Pike County Chamber of Commerce officials are warning local businesses that a company making sales calls this week and claiming to represent the Chamber is doing so falsely.

“I got a phone call from a chamber member (Wednesday) morning who said she was calling to verify if we are working on a city/county map,” said Membership Director Leigh Ann Windham. “We are not.”

Windham said Chamber members have told her a company claiming to work for the Chamber of Commerce in producing a city/county map has been calling businesses and asking them to be a part of the map. She said one business member reported that he was offered a discount if he would pay with his credit card via the telephone.

Windham said after she received a call, she sent out an e-mail to the Chamber members. Some told her they already had purchased advertising on the map.

She warned local businesses that the company is not working with the Chamber on this project, and it is not a project endorsed by the Chamber. “If anyone represents themselves as a company working for the Chamber, unless the Chamber notifies you in someway, then the company is not being truthful,” Windham said.

The Chamber does hire Southeastern Engineering to create a map, but she said it will not do so until September 2011. The last map was distributed in September 2009.