MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT

It has been exciting to see so many of our members OPEN for business. Consumer confidence is growing and COVID-19 numbers are trending downward. Our high school seniors will be celebrated with an in-person graduation in the next few weeks which is something many thought to be impossible just a few short weeks ago. Whether or not things ever completely return to “normal” is anybody’s guess. What we do know is that our members and your Chamber are still taking care of business every day, making strides on recovery efforts and reimagining what’s possible for our businesses and our community.

I was talking to a member yesterday about the new interview show we started last week. He told me at first he didn’t get it; but once he watched an episode, he understood what we were trying to do. Then that message was reaffirmed again last night during our Virtual Candidate Forum.

As I was talking through it with him, it struck me that this is not a new thing for our Chamber. We bring speakers to our audiences. We just normally do it over breakfast or dinner. The only difference here is that we’re doing it online, which means we can reach a larger audience and do it more often. We’ve had over 4,700 views of last night’s candidate forum in less than 24 hours.

And while you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone more ready (and excited) to get back to hosting large in-person events, I am encouraged by the new strengths and capabilities we have discovered through this trial. I’m sure you have your own unexpected talent revealed in all of this. How will you use it? Are you satisfied with the way things were? Or like us, do you now want more? More of what was and now also more of what’s possible! Let’s get after MORE together. We deserve it, don’t you think?