vendors for use at shows and their businesses. An online version (e-book) of the wedding guide, with links to individual advertiser’s sites can be found on www.comediscoverlove.com, a Chamber destination wedding website.  

The Indian River County Chamber was raised to “Certified Plus” status. Chamber President Penny Chandler noted that “In 2003, our Chamber was one of the first in Florida to be certified by FACP. This new designation of “Certified Plus” recognizes our chamber’s strengths and pinnacle standards of excellence in Organization Management, Service Intent and Capacity, Professional Administration, Financial Management, and Marketing/Public Relations.” Fourteen of over 200 chambers in Florida have reached this designation.

“Throughout the upcoming year, chambers across the state will turn to these examples of excellence as the new industry standards”, stated Tammy C. Bracewell, Executive Director, FACP. “We could not have been more impressed with or proud of the caliber of entries that were submitted for this year’s communications awards.”

FACP is a statewide organization whose mission is “Advancing excellence in chamber management” and whose vision is “Enhancing Florida’s business communities by cultivating successful chamber professionals.”

For more information, contact a member of the FACP Management Team (a division of The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce) at 1-800-226-3269 or via email director@facponline.com.

A complete listing of “Certified” and “Certified Plus” Chambers in the State of Florida is a follows, with fifteen chambers having the “Certified Plus” Chambers of Commerce designation *:

Bay County Chamber of Commerce

^* Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce

^* Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce

^* Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce

*Clay County Chamber of Commerce

^* Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce

Destin Area Chamber of Commerce

Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates

^* Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando

^* Indian River County Chamber of Commerce

^* Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce

^* Melbourne Regional Chamber of Commerce

^* Miramar-Pembroke Pines Regional Chamber of Commerce

Naples Chamber of Commerce

^* Ocala/Marion County Chamber-Economic Partnership

^* Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce

^* Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce

^* Putnam County Chamber of Commerce

Saint Johns Chamber of Commerce

Sarasota Chamber of Commerce

Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce

South Lake Chamber of Commerce