The Laurinburg/Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce has been awarded a three-star accreditation by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The honor puts the chamber of commerce among the top four percent of chambers nationwide.

While a total of 17 chambers were awarded some level of accreditation, the Laurinburg/Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce was among only five receiving the three-star rating.

“To be one of only 11 chambers of commerce within North Carolina to be accredited is wonderful,” chamber president Theresa Lamson said. “Our members are already benefiting from this process. We have developed a finance committee to ensure the long-term financial success and integrity of the chamber; we have redesigned our website and newsletter making both more comprehensive and a better representation of our community; and we have added several new educational opportunities to our programming. This is how we as a chamber can hold ourselves accountable to our members and our communities.”

According to board member and reaccreditation liason Charles Jenkins, the staff, board, and volunteers of the chamber spent "countless hours" completing the accreditation process during the past year.

“The bulk of the work was done over the summer months, and could be estimated to be 300 hours overall for the entire project,” Jenkins said. “As a largely volunteer organization, this is quite an accomplishment. It makes a statement with respect to the quality and effectiveness of the chamber and the commitment of the chamber to this community.”

To receive reaccreditation, the chamber had to show competency in nine core areas ranging from finance to facilities.

Local chambers are rated accredited, three-stars, four-stars, or five-stars. State chambers are recognized as either accredited state chamber or accredited state chamber with distinction. The final determination is made by the accrediting board, a committee of U.S. Chamber board members.