New Beginning at the Chamber
New beginning at the Tuskegee Area Chamber of Commerce includes recently elected Chamber officers.
Changes within the Tuskegee Area Chamber of Commerce are moving the organization in a new direction.
Committed to transparency, the Chamber developed a fair and open process to determine the individuals who will govern for the next two years. As stipulated by Chamber bylaws, a nominating committee was established. Retired architect and longstanding Chamber member, Major Holland was appointed to chair the nominating committee. Chamber members submitted names to fill the following positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary.
After reviewing the recommendations, the nominating committee formulated a slate of proposed officers. This roster was presented at the Chamber meeting on November 20, 2017. To ensure that everyone had a voice, the procedure allowed for last-minute write-in candidates to be presented during the meeting. When the question was put before the membership, the slate of recommendations developed by the nominating committee was approved.
This placed two officers in new roles. Loretta Alexander transitioned from Chamber Secretary to President. The new Secretary is Fred Flowers who is serving as an officer for the first time. Roland Vaughan kept his seat as Vice President and Robert “Bobby” Davis remains Treasurer.
Also, during this meeting, the Chamber reinforced its commitment to student business development through a generous offer from Dr. Elaine Harrington. She volunteered to pay Chamber membership dues for 20 Tuskegee University students. A few months ago, the Chamber created a membership category that allows any student to pay $5 annually.
The relationship between the Chamber and the university also has another context.
For several weeks, the Chamber has been working with a select group of Tuskegee University business students who are contributing ideas that could improve the Chamber’s functionality. Under the guidance of Tuskegee University professor, Dr. Jack Crumbly, this team effort is focusing on the Chamber Website, new programs and events, design and messaging of collateral materials, relevance of benefits and many other issues. Tuskegee University student, Kerstyn Evans attended the meeting representing the group.
Nick Dowdell and his staff were gracious hosts who welcomed us into their new Provision Contracting Services headquarters. We also toured the building with Nick pointing out the various rooms and their designated purposes.
After we finished the agenda, the meeting shifted into a social event that included healthy and delicious foods prepared by Gloria Renfroe. November was the last Chamber meeting for this year.
The Chamber will resume regular monthly meetings in January 2018 with a new attitude to match our new beginning and renewed purpose involving business matters.
