Your Full Service
Community Jeweler
For Over 38 Years
FACTBOOK 2021 65
3
The benchmark of our success is not measured by the
longevity of our business, but the relationships we establish
with you and the impact we make in the community.
I think that’s so vital is when anybody starts a business when they’re
really micro small … the business professionals tell you (that) you need
to get key relationships with your banker, your attorney and your CPA,
and boy has it become paramount this year more than ever. …
I think when we looked at the six-month mark, I’m amazed at the
amount of accomplishments that the chamber has done in that six
months. Remember, we opened our new building. We really laid out
that (new) logo and (how) we’ve got a seat at the table for you. We did
an absolute record-breaking campaign year where we had 375 new
members join us in the first half of the year, and the largest we’ve ever
had in the past was 337. And then we raised $927,000, which was a
crushing record compared to the $871,000 we have raised as a prior
record. And during a pandemic. We have had for the first 10 weeks of
it a webinar every week focused on all sorts of business challenges from
HR to unemployment, to the CPA side, to the legal side, to PPP and
EIDL, and the banking side.
And (Chamber President and CEO) Sharon Mason and myself
on pretty much every one of these webinars have always put on our
cell phone numbers, our email addresses. If you have a concern and
you don’t feel comfortable on this platform to ask, let us know and let
us help. Obviously the huge success with our relationship with Cobb
County elected officials to be able to come to market with $50 million
is absolutely unprecedented. When you also look at our SelectCobb
initiatives, and economic development, we have over 70 projects, the
largest SelectCobb has ever had since the beginning of that program.
Q: Obviously the pandemic has taken a toll on businesses in
the county. Nevertheless, there has been a lot of good news on the
chamber’s end: a lot of new members, record fundraising, getting
VECTR through (the General Assembly), all of these projects
that SelectCobb is working on. Why is there so much good news
despite the pandemic?
A: I think it comes down to the story that surrounds our new logo.
And that is resonating with people to say, ‘We have a seat at the table
and we are here to help you.’ … You know the virus isn’t going to just
disappear in two months. So, how folks are going to interact with their
customers, their employees, families: Now is the time for them to begin
to readjust to that new norm, and our chamber, I hope, is showing
strong leadership to these businesses when they think about (that).
… But we hope that others will look at what we’re doing and say, ‘You
know what, I may be able to do some things like that.’ We’ve got amazing
information on our website under our COVID page. … (We’re)
working very closely with all the nonprofits, strong dialogues with
the schools, because obviously the schools, are our economic engine
for economic growth down the road. We need their success.
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