MBACC's First Six Months in 2019

MBACC's First Six Months in 2019

Your Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has been busy promoting, protecting and improving business on the Grand Strand. Here’s a look at our year so far.

71 Chamber Academy Classes
We’ve hosted 71 free educational seminars so far this year on a variety of topics, including taxes, investments, networking 101, podcasting basics, marketing basics, and email organization. There’s 22 more already on the calendar for the second half of the year. Visit ChamberAcademy.com to see what’s on tap.

44 Ribbon-Cuttings
We’ve given our special ribbon-cutting scissors a workout with 44 ceremonies to celebrate new businesses or acknowledge major milestones. Make sure you are following us on Facebook to see pictures from each ceremony.

17 Business After Hours
We’ve partnered with 17 different member-investors to host Business After Hours giving all of our member employees the chance to explore different businesses and network with their peers. We’re trying to make networking easier for those with young children by adding family-friendly opportunities including the Business After Hours events at Rockin’ Jump and Broadway Grand Prix. And, we heard the pleas for women-only events in our most recent survey. Be on the lookout for a brand new event called Women & Wine Wednesdays launching this fall.

12 Trips to Columbia and 3 Trips to Washington, D.C.
We made 12 trips to Columbia and three to Washington D.C. to speak with legislators. Our trips to Columbia included giving three testimonies before the S.C. State House or Senate committees. We fought efforts to move the school start date protecting businesses ability to use high schoolers in their workforce the entire summer. We helped secure $2 million for deep water ocean outfalls.

9,163,585 Business Directory Referrals
The chamber’s online Business Directory continues to be a great resource for our member-investors. From Jan. 1-June 27, the directory generated a total of 9,163,585 referrals. Restaurants are searched most frequently, followed by medical services, coupons, organizations/clubs, contractors, entertainment, hotels, events, outdoor recreation and employment agencies.

46 Media Hostings and 3 Media Missions
The marketing team works hard every day to promote the Grand Strand. Through the end of May, Visit Myrtle Beach has hosted 46 different members of the media ranging from traditional publishers to influencers all who generate content about their time in Myrtle Beach. There also have been three media missions, where Visit Myrtle Beach representatives travel to meet with publishers to pitch story ideas about the Grand Strand. You’ll see results of the media hostings and media missions linked on MyrtleBeachAreaCVB.com.

723.9 Million Earned Media Impressions Valued at $72.9 Million
The Visit Myrtle Beach efforts to visit and host media members has had big results. Through the end of May, the earned media impressions hit 723.9 million, valued at $72.9 million. Think of it this way, earned media is, well, earned and not purchased. But, if you were to purchase the same amount of impressions in advertising, it would cost $72.9 million.