Chamber cancels Hoptoberfest

ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Chamber of Commerce has opted to cancel Hoptoberfest, the annual autumnal wings and craft beer competition, this yr and shifting ahead.

“We didn’t make this resolution evenly,” stated Chamber President and CEO Kristi King. “It’s an ideal neighborhood occasion, however actually our mission and imaginative and prescient assertion traces up with extra enterprise occasions {and professional} networking alternatives than a beer and wing competition.”

King stated that this resolution was mentioned with their government board since final yr’s occasion and so they can now pivot to occasions that align extra immediately for Richmond County companies.

“We felt that what we spent on the occasion, and asking for sponsorships, that [those resources] may very well be utilized in a greater approach,” King stated, additionally including that the price of placing on the occasion elevated.

Hoptoberfest has traditionally been the Chamber’s greatest occasion since its inception in 2015. Over the previous few years, it has persistently gathered over 1,200 attendees, (the occasion was cancelled in 2020), with quite a few breweries from throughout the state. In 2021, there have been greater than 30 completely different breweries and over 13 completely different groups within the Rooster Wing competitors.

King pointed that that many companies are struggling to search out employees, and this can function a possibility to tug again from planning for the competition and prioritize native companies and their wants. She additionally added that there’s not one reply for what their course can be within the absence of Hoptoberfest, however there was loads of success with Management Richmond and their Ladies’s Convention in 2022 that would function a basis for future plans.