TOMS RIVER – Tourists love Ocean County more than ever, with record numbers of visitors spending time and money here in 2015. Tourism now injects $4.6 billion into the County’s economy, up from $4.3 billion in 2014. “There is no question that tourism is the number one industry in Ocean County,” said Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari. “These numbers prove that tourism is not only strong, but is growing.” A report issued by the state Division of Travel and Tourism confirms what county officials had predicted:  tourism figures are climbing three years following Superstorm Sandy. Ocean County now accounts for more than 10 percent of all tourism dollars generated in the state. “We’ve seen a 5 percent increase in tourism dollars in only one year,” said Vicari, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Department of Business Development and Tourism. “We fully expect to see this number grow with each passing season.” Only Atlantic and Cape May counties generated more dollars in 2015. By comparison, Monmouth County tourism economy stands at $2.4 billion, about half of Ocean County’s total. “More and more visitors continue to be attracted to our 44 miles of white sandy beaches, the Barnegat Bay, the Pinelands

GTRCC Foundation Scholarship Raffle Here's how it works: Chose a number, or numbers, between 1 - 200 - register and pay for that number(s) $100 per ticket - open to members + future members - only 200 tickets will be sold Drawings will take place from November 2017 - August 2018 at Member Connect...Let's Do Breakfast You do not have to be present to win 1 chance to win per month for 10 months Here's what this could potentially mean for you!  If all 200 tickets are sold - $20,000 will be collected - $10,000 will benefit GTRCC Foundation & $10,000 will be put in a pot to win monthly.  $1,000 will be raffled off each month.  The more involvement we have from our community the more successful this initiative will be!  Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce Foundation Tax Id#82-0898932 Raffle - License No: RL - 8207 ID No: 107-5-41798 Register here! Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce Scholarship will open scholarship application mid November. Applicants must meet scholarship criteria If you have additional questions, please contact danielle@tomsriverchamber.com.

As you are probably aware, legislation was recently introduced to raise the State’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. As a result, it is important for us as a chamber to take a position on the matter. Being able to articulate our position to our members, our board, our elected officials, and the media is critical. The Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce opposes an increase in the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour at this time. We believe that government should not have the right to impose wage requirements on private business owners. Our economy relies heavily on small businesses - especially those in the retail and hospitality sectors. An increased minimum wage will adversely affect those businesses because of likelihood of wage compression and hampered job creation and opportunities for young people and low-skilled workers. An increased minimum wage will also likely mean a decrease in the number of available work hours and job training. Additionally, if our small business owners incur more expenses, they may need to pass those expenses onto the consumer raising the cost of goods sold. We are in favor to policy alternatives such as a trainee wage at or below the current minimum

Over the last several months, I have been secretly creating a wishlist of client-focused amenities I wanted to implement at our site tomsriverchamber.com, and fortunately for us, we have a member who was able to read my mind and design a site that achieved each and every one of those goals. It is with great excitement that we announce the release of our new website - brought to you in partnership with the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce and Creative Click Media. Some of the functions we wanted our new site to have include: online membership application and renewals (including renewal reminders, invoices, and an annual recurring payment option), customized member database with searchable online membership directory (alphabetical and by industry) complete with map pin and link back to the member’s website, event registration, payment, + reminders, live customer service support, a robust community calendar that allows you to add your own upcoming community events (they’ll be run by the office for approval), new, valuable sponsorship opportunities, newsfeed with member-provided content, #WeAreTR live feed, dedicated tourism resources for the greater Toms River area, and so much more! So check us out.  Peek around.  See how your business can benefit