Contact:
Vicki Matteson / Member Services Manager
Indian River Chamber of Commerce
1216 21st Street P.O. Box 2947 Vero Beach, FL 32961
Direct: 772-567-3491 ext. 116
For Immediate Release
Indian River County Chamber of Commerce Celebrates 100 years
VERO BEACH, FL / MAY 2022 – This year marks the 100-year anniversary for the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating this milestone” said Dori Stone, President of the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. Stone continued, “We have so many reasons to be thankful. We are proud of our successes in the past one hundred years and, above all, grateful for all the support we have received from our members and the community. We want to show our appreciation to all of those who have contributed to this once in a lifetime Chamber anniversary. The mission of our 100th anniversary does not focus solely on celebrating our past. Our primary aim is to focus on our future and what we can achieve while connecting with our businesses and clients around the community. We want to celebrate their efforts in helping our organization become what we are today: a Chamber that is 100 years strong, proud and inspired for the future.”
The 100th Anniversary Gala will be held at The Vero Beach Museum of Art on Friday, May 13, 2022.
About The Indian River Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1922 the Indian River Chamber of Commerce has a long-standing legacy of community initiatives throughout our 100-year history, including adding the county Tourism and Economic Development organizations to the Chamber. Today, the Chamber has over 700 members representing thousands of employees, entrepreneurs, and owners.
Press Release / Indian River County Chamber of Commerce Page 2
Indian River Chamber of Commerce
- Serves as the Visitor Information Center for the County
- Represents over 700 area businesses
- Serves as Indian River County’s designated agency for economic development and tourism destination marketing.
- Publishes the Who’s Who Annual Business Directory
- Hosts Business Ribbon Cuttings to Celebrate groundbreakings and anniversaries • Established and manages the Leadership Indian River County program
- Established and manages a Youth Leadership program during the summer
- Studies and takes positions on issues that impact area businesses
- Hosts Vero Beach & Indian River County Young Professionals Network (YPN), bringing information and networking opportunities to those professionals 21 to 39 years of age
- Earned a “Certified Plus” Chamber of Commerce status with the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals and, in 2008, earned the prestigious 4-Star Accreditation for our sound policies, effective organizational procedures, and positive impact on their community, placing us in the top 4% of all chambers in the United States at that time.
Our Economic Development Successes
- Blue Dog Business Services (now Fortis) – adding 15 new jobs to 27 existing jobs • Boston Barricade – 28 new jobs; business recruitment
- Communications International – added 12 new jobs to 45 existing jobs
- CVS Distribution Center – 360 employees; business recruitment
- Diamond Drinks – 35 new jobs; business recruitment
- Girard Equipment – added 46 new jobs to original 12 jobs; business recruitment/expansion • IMPAK Corp. – 30 new jobs, business recruitment
- PCP Tactical dba Gorilla Ammo – adding 22 new jobs to 20 existing jobs
- Piper Aircraft – Retention project; currently have 1000+ employees
- Triton Submarines – retention/expansion added 24 new jobs to existing 14 jobs • Touqueville Asset Management – 25 new jobs; business recruitment
- TrueAero – 21 new jobs; business recruitment
- Attended industry-focused trade shows, met with numerous Site Location Consultants to promote IRC as an ideal business location
Our Tourism Marketing and Promotion
- Visitor Guide reaches over 90,000 people in print & online.
- 8K+ monthly visitors to our website, VisitIndianRiverCounty.com.
- Our Expedia Adverting has led to over 10K room night bookings this year. • Award-Winning video series, “Uncovering Indian River” & “Holy Grail Eats”. • Our Visit Florida Certified Welcome Center receives visitors from all over the world. • Video Marketing campaign to generate room nights for the county through OTT & Trueview. • Raising partners and destination awareness through SEO, Google Ads, and Google DMO. • Host numerous travel writers throughout the year to increase destination awareness. • 8,258 jobs are in Tourism & Hospitality in Indian River County.
- Visitor Spending is over $565.7M in 2019 and amounted to $53.6M in State & Local Taxes.