The Mount Olive Area Chamber is focused on economic development, tourism, education and the promotion of the role of agriculture in the community, Chamber President Julie Beck said.

Beck provided an overview of a busy 2022 for the Chamber and made a forecast that 2023 will be just as busy during the Chamber’s annual banquet and awards ceremon,y held Thursday night, Feb. 16, at the Southern Wayne Country Club.

“We, at the Mount Olive Chamber, really spend a lot of time looking at who we are and where we want to go in the future,” Beck said. “One of the things that we did (in 2022), we came up with a new logo that is displayed right here on our backdrop.

“We also got a new website, and we updated our bylaws. We spent last year just really looking at our Chamber organization and trying to figure out where we want to be in five years, 10 years down the road. It was quite a process going through all of that, but we are very excited about going through that because I think it is important that you take that time to evaluate your organization and move forward.”

Time last year also was spent opening new businesses, doing ribbon cuttings and doing grand openings, she said.

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In 2022 for the second year in a row, the Chamber sponsored Pickles, Pigs & Swig that focuses on Mt. Olive pickles, craft beer and barbecue, Beck said.

In those two years it has raised $32,000 with $16,000 going to the Mount Olive Downtown Development Corp.

“We decided we wanted to contribute the majority of the money to our downtown development, to get it revitalized,” Beck attested.

She said the Chamber is excited about working with the Mount Olive Downtown Development Corp. because hopefully in the near future a master plan for downtown will be completed.

“This money is helping to finance that,” she said.

Last April something happened in the town that no one would never have imagined happening even in their wildest dreams— the 37th annual N.C. Pickle Festival brought 60,000 people to town, Beck said.

It was the largest Pickle Festival ever, she said.

“Lynn Williams, my co-chair, and I knew we were going to have a lot of people coming to our event,” Beck said. “We tried to prepare. We brought in more shuttle buses. We brought in more food vendors. We brought in more of everything, but we did not bring enough.

“We expected about 50,000 people and 10,000 more showed up than we expected. A good problem to have.”

Social media played a large part with five million people visiting the Pickle Festival website last year, she said.

“So we are preparing for this year’s event and we can just not imagine what is going to happen,” Beck said. “But we are ready. We are prepared.”

The festival brochure won first place in the medium category during the N.C. Association of Festivals and Events ShowFest Event Innovators Conference held Jan. 29-30 in Charlotte.

Also, Beck was elected Association president.

Beck said she tries each year to attend numerous conferences and events to represent the Mount Olive community ensuring it has a voice.

Last year she attended the N.C. Association of Festival & Events, N.C. Main Street, N.C. Rural Center Conference where last year she as named N.C. Rural Leader of the Year and N.C. Coast Host Tourism.

“I don’t know what was going on last year, but it was a good year for Mount Olive,” she said.

She also participated in local events sponsored by Wayne County Chamber, Wayne County Development Alliance, University of Mount Olive, Communities Supporting Schools, United Way, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, town of Mount Olive (Parks and Recreation, Planning Commission, Mount Olive Downtown Development Corporation, Wayne Community College Small Business Center.

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A number of events are planned for 2023, she said. The first, Coffee & Conversations, was held Jan. 18 at Southern Ground Coffee Shop.

“We had about 25 people in attendance,” Beck said. (Town Commissioner) Barbara Kornegay gave us a great update about what is happening in our downtown.”

Upcoming events include: Business After Hours on March 16 at the Smokehouse; N.C. Pickle Festival, April 28-29 in downtown Mount Olive; Steak Association Cook-off, May 13; Coffee & Conversation, May 18 at Yummy Orient; reverse raffle, Sept. 19 at R&R Brewing; Pickles, Pigs & Swigs, Nov. 11; and Christmas Activities, Dec. 1-2.

“So we have a lot going on this year, and we hope you will be a part of what we are doing,” she said.

Beck said she will attend the N.C. Main Street Conference, N.C. Rural Center Conference and N.C. Coast Host Tourism Conference to represent Mount Olive.

Beck recognized the program sponsor, the Wayne County Development Alliance

She introduced Chamber board members Lauren Branch of Lauren Branch Photography & Media; Amy Brogden of Southern Ground Coffee Shop; Will Johnson of Southern Bank & Trust; Melissa Kilpatrick of the Mt. Olive Pickle Co.; Ryan Roberts of R& R Brewing; Carrie Shields of Four County Electric; and Kelley Thwaite of KT Hospitality & Meeting.

Beck also introduced Chamber Ambassadors Brenda Bass of United Bank; Pernell Brickey of Brickey Partners; Edward Olive of the University of Mount Olive; Christina Williams of the Maxwell Regional Center; and Stephanie Voris of James Sprunt Community College.