ABD spoke with the leaders of the Richmond, Columbia, and Burke County Chambers of Commerce, as well as those in Aiken and North Augusta. They looked at accomplishments in 2025 and set their sights on 2026.
At the region’s largest Chamber of Commerce, Angie Cox, President and CEO of the Augusta Metro Chamber, said 2025 kicked off with a fresh start after recovering from Hurricane Helene.
“I think a reenergized approach to engage our members, and we tweaked some programming,” she said. “We were able to change some timing on stuff and really make sure that we were meeting the needs. I think that I’m most proud of the Chamber Spirit Week.”
In the coming year, technology and digital will be high on her list of priorities.
“I see an even further expansion of our presence in the digital market. In our technological advances to really assist and meet the needs of our chamber member businesses,” she said.
This year marked a milestone for the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce as 2025 marked its 20th Anniversary. Vice President Sabrina Griffin told ABD that one of the biggest accomplishments was updating the organization’s strategic plan.
“The plan is a result of a deep dive into the needs of our members, the changes in the economic landscape, and the expected growth across the Greater Augusta Region. We’re excited to continue serving our membership with a new focus on five key pillars: member value, workforce pipeline, advocacy voice, digital modernization, and community growth,” she said.
Griffin said she expects the priority for the new year will be implementing the strategic plan while continuing to focus on keeping the chamber committed to being a member-driven and business-focused organization.
As President and CEO of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce, one of Jim Tunison’s favorite accomplishments was an event co-sponsored with theClubhou.se, based in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center.
“We held the first-ever, successful No Boundaries Pitch Contest,” he said, adding that another highlight was launching the Aiken Innovation Corridor. “We built the website (www.aicorridor.net/home). We have the promo video. Those two kinds of go hand in hand, along with the creation of the Aiken Chamber Foundation, which Meta helped fund this year.”
Tunison believes technology, along with the nuclear industry, will continue to move Aiken forward in 2026.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of opportunities pop up for those companies that are involved in the small modular reactors and really any companies that are involved with grid resilience, finding alternative energy sources,” he said.
At the Burke County Chamber, Executive Director, Ashley Roberts said 2025 represented a time of extensive engagement with the business community.
“I feel like our membership has really strengthened, and we’ve established a lot of events that bring together the community and business leaders and provide resources,” she said. “We’ve implemented programs that we hope provide valuable information and education for the members, for their businesses to grow and to thrive.”
Roberts said high on the list for 2026 will be continuing to advocate for workforce development.
“We already have a meeting scheduled with the new president at Augusta Tech for the beginning of the year,” she explained. “We also work closely with our Board of Education and are trying to create that workforce pipeline for businesses, whether it’s the larger businesses or retail or smaller businesses.”
As a smaller organization, the North Augusta Chamber often has an intimate feel to its activities. It was one of those events that sticks out for President/CEO Terra Carroll.
“One thing that we did that really was a phenomenal event, experience, and community builder was our First Responders Breakfast,” she said. “Being able to partner with North Augusta Public Safety, Chief Johnson and his team, to recognize those great workers in the community.”
Carroll’s focus for the year ahead is a familiar one: workforce development to meet the growing local demand.
“We’re really going to spend more time being more intentional with our focus on workforce development and coming up with special sectors of things that we’re going to work on to actually make a change in workforce development,” she explained. “We’re going to be working with our business community and our educational institutions as well to build our workforce.”
The final question ABD put to the business leaders was twofold: What are they grateful for, both professionally and personally?
“Professionally, we are deeply grateful for the strength of Columbia County’s business community and the continued success of our region,” said Griffin. “Personally, we are especially grateful for the many volunteers who dedicate their time and energy to the Chamber. Their passion and commitment make it possible for us to serve as a strong advocate for the business community.”
“Personally, I’m very fortunate to have a really great family. I still have my parents, and I have a husband and three kids,” said Roberts in Burke County. “Professionally, I will say I have the best job in the world. One of the biggest reasons is being able to work in a job where you get to have a real impact in the community where I live and work.”
In North Augusta, Carroll said she has multiple blessings.
“I’m thankful that God allows me to wake up every day and do what I do. Grateful for my husband. I’m grateful to be here and have another day to exist and be present to do the things that I enjoy doing, and to serve our community and our businesses in the area,” she said.
Tunison looked close to home in Aiken to identify where his gratitude begins.
“I am so grateful for my wife, who’s been an incredible partner in supporting our family and raising our two boys, so I can take on this role at the Chamber,” he said, adding, “Grateful for the awesome chamber team and our volunteers and just this community. It’s such a fun time to be the chamber president in Aiken, South Carolina, and to be able to support and advocate for our community.”
Cox gives thanks for the family she has built inside the Augusta chamber.
“My team, my volunteers, my board of directors,” she listed. “They’re not only wonderful leaders in the community, but they also pour so much into making good decisions on behalf of the chamber and governing what the chamber does and our advocacy efforts in our networking and our programming.”
ABD also posed those questions to the leaders of economic development organizations. It will be posted on December 31st.
