The Washington Chamber of Commerce helped celebrate the new Washington County Communications Center with a ribbon cutting Wednesday.

Chamber ambassadors, several county supervisors, and other local officials took part in the celebration and were welcomed to tour the facility which houses the county dispatch and emergency management staff and emergency operations center. The building, which sits between the sheriff’s office and county jail on Lexington Boulevard, officially began operations in January after the project’s groundbreaking in July of 2019. With storm shelter capabilities and space to expand for additional dispatch staff, the center also houses the county’s new radio communication system which provides nearly 100% in-house handheld reception for all emergency agencies in the county.