Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce is involved in virtually all aspects of the town's progress and economic activity. Before the current Sebring Chamber of Commerce, was the Board of Trade, created in October 1914. The first thing accomplished by this board was the building of a lighting system around The Circle, on Ridgewood Drive and Center Street. In 1916, all of the citizens came together to construct an official Board of Trade office on a piece of prime real estate on The Circle, which was indeed donated by the city's founder, George E. Sebring, and the location still stands today as the Downtown Sebring Chamber. By 1917, membership had grown to 50. For years this building served as the Board of Trade, the council chambers, town hall and city auditorium, a community center for citizens to gather, and the Sebring Women's Club started a public library in the building that served the public for more than 40 years. Shortly thereafter, in 1924, the town was swarming with real estate speculators due to the 'Florida Boom', and in 1925, residents saw a need to form a chamber of commerce; staff was hired, an advertising campaign begun and things were developing at a good pace. The 1930s were challenging years, Sebring and the entire United States were in a deep depression. However, even during those trying times, the Sebring Chamber of Commerce remained active and assisted in projects such as Highlands Hammock Park, building a farmers market on The Circle, beautification of The Circle, forming a merchants association, hosting Saturday night square dances, placing 20 large billboards throughout the state advertising Sebring and Highlands Hammock, and bringing the Newark Bears baseball team here for spring training. In 1940, since it was apparent the United States would become involved in World War II, the chamber sent a delegate to Washington, D.C. to lobby for an Air Force base to be located in Sebring. This was accomplished and Hendricks Field was built to train troops to pilot the B-17 bombers. Which today has become the Sebring International Raceway and Sebring Airport Authiority. The local military base brought new economic activity to Sebring, however, after the war; the chamber found it once again needed to spur the economy and began the process of doing something about it. By 1948, the efforts resulted in the revival of the merchant association conferences were held in Sebring by the state cattlemen's association, Moody Bible Institute, the National Parks Association, and the Florida Pilots Association. The 1950s brought the sports car race and the '60s brought a new hospital to Sebring. The unending efforts of the chamber and dedicated leadership throughout the years have resulted in growth of the community. Today the chamber is located at 227 US 27 N in Sebring.