\u201cI can\u2019t say one business is the key; I do believe the key is many businesses,\u201d said acting executive director Rose Black of the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce.
\nBlack made the statement when asked to comment on economic progress being made in the community.
\n\u201cI do believe the Tyrone area is really on a positive upswing. With all the new businesses we gained in 2003, the old businesses that have remained and the new growth now in progress, our storefronts are starting to fill with variety,\u201d Black told The Daily Herald.
\n\u201cThe flow of traffic is starting to pick up as you can park and walk from one store to another. We all need to be very thankful to the individuals who have extended themselves and put in long hard hours to offer us convenient personal service.
\n\u201cI think it is very exciting to receive the many calls of people looking or interested in Tyrone to live, open a business, industry or just visit. We are no longer a secret,\u201d exclaimed Black.
\nHere are some of the Chamber highlights Black noted for the year 2003:
\n\u2022increased membership by 39 members;
\n\u2022visited Harrisburg and other facilities with political leaders in regard to the Pennsylvania malpractice insurance issues;
\n\u2022hosted a joint \u201cBusiness After Hours with the Blair County Chamber at Tyrone Hospital;
\n\u2022combined efforts with Gardner\u2019s Candies to promote tourism and increase traffic downtown;
\n\u2022added the fourth edition to the Hometown Collectibles \u201cThe Villa\u201d to preserve memories and the nostalgia of Tyrone;
\n\u2022also made available very attractive embroidered Tyrone hats, T-shirts and sweatshirts;
\n\u2022sponsored the Community Picnic, the Classic Golf Tournament, Business Expo, Yuletyme Parade and Train Ride and Breakfast with Santa; and
\n\u2022promoted Chamber gift certificates to support local businesses and increase traffic.
\nThe Chamber also joined forces with the reorganized Merchants\/Retail Association and the Tyrone Community Partnership to work together according to Black.
\n\u201cOur doors are always open and we are here to help any individual with our services,\u201d said the Chamber executive director.
\nChamber President Jim Phillips was particularly pleased with the networking opportunities offered through the Chamber.
\n\u201cWe have seen a growth in numbers (of people in attendance) at our monthly breakfasts and business after hours,\u201d said Phillips.
\nHe also cited some of the other Chamber accomplishments in addition to the ones mentioned above, including the Christmas lighting funding and workshops on business expansion and recruitment held in conjunction with ABCD (Altoona Blair County Development).
\n\u201cIt was a good year. We have seen growth and expect to see continued growth,\u201d said Phillips.
\n \u201cTyrone is showing promise with the eventual completion of the I-99 expansion and the re-opening of the paper mill.\u201d
\nWhen asked about the possibility of a downtown hotel or motel, Phillips said it would be a boost as it would encourage people to stop and spend money in town.
\nPhillips expects to see an encouraging year in 2004 with the continuation of the monthly networking opportunities and the yearly business Expo held by the chamber.
\nLast year\u2019s springtime event drew about 18 to 20 businesses. The date of this year\u2019s event is still being decided according to Phillips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI can\u2019t say one business is the key; I do believe the key is many businesses,\u201d said acting executive director Rose Black of the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce. Black made the statement when asked to comment on economic progress being made in the community. \u201cI do believe the Tyrone area is really on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}