Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Business leaders urged to get active in the chamber

Approximately 50 business and community leaders from Fayette and Clayton counties were on hand earlier this month to hear remarks by Georgia Chamber Chairman Philip Wilheit, president of Wilheit Packaging Materials Co./Unisource, and Georgia Chamber President Lindsay Thomas in the meeting room at the Old Courthouse in Fayetteville.

Peachtree National Bank hosted the meeting through the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce.

Wilheit explained how he had become involved in the Georgia Chamber, first through membership in his local chamber and then through participation in the Georgia Chamber's Leadership Georgia Program, where he realized that the Georgia Chamber spoke for its members of which 85 percent were small business men.

Thomas discussed the advantages of membership in the Georgia Chamber. He reviewed the success that the chamber enjoyed during the recent legislative session on behalf of business.

He discussed the six affiliate programs of the Georgia Chamber including Leadership Georgia, Military Affairs Coordination Committee, Georgia Self Insurers Associates, Drugs Don't Work, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and Georgia Corporation for Economic Development.

Tim Chason, COO of the Georgia Chamber, described the chamber's structure including the 240-member board of directors that are representative of the entire state.

The Georgia Chamber currently serves 33,000 members and regularly holds listening sessions across the state to hear the concerns of all of its business members.

The Georgia Chamber does not endorse candidates; it does help develop policy based on input from members. The Georgia Chamber also lets the lawmakers know what effects a law or policy might have on business.

W. Ronald Duffey, member of the Georgia Chamber Board of Directors and president of Peachtree National Bank, hosted the meeting. If you have an interest in membership in the Fayette County Chamber call 770-461-9983. For information about membership in the Georgia Chamber call Carolyn Santo at 404-223-2298.

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