Bayou La Batre Chamber Membership Info

10 reasons why I want to join the Bayou La Batre Area Chamber of Commerce:

1. To be involved in my community
2. To promote the economy in my area
3. To invest in my business
4. To encourage change
5. To promote events that help our local seafood industry.
6. To promote events that excite people about the potential in the area such as Kayaking
7. To build relationships and network
8. To have a voice in the community
9. To acquire customer referrals
10. Most Important: I want to bring credibility to my business.

Our members serve on committees and are working to share information and ideas and collaborate on issues affecting the business community and general well being of the area. Some of our accomplishments are listed below along with goals we are seeking to meet.

During the 1980's when the municipal sewage plant did not have adequate capacity, three seafood processors applied for the necessary environmental permits, financed and installed a private outfall line to discharge processing water offshore, subscribed local businesses to be on the outfall line and then turned over the outfall line to the City of Bayou La Batre.

In the 1990's area shipbuilders saw the need to deepen the Bayou La Batre navigation channel. Ten local entrepeneurs put up $500.00 each for a $5,000.00 feasible study prepared by a local civil engineering firm. With data in hand, we worked out state, county, and municipal cost sharing arrangement for channel improvements. Initially, the Army Corps of Engineers had projected twenty years to project implementation; due to the aggressive involvement of local business leaders the project was accomplished under budget and ahead of schedule in 7 1/2 years.

Again in 2000, when local shrimpers were faced with falling prices due to imported shrimp being illegally dumped on U.S. markets, Chamber members established the Eat Alabama Wild Shrimp Committee to market domestic shrimp and worked together to highlight this issue resulting in the Federal Government eventually enacting tariffs for imported shrimp.

Hurricane Katrina (2007) destroyed the plant that processed seafood waste. Local shrimp, crab and oyster processors established the Gulf Coast Agriculture and Seafood Co-op. With the help of the Alabama Department of Agriculture, the Co-op constructed a state-of-the-art plant that turns waste materials into revenue products and jobs. To further enhance the Co-op plant's viability, ADECA is scheduled to pave the dirt access road to the plant - to date this has not been accomplished.