-
Chamber President Lezley Brown proudly shows off the new location for the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber moved into its new permanent location on Celebration Plaza in early August. Staff photo by Tammy Vinson -
The Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce has commissioned a limited edition set of 50 Hopkins County-themed, hand-painted, shatter-proof, 24k gold-trimmed, cloissoine Christmas ornaments available for sale. Staff photo by Tammy Vinson
Hopkins County Chamber moves to new permanent location
The Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce has officially moved into its new, permanent home at 110 Main St.
“We moved in and immediately started preparing for the stew contest,” said Chamber President Lezley Brown. “It might not have been the most ideal timing, but we made it work.”
The new location, featuring a view of Celebration Plaza, the Hopkins County Courthouse and Veterans’ Memorial, is easy to find and well laid out with 4,000 square feet of space to accommodate the Chamber, as well as their new “incubator” program, called Grow and Go.
The Grow and Go program is aimed at home-based businesses that have outgrown the home but aren’t ready for their own space just yet. The Chamber has four slots, and three are already filled. Operation Victor Echo Tango, Chad’s Media and Omega Networks will all have their own office space inside the Chamber building.
“It’s our hallmark program,” Brown said. “We’re going to stay at four participants for the time being, so we can see how it goes. In addition to the rental space, the Chamber is going to mentor these businesses to help them grow. That’s why we call it an ‘incubator’ program.”
The Chamber moved from their building on Houston Street (now the Agri-Life Extension Office) to a location across from City Hall on the corner of Connally and North Davis streets in 2008 or 2009. They spent 10 years there, leaving when the building sold to Whimsy and moving into a temporary location at 128 Jefferson St. Brown affectionately called the small building “the Lego,” due to its size and shape. They were supposed to be there for two months, but ended up staying eight months.
“People had a hard time finding us in the Lego,” Brown said. “We’ve been giving a lot of tours, getting lots of traffic since we’re easy to find now, right in the middle of everything.”
The Chamber is asking for local artists interested in having their artwork displayed in the new office space to contact them. Brown said she envisions a rotating exhibit of artwork representing Hopkins County. “That way when people from out of town come in, they’ll get a taste of what Hopkins County has to offer,” she explained.
“We had dreams of a location like this, but we thought our dreams were too big. We were scared to say them out loud. Then we said them, and now we’re here, ready to go. We’re so excited to be here. I think this is our forever home, and it’s the perfect spot,” Brown said.
For more information, visit the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce website at www.hopkinschamber.org or their new offices in downtown Sulphur Springs.