Circa 2005, I vividly remember a meeting at the Sunrise Grille in Martinez with the first Columbia County Chamber President, Gordon Renshaw, and a few of his volunteers. Over scrambled eggs and home-fried potatoes, they talked with me about helping them sell memberships as a help to the community.
Fast forward to the modern-day Chamber—there have been two full-time employees growing the membership!
20 years ago, the scrappy Columbia County Chamber was the stepchild in town to the well-established Augusta Metro Chamber. I even sensed some friction and a bit of a “turf war” divide on county lines back then. Exponential growth in areas like Grovetown and Evans have leveled the playing field.
Membership sales are pretty close amongst Chambers. Staffing levels are similar. There seems to be a friendly competition of just how far the respective chambers can push to bring members more benefits and more and better events.
I was at a recent ribbon cutting at Parkers Kitchen in Evans with Columbia County Chamber President, Russell Lahodny and newly promoted AMCC VP of Membership and Community Development, James Allen. Both are humble, servant leaders and are representative of how both Chambers have worked well together for many, many years.
Thursday night, the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce celebrated their 20th Anniversary by handing out several awards, including three particularly special ones listed above.
I wasn’t able to attend this year due to a previous commitment. I heard once again this year, more than 500 people packed the Columbia County Exhibition Center in Grovetown.
The passing of the gavel from the outgoing Board Chairman to the new one is important.
Robert Kelly was a well-liked and positive creative force at the helm of the Chamber, while admirably handling responsibilities at SHRM Augusta, and at his day job co-operating Augusta Staffing!
Neil Gwynne takes over Board leadership from Robert after years in charge of the entire operation at Amazon in Appling and most recently as a franchisee of the retail store and service provider, Poolwerx.
Lastly, as I looked over Thursday night’s banquet sponsor list, I was struck by how companies like ADP, Jordan Trotter Commercial Real Estate, Augusta Tech, and many others—ALSO—provide huge support to the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Take a bow. Our business community has come a long way in 20 years.
