THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 14, 1994 TAG: 9407140648
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce officials say their soon-to-be-released ``Newcomer's and Investor's Guide'' will help promote area businesses.
But executives with at least three local publications contend the guide is hurting their business by cutting into advertising sales.
``It's inappropriate for the Chamber to compete with the businesses it's set up to serve,'' said Beth Storie, whose Manteo-based publishing company prints 10,000 copies of the ``Insiders' Guide to the Outer Banks'' and distributes similar titles in 17 other cities.
``You wouldn't see the Chamber opening a restaurant or hotel,'' Storie said.
John Bone, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said he never intended to draw advertising dollars away from member businesses. His guide is targeted toward newcomers, not tourists. It will fill a niche no other area guide or magazine occupies, he said.
``We're not competing for the same tourism dollars as those other publications,'' Bone said. ``I doubt we'd be taking anything away from them.''
Scheduled for release in January 1995, the Chamber's full-color guide will contain 72 pages. It will include information on costs of living, schools, churches, employment and utilities, as well as a list of all Chamber of Commerce members.
About 10,000 copies will be distributed free to real estate agents, bankers and Chamber members. Initially, callers will receive the guide for free, too. Eventually, the Chamber might have to sell the glossy publication, Bone said.
``We've had numerous requests for newcomers guides,'' said Bone, who plans to update the publication annually. ``But we've only been able to send callers Xeroxed pieces of paper. The quality of what we've been sending out is much less than what I want it to be.''
Publishing the guide will cost $20,000 to $30,000, Bone said. Wal-Mart gave the Chamber a $3,000 grant to cover start-up expenses. He hopes the balance will be raised through ad sales.
Advertisements in the guide cost $50 to $4,000. The Chamber is targeting member businesses to buy the ads. But, Storie and other Outer Banks editors said, those businesses usually buy ads in their publications.
``I realize there are two separate groups being targeted by these publications in terms of content,'' said Angel Ellis Khoury, owner of the annual Outer Banks Magazine. ``But there's only one pie down here for advertising dollars.
``Once you divide the pie up further by adding another publication, we're all going to suffer.''
Bob Furr, creative director of Gulfstream Publications, had other concerns. His company, based in Kill Devil Hills, prints the Beach Book telephone directory and the quarterly North Beach Sun newspaper. ``I think the Chamber, in this case, might be overstepping the bounds of what it was set up to do,'' he said.
Founded in 1972 to serve businesses from Corolla through Ocracoke, the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce has 850 members and seven full-time employees. Most members pay $220 annual dues. Non-profit groups pay $120.
Storie said she has canceled her membership. Khoury is considering dropping her 10-year Chamber affiliation as well.
Asked Storie, ``What's the point of paying to belong to an organization that is competing with us for advertising dollars?'' by CNB