May has been another busy month for the Lake City – Columbia County Chamber of Commerce! We have welcomed four new members to the Chamber this month. They are Art League of North Florida, Prevatt Law Firm, Tiffany & Company Catering and Grace Pediatrics.  We have hosted a ground breaking for the new Westside Community Center and a ribbon cutting for the re-grand opening of Papa Johns.  Our monthly mixer, hosted by Remax Realty, was a success by all accounts! Our Ambassador Committee also started a new program called “Surprise Patrol”. We kicked this off May 1^st and the first business selected was Vann Carpet One. A group of 15 Ambassadors gathered at the Chamber Office and walked over to Vann Carpet One with music playing, pom poms, whistles, noise makers and cupcakes to give the customers and employees a surprise visit and thank them for their continuous support of the community as well as the Chamber of Commerce. The best part is we videoed the entire thing for all to see! Check out the Ambassadors in action as well as the employees at Vann Carpet One’s reaction by visiting www.lakecitychamber.com . Be on the lookout next month, we could be visiting you!

There is still a very important event to be held in May and I would personally like to invite the entire community to come and hear firsthand from Jesse Quillen, Executive Director of Economic Development for Columbia County and Allison Megrath, AICP, Real Estate Manager for Plum Creek as they discuss; Location, Partnership and Opportunities: Bringing Industry to Columbia County. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 23rd at 11:30am at The Lifestyle Enrichment Center. Members are $20.00 and guests are $25.00. Our goal through this luncheon is to provide the community with a better understanding of terms that are often used when describing growth opportunities in Columbia County such as the RACEC site, Catalyst Site, Rural Enterprise Zone, Foreign Trade Zone and Inland Port. Additionally, we would like for you to hear the progress that Plum Creek, the land owner of the 2,600 +/- acre property, has made in positioning the site for industry to want to locate in Columbia County.  There has been a close working partnership between Plum Creek and over 30 stakeholders to ensure appropriate due diligence has been performed.  Through this extensive work effort, not only will the site be ready with all necessary master development permits in place but our local workforce will be ready to provide solid employees to the industries that choose to move to Columbia County.

Mark your calendar for the annual 4^th of July Celebration that will be held again in downtown Lake City around Lake Desoto. Our fireworks will actually be held on the 4^th of July with festivities beginning at 5:00pm. The firework show should go off at approximately 9:20pm or when it is dark enough for optimal viewing. More details will be provided over the next month. We are accepting vendor applications for the 4^th of July Celebration. Please contact us for more information.

We are always looking to grow membership. If you would like more information on the benefits of membership to the Lake City – Columbia County of Commerce please give us a call at 752-3690 or visit us at 162 S Marion Ave.