Proudly sponsored by

2012 Mid-Year ReportTo Members

Myrna Ballard (Chamber of Commerce)

Clinton Beeland (CJB Industries, Inc.)

Tom Carroll (Sunset Farm Foods, Inc.)

Sue Cox (Covingtons Dining & Catering)

Jeff Fulp (Erco Worldwide Inc.)

Tom Gooding (Elliott, Blackburn & Gooding, PC)

Mike Hill (Mike Hill Real Estate)

Carlton Holley(Fowler, Holley, Rambo & Stalvey, PC)

Tim Jones (Citizens Community Bank)

Terri Lupo (Georgia Power Company)

Jay Prince (Prince Automotive of Valdosta, Inc.)

Greg Reid (Edward Jones Investments)

Bill Simmons (Archer Daniels Midland Co.)

Megan Smith (SmithBarnas & Associates, Inc.)

Baha Zeidan (Azalea Health Innovations, Inc.)

BOARD OFDIRECTORS:

MISSION:To serve as the unifying force and

focal point for enhancing the economic,social and cultural

well-being of the regionalcommunity it serves.

The Chamber shall seek toaccomplish its mission by being

the voice for businesswithin the community;

by addressingeconomic, political and

quality of life issues; and through aselective business plan to achieve

As your Chairman for 2012, I am proud to present the Mid-Year Report, which highlights programs and initia-tives the Chamber has been working on this year to ensure we are meeting and exceeding our goals. You will find that the Chamber Board, staff and volunteers are doing an excel-lent job. Please review the following pages to see how the Chamber is working for you and the Valdosta-Lowndes County business community!

Tim Jones2012 Chamber Board

Chairman

22 Summer 2012 / www.ValdostaChamber.com

22 Summer 2011 / www.ValdostaChamber.com

Economic Development Division

SEEDS Business Resource Center

Triple Crown Hometowns

Region 11 graduates of the Georgia Academyfor Economic Development.

Triple Crown Hometowns Luncheon

Tom CarrollVice ChairmanSunset Farm Foods, Inc.

2012 Mid-Year Report Proudly Sponsored by

• 210 clients assisted through the month of May • Eight Business University events with 145 attendees • SEEDS Center website averages 189 visitors per month • Eight lender visits and presentations made to VSU Market-

ing classes, GACCE, Lakeland-Lanier County Chamber • Director of Economic Development graduated from Geor-

gia Academy for Economic Development • Seven registration packets received for Guardian Bank

Business Plan Competition• Chamber president presented program on Business Plan

Competition at statewide economic developers confer-ence in Brasstown Valley

SORT (Special Ombudsman Response Team)• Addressed an issue with sign ordinance• Future discussions will involve landscaping requirements and billboard advertising

• Implemented new Silver Stars program for active seniors who want to stay in touch with the

business community.• Hosted two of four lunch and learns to

educate retirees on issues important to them.

Dr. Brian Dawson, MD (SGMC) educates Triple Crown retirees on stroke symptoms.

Workforce Development & Education Division

Workforce Development Program Employees improve their management skills at a Supervisor Essentials Workshop.

Clinton BeelandVice ChairmanCJB Industries, Inc.

AN INNOVATIVE PARTNER IN CHEMISTRY

• Coordinated two Supervisor Essentials Workshops• CHOICES workshop presented to 505 students • Chamber members contributed $1,528 to the Workforce Education Support Team (W.E.S.T.)- Education Council Inc. (501 c 3) • Hosted STAR Student and Teacher Banquet • Hosted a Champions of Business Reception• Increased Drugs Don’t Work membership to 259• Peaceway Counseling & Mediation Services and Peaceway DUI School hosted 15th Annual DDW Supervisor Seminar with a record attendance of 66

DDW Director Keyara Hamilton discusses the program with Terry Shuler (Moultrie Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce).

Megan SmithVice ChairmanSmithBarnas &Associates, Inc.

Government Affairs Committee• Held a Members to be Heard• Hosted Legislative Briefing Lunch with State Delegation in Atlanta• Hosted Breakfast with the Governor, more than 200 in attendance• Hosted Lunch with Senator Isakson, more than 180 in attendance• Implemented ValdostaBusinessVoice.com

GAC Chair Ron Borders addresses more than 200 at the Governor’s breakfast.

Public Affairs Division

Military Affairs Committee • Participated in 10 Right Start briefings for newcomers to MAFB • Hosted two Red Carpet Parties to welcome Moody’s leadership to our community • Started conversation regarding a separate entity hosting Red Carpet Parties

Member Services Division

Membership Development and Members Services

Baha ZeidanVice ChairmanAzalea HealthInnovations, Inc.

2012 Mid-Year Report Proudly Sponsored by

• 38 Ambassadors earned a total of 9,780 points (250 hours of service)• Conducted 27 Ribbon Cuttings and Groundbreakings • 17 Leading Business of the Week presentations

Marketing and Communications• Received coverage in 12 television broadcasts (9 in 2011), 23 radio interviews (18), 54 print articles and advertisements (66), 9 presentations (15), and 52 online articles (30).• Chamber is now utilizing Linked In and Facebook with a focus of promotion of Chamber Members Membership Retention/Development• 30% of those who joined this year have utilized the SEEDS Center, 60% have been contacted• Distribution of monthly anniversary cards • Increased number of Traffic Catcher Websites to 370

• Two Independent Sales Representatives• 110 new members have joined this year compared to 88 last year• April-May Membership Drive-utilized Ambassadors - 26/each month - 6 were direct recruits

Rolled-Out Tiered Dues Structure• Opportunity to educate members on events, services and benefits,

and to hear their ideas and thoughts for future services• Opportunity to share referrals and Traffic Catcher Site views• 166 Conversions to date

Representatives from Mannie’s Sub Shop unveil plans for drive thru sub shop located in Valdosta.

Jeff Fulp (ERCO Worldwide) signs on to be the Chamber’s first Chairmen’s Circle Investor, the Chamber’s highest membership level.

Members learn benefitsof Chamber membership

at Chamber 101.

Business Development Division

Opportunity Central-Expansion of Targeted Business

Mike Hill, Jennifer Powell, Ken Rickett, Myrna Ballard, Pat Sullivan and Dr. Ron Zaccarri plan future Opportunity Central Book Club readings.

Greg ReidVice Chairman Edward JonesInvestments

Independent supplier of choice for chemical manufacturing services, formulating, processing, filling and packaging liquids and solids products for Industrial market

customers, with a focus on tolling and contract packaging.

• Facilitated the growth of 4,162 jobs in the ET, IT and Medical Services and Support sectors as of 2007 (2012 Economic Summit- preliminary 2010 analysis data)

• Hosted Opportunity Central Book Club• Video Conference with Bowling Green, Kentucky (aspirant community)• IT Professionals Network meeting through partnership with TAG • Sustainable Energy Network meeting through partnership with the Green Chamber of the South

• MetroOne completed annual YP Advocacy project – 100 Fun Things To Do in Metro Valdosta• Nominated Drew DeMott (Moore, Clarke, DuVall & Rodgers, P.C.), Brittney Foster-Hull (Packaging Corpo-

ration of America), Jennifer Steedley (Valdosta City Schools) and Parrish Clark (Guardian Bank) for 2012 Georgia Trend 40 Under 40

• Hosted three Young Professionals nights and two CEO’s Unplugged

MetroOne Young Professionals

Organizational Excellence Division

Jay Prince,Vice ChairmanPrince Automotive of Valdosta, Inc.

Evaluation of Board policies and governing documents• Considered Whistle-Blower Policy, Executive Session Policy, and Financial Disclosure Policy • Considered possible needed amendments to By-Laws Chamber staff and Board leadership development• Annual review of Chamber President Reaccreditation Review Task Force• Report from Task Force with recommendations for the

Reaccreditation package, which will be submitted in March 2013

Centennial Celebration• Began year-long Centennial Tree Project • Hosted Centennial Luncheon to honor current and former Chamber leaders

5-Star Reaccreditation documents

AN INNOVATIVE PARTNER IN CHEMISTRY

Community Development Division

Sue CoxVice Chairman, Covington’sDining &Catering

• Conducted quarterly Chamber Board meetings to include elected Board members, ex officio Board members, committee chairmen and staff, and special guests focused on a particular community issue.

- First quarter featured Dr. Louis Levy, Dr. Ray Perrin and Randy Sauls discussing Health Sciences & Business Administration facility

- Second quarter featured Bob Goddard speaking on the 5-Points Development program

• Host quarterly meetings of professionals including city managers, county manager, executives from Authori-ties and Chamber president.

• Semi-annual meetings with former Chamber Chair-men of the Board with roundtable discussions regarding community goals.

Additional initiatives• During the course of the year the Chamber president visited with chamber execu-

tives at their chambers to identify their “secrets to success” in achieving community collaboration and cooperation (the Georgia visits were in conjunction with GACCE business):

• Bowling Green, KY • Newnan, GA • Augusta, GA • Covington, GA • Hazelhurst, GA • Vidalia, GA • Columbus, GA • Henry County, GA • Dublin, GA • Conyers, GA• Videoconference with leaders in Bowling Green, KY • Chamber president met with Dr. Ray Perren (WGTC) to get his thoughts on how

our community can build more cooperative and collaborative relationships. The result was the first of what we hope will become bi-monthly lunch meetings of “The Hats.”

Former Chairmen of the Board JudRackley, Joe Cordova and TimCarroll discuss ways to improve our

Dr. Perrin (WGTC) shares benefits of community col-laboration at a quarterly board meeting.