Horizons January 2014
A publication of the Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce
Prestige Members Northside Hospital-Forsyth Premier Corporate Sponsor
Forsyth County Government
DeKalb Office
The City of Cumming
Georgia Power
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Alpharetta Children’s Dentistry
Taubman
Anchor Home Mortgage
Inspiring Smiles
Michael Williams Smithfield Farmland
jTech Networks
Kaiser Permanente
Lou Sobh Honda
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Looking Forward in 2014
I
am proud and honored to serve as the Chamber Chair for 2014. As a small business owner for the past 18 years, I know first-hand the struggles and challenges of owning your own business. These experiences have given me the opportunity to understand what businesses need from their local Chamber and the support necessary to succeed. As 2013 comes to a close we see the signs of economic recovery continue to grow into a strengthening economy. In Forsyth County our unemployment rate has declined to 6.1 percent. We saw 19 new and existing companies create 624 new jobs and invest $58.9 million dollars in new capital. With the economy in a steady upward turn, now is the time to seize the opportunities that recovery will bring. With your support, we will expand the reach of our economic development efforts. We will provide additional support to the fastest growing industry in our community – health care. Now is the time to make additional investments in resources to encourage more visitors to our community by targeting the lucrative amateur sports market. We have made important strides in this area, but there is more work to do and expanding those efforts will yield real economic opportunity for our retail and hospitality industries. Economies are built on relationships and leadership. We are blessed to have both of these in Cumming and Forsyth County. The Chamber is an integral part of facilitating those relationships and fostering strong leaders. Your Chamber is the sole economic development entity in our community. This streamlined approach to serving the
needs of business clients gives us a competitive advantage. Our partnership with the City, County and School System makes us a strong player on a global stage. The Chamber will continue to work with leaders in Cumming and Forsyth County to streamline the process of business interaction with our local government to ensure it is clear to the region and the nation we have the most business-friendly community in the country. Cumming and Forsyth County have already taken strong steps in that direction and I thank them for their continued support. We have opportunities for growth in 2014. While the Chamber is on sound financial footing, the new services will require greater resources. While our membership numbers have recovered from the impact of the recession, we still have opportunities for growth and increasing our market share, especially in health care, international business and small business. The Chamber is our venue to channel the incredible collective resources of great business people to create economic opportunity for everyone. The opportunity is what makes us remarkable and sets us apart from so many places around the world. As incoming Chair, I look forward to working with each of you to expand that opportunity for everyone in our community to reach their potential and achieve more than we could imagine.