If you attended the chamber annual banquet last night, you probably heard a few themes. One of the prominent themes was partnership. These partnerships fall into a few different categories like education, industrial development and government. The important thing to note is that all of the chamber’s strategic partners assist us in accomplishing our mission. We heard from a wonderful speaker in Chattanooga mayor Andy Berke and he also spoke of partnership in their region. With a staff of 6 at our chamber, compared to over 20 in Chattanooga, there is no way we could accomplish our mission without the assistance and persistence of these partners.
Our local government partners have been significant supporters of education, beautification and quality of life while maintaining a community we can all be proud of at some of the lowest tax rates in the state. Our education partners have stepped out of the box and partnered with our industries to help create a pipeline of future workers.
Our social organizations provide services to assist segmented
portions of the community that is often overlooked and underserved in similar communities our size. Our state and federal partners bring expertise and resources that allow our community to compete on a global scale. When we examine our chamber internally, there is only so much 6 people can accomplish at a time, but when we look at the strength of these partnerships, there is nothing in the world our community can’t accomplish. As in the works of Theodore Roosevelt, “The first requisite of a good citizen is that they are able and willing to pull their own weight.” The power in this community lies in each of us to pull our weight, but not being satisfied, and helping our neighbor pull their weight as well.