Chamber: Shop Rome during sales tax holiday Friday, Saturday

Media release: Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce Small Business Action Council Chairman Lamante Attaud, TENDO technologies, encourages the community to shop locally for back-to-school needs during the Georgia Sales Tax Holiday August 10 – 11, 2012 using the business directory at www.romega.com.

"The Chamber website, www.romega.com, features a business directory of local businesses," Chairman Attaud explains. "Using the business directory, anyone can search for local businesses by the business name or the business category. If you are shopping for school supplies or clothing, for example, simply go to www.romega.com and click on the business directory, where this tool will help you narrow your search for local businesses."

"To make it easier for local shoppers, the Chamber added a mobile-friendly business directory in 2011," Attaud adds, "The mobile-friendly website makes access to the business directory much easier for finding local businesses when you are out and about doing your back-to-school shopping. You can even save the shortcut to your phone and use it as an app."

"We hope that the mobile-friendly version of www.romega.com will encourage more of the public to seek out local businesses while they are doing their back-to-school shopping," says Chairman of the Board of Directors Angie Lewis, Citizens First Bank, a division of Synovus Banks. "Shopping locally is the most effective way to save and create local jobs. In this current economy, we should take every possible opportunity to seek products and services locally. Using the business directory at www.romega.com is a simple and easy step that anyone can take to support our local economy."

The reminder to shop locally comes as part of the Chamber's ShopRome_{SM campaign. Organized by the council each year, ShopRomeSM is an ongoing effort to market Chamber member businesses in Rome, Cave Spring, and Floyd County to the general public through various media outlets such as radio commercials, direct mailings, print advertisements, and electronic media.}

"The council advertises the ShopRomeSM message on an ongoing basis with accentuated advertising campaigns at strategic times of the year – including the back-to-school shopping season," adds Vice-Chair of the Economic Development Division Jimmy Byars, Hardy Realty. "One of the primary reasons that the Chamber created the mobile friendly version of www.romega.com was to provide an extra measure of support for our local businesses."

Chairman Lewis also emphasizes, "In addition to creating and retaining jobs, spending our money locally supports our tax base, which funds our schools, and encourages new businesses to locate here." Lewis adds, "It only takes a very small increase in shopping locally to have a significant impact on our local economy. If everyone uses the Business Directory at www.romega.com to shop with local businesses, we can create and save jobs with our shopping habits during the back-to-school season and throughout the year."

The Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce encourages everyone to shop Rome, Cave Spring, and Floyd County for products and services during the back-to-school season and throughout the entire year. Shopping in Floyd County supports the same local businesses that invest in our community through their membership with the Chamber.

For more information on efforts to support our local economy and to find Chamber members with whom you can do business, visit the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce website at www.romega.com.