The Liberty County Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau have new projects to enhance commerce and benefit area businesses.

Chamber and CVB CEO Leah Poole spoke about the initiatives and provided an overview of the recently affiliated entities during a recent Hinesville Rotary Club meeting. Poole said the CVB board is in the process of establishing an advisory committee. Ideally, it would have 15 tourism stakeholders who represent area hotels, historic sites and commerce.

“We have three hoteliers, … we’re probably going to go the same route with the historic sites and get consensus on who the three are,” she said. “We’re going to do retailers, community leaders and restaurateurs, and then each city is going to have the opportunity to appoint one person from their council if they want.”

Poole updated club members on retail development initiatives, which was named one of the priorities during a county planning workshop in March.

The group has consolidated factsheets for prospective developers that provide a cross-section of four areas: Flemington, Midway, the Highway 84 corridor from Hinesville city limits to Walmart, and west Hinesville.

“It gives them all of the statistical information, quality of life information — anything they could possibly want to know about Liberty County …,” Poole said. “We’ve really gotten a lot of positive feedback from people looking to locate businesses here because it cuts down on the amount of homework that they have to do.”

Poole said the chamber also plans to commission a third-party retail development study on the area.

The chamber also is looking to adopt the Drugs Don’t Work program, which could potentially reduce businesses’ premiums on workers’ compensation insurance. Operated by the Council on Alcohol and Drugs in cooperation with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the program is designed to help employers become certified drug-free workplaces by establishing policies and employee assistance programs.

According to the Council on Alcohol and Drugs website, state law mandates a 5-10 percent discount for certified drug-free workplaces.