Hot Springs Chamber hopes to increase outreach

HOT SPRINGS – The Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce held their monthly meeting Thursday. Topics of discussion included an outreach update, the museum, and events coming up in Hot Springs.

According to Hot Springs Chamber President Leslee Smith, the web page for the chamber has been updated to meet the needs of current members. The chamber had previously had a problem with contacting their web developer.

“Our website is updated and current,” Sandy Prongua said. “She didn’t say why she was so hard to get a hold of, but assures us she wants to do our website and we will let her. “

Chamber member Norah Potts was hesitant to rely on the current web host asking for clarification on her absence and lack of communication between the chamber and the host.

Smith is also trying to increase membership of non-chamber businesses of Hot Springs to join by showing the added benefits of being part of the chamber.

“I have been working on non-chamber businesses here to get them to join and get more bang for their buck,” Smith said. “The kiosk is at the Printery and I am holding off to see if other businesses want to join.”

The kiosk is displayed outside of the bank with the names of businesses who are members of the chamber on it. The organization is working toward an update of the kiosk to display businesses and increase their outreach to the community.

“There are a lot of good reasons to join the chamber,” Smith said. “I don’t think a lot of people know what all we do for each other.”

The group is concerned with tourism in Hot Springs and they hope the chamber can help improve visitation to the area springs as well as shopping within local businesses. According to Smith, the more businesses involved in the chamber, the greater the outreach.

As part community involvement, the chamber will once again have chamber bucks issued during the holiday season for people to purchase. Chamber bucks are dollars that can be purchased by people for use at chambered member only businesses.

The idea behind chamber bucks is to promote spending within the local economy and to help businesses within the chamber grow. The bucks can be reimbursed by the business for actual dollars through the chamber.

The group then agreed to give gifts away at events during the winter months in the form of chamber bucks. At four different events in the coming month they will be giving two $25 prizes in chamber bucks for a total of $200 worth of money to be spent in town.

Next, Potts updated the chamber on the museum and the plans in the works for improvements.

“The museum has submitted its second grant in its history the other day,” Potts said. “We are asking for $10,000 to make improvements, including creating a reading room and a document room where people could make copies of historical documents from Hot Springs.”

In addition to the reading room, Potts hopes the room would create additional space for meetings.

“This would give us another option on where to meet and the VFW can have their meetings there,” Potts said.

Potts also hoped for a new sign for the museum because of the dissatisfaction of the current yellow and red scheme.

The colors were used out of availability rather than need. Potts hoped a new sign would help increase tourism and give a more presentable appearance to the museum.

The chamber ended their meeting by discussing upcoming bazaars, auctions, and community events within Hot Springs. According to Smith the month is shaping up to be as busy as October.