New Website, New Season for Rockville Chamber

The Rockville Chamber of Commerce marked the unofficial beginning of fall with a new look online, new goals for its work with City Hall and new programs for members. 

The chamber’s new website, for its Rockville Rewards discount card program, launched Tuesday. Chamber member Vantage Point Solutions Group, LLC donated its services to redesign and relaunch a brighter, more colorful and easier to navigate website as , said Andrea Jolly, the chamber’s executive director.

Meanwhile, the chamber continues to work with the City of Rockville to revise the city’s sign ordinance. Changes to the ordinance have been in the works since late 2010, when the chamber raised signs issues with the City Council.

“It’s worked extremely well,” Jolly said of the chamber’s work with the city. “The city staff worked well with us. They were very cooperative, great working relationships and the mayor and council approved [the revisions] unanimously.”

On July 30, the City Council voted to allow greater flexibility in sign design, logos and colors and the size of banners and permanent sings for commercial building owners and leasing agents. It also approved a streamlined sign permitting process that requires fewer variance requests to go before the Sign Review Board.

On Wednesday, the chamber started working on a second phase of changes to the ordinance, Jolly said. The second set of revisions will be “deeper changes—more policy types of changes,” she said.

The City Council held a July 23 public hearing on some of the potential changes, which could allow off-premises signs and greater use of new technology such as LED signs.

The chamber also is discussing proposals to allow rooftop signs and will develop a wish list before meeting with city officials in “about six months,” Jolly said.

The chamber is looking for feedback on the sign ordinance from chamber members and non-members, Jolly said. Business owners who would like to get involved should email rockville@rockvillechamber.org.

The City Council also is looking for feedback and has asked the chamber how Rockville can become more business-friendly.

“We’re developing positions on a variety of areas to bring to the mayor and council in the next couple of months,” Jolly said.

The chamber also will continue to offer a calendar of events for members and non-members. The latest installment of the Good Morning Rockville Speaker’s Series will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 13 at the . It will feature three entrepreneurs who started small businesses that became very profitable companies sharing their secrets for success. Click here for more information and to register.

Correction: This article has been updated from the original version with a correct link for the Rockville Chamber of Commerce's new website, which is for the Rockville Rewards program. The chamber's website remains unchanged.