Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce officials plan to launch a new promotional program intended to convince residents to shop and dine in the city’s downtown area along Roswell Road.
The SS/PC chamber also will focus on international business in the community through its second annual Global Gateway Event and International Awards event, scheduled for Sept. 22.
The new campaign, called “Eat Stay Shop Sandy Springs,” will use a logo featured at local businesses and in marketing materials, and use Facebook and “guerilla marketing” to promote the city’s restaurants, a chamber official said. The effort will be the largest single promotion of Roswell Road businesses, said the official, who asked not to be named when outlining the program prior to its official announcement Sept. 13.
“The Sandy Springs Chamber is committed to creating a healthy business environment in the Roswell Road area, and is looking at a lot of new ideas to attract new business to that area or make it the kind of corridor that the folks in Sandy Springs are excited about visiting and shopping,” chamber incoming chairman Rusty Paul said.
Chamber officials hope that convincing Sandy Springs residents, who typically head to Buckhead, the Perimeter area or Cobb County when dining out or shopping, to instead patronize local businesses. That should boost the market, which would, in turn, lure future business, the chamber official said.
“People are not in the habit of saying, ‘Let’s go to Roswell Road,’” said the chamber official. “If you’ve got a chicken-and-egg problem, you’ve either got to build a chicken or build an egg. We’re trying to build eggs.
“People have avoided Roswell Road for so many years they don’t even think about going to Roswell Road today.”
During its Global Gateway event, the chamber plans a panel discussion on global issues, scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. at the The Retreat at Perimeter Summit. Rep. Edward Lindsey of Buckhead; Tamer Cavusgil, executive director of the center for international business at Georgia State University; Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Vance Smith; and Newell Rubbermaid Foundation President Jackie Parker are scheduled to take part in the discussion.
Georgia Power CEO Paul Bowers is scheduled to make the keynote speech for the event. Awards will be presented to Ted Woehrle of Newell Rubbermaid; Craig Lesser, CEO of Pendleton Group and chairman of World Trade Center Atlanta; and Phil Bolton, publisher of Global Atlanta.
Tickets for the event cost $75. For more information: www.sspchamber.org.