Athens-Limestone Chamber staff, from left, are Debra Porter, Membership and operations Director; Nikki Holladay, Marketing and Communications Manager; Ana Norwood, Graphic Design Manager; Brooke Pettus, Programs and Events Manager and Pammie Jimmar, President/CEO. Photo courtesy Athens-Limestone Chamber

The Athens-Limestone County Chamber of Commerce is getting a little professional recognition, thanks to a 2023 website glow-up that has boosted traffic, increased member engagement, and drawn fresh nationwide attention to one of Alabama’s fastest-growing areas.

The Chamber recently was among one of twelve winners from across the U.S. recognized with the “Best Website” award in its category by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). The Virginia-based association fields a membership including more than 1,600 chambers of commerce and related business and economic development organizations, representing more than 9,000 individual professionals within the industry.

The award came in the wake of the Chamber’s 2023 website makeover, which employed the local services of north Alabama marketing agency Red Sage Communications.

Done as part of the Chamber’s larger rebranding campaign, the change paid off in measurable ways: “Website views jumped to 65.5K in 2024 vs 43K in 2023 (51% increase),” the Chamber said in its announcement, adding that “89 members joined via the integrated membership form (up 10% from 2023) and there was a 31% increase in event registrations.”

The website upgrade addressed both functional and aesthetic issues, including photographs, verbiage, and links that had become outdated or confusing to navigate, said the Chamber.

“Over the course of several months and without any financial support, the chamber staff undertook a comprehensive effort to give their website a facelift. Using the original structure as a backbone, they created and/or reorganized 38 pages and integrated more cohesively with their CRM system.

“Today, the website is visually stimulating, brand cohesive and easy to navigate. Visitors can sign up for the chamber’s newsletter and
texting program, register for events, read community news articles, listen to the chamber’s in-house podcast, and more all in one place.”

Chamber president and CEO Pammie Jimmar gave the local staff all the credit in leading the project from concept to completion. “Accessibility is everything and streamlining the online process for our members has been a huge priority for us,” Jimmar said. “I can’t truly express just how excited and honored we are to represent our community in this way.”

The ACCE Awards for Communications Excellence (ACE) program showcases the top communications and marketing work of chambers of commerce and similar organizations throughout the United States.

In assessing its winning entrants, a panel of communications and marketing professionals from twelve U.S.-based chambers of commerce evaluated this year’s competitive entries. The entries were organized by category (based on each chamber of commerce’s annual revenue) as well as entry type: digital media, campaigns, print and electronic publications and websites.

As one of the event’s twelve winners, the website redesign of the Athens-Limestone County Chamber of Commerce will now go on to compete this summer for the Best in Show title for its category. Those three winning entries will be revealed at ACCE’s annual convention in Philadelphia an awards show to be held on July 23.

Visit the Chamber’s award-winning website at alcchamber.org.