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Volunteers and Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce employees move furniture Saturday morning into the downtown location, where the organization was originally located on the Circle in Sebring.

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published: Sunday, August 19, 2012

Downtown Chamber office gets overhaul

By SAMANTHA GHOLAR

sgholar@newssun.com

SEBRING - Lots of help made the move smooth and efficient Saturday morning from one office to another and the Downtown Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce is looking great.

Numerous volunteers and friends of the chamber gave a helping hand to newly-appointed chamber President/CEO Steve Nyhan.

Nyhan is in only his second week as CEO and already has gotten big things accomplished for the chamber.

"When visitors come to our downtown events this is what they would see," Nyhan said of the older chamber office. "This has been a representation of our businesses. I didn't like that. It's nobody's fault; this just hasn't been a priority."

The newly expressed effort by Nyhan has been fully supported by the chamber board and friends. Nyhan has a plan to turn the downtown chamber into a livelier, more present entity.

"We are changing our focus from tourism to busineses ... Once we get a better downtown presence and more downtown members, we plan to have this place open on a daily basis," Nyhan said.

Currently, the chamber is opened Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. but Nyhan is fully committed to making the downtown office a fully functioning one.

In the meantime, the office will continue to be partially run and operated by the ladies of the Highlands County Genealogy Society.

"They don't get a lot of credit. They work hard in here and they help out a lot when the office is open," Nyhan said.

In the past two weeks, Nyhan has been hitting the ground hard making connections with several businesses in the area. Nyhan has gotten verbal commitments from five downtown businesses and hopes to have them join the chamber in the newly revamped downtown office this week.

"We will start promoting more people and more businesses out of this office when we get it up and running next week, just like we do at the other office ... The integrity of our businesses have never gone down, therefore the chamber has never gone down," Nyhan said.

Nyhan is currently working with the Community Redevelopment Agency on a facade grant to re-do the outside of the office.