On behalf of the entire Chamber Board, I want to thank Peggy Mayo for the tremendous job she has done leading our Chamber as Board Chair during the past year. Her conscientious dedication enabled us to continue to reach new milestones, expanding the successes already in place while also adding new ones. It will be a difficult year to top! Thank you, Peggy, for all you did this past year to make the Rockport-Fulton area an even better place to live and conduct commerce.

Peggy stepped into the year in March after Richard Bianchi resigned as Chairman of the Board due to his being elected to the County Attorney position. Richard’s theme this past year of “Your Chamber in Paradise” so aptly captures what this community is all about. After all, our mission as a Chamber is to work in partnership with businesses, individuals and governmental entities to promote commerce and tourism while maintaining and enhancing the environment. When our tax base improves, our community operates at its best. And when the entire community thrives, businesses experience an even healthier climate for further prosperity, validating the old adage that “a rising tide floats all boats.”

As we enter a new fiscal year for our Chamber, we will seek to sustain the momentum built during the past few years, continuing to provide opportunities for businesses, and thus our community to be the best that it can be. We will sustain the powerful momentum we have created in our legislative efforts in Austin and locally. We will sustain the opportunities we currently provide for you to network and promote your business. We will continue to sustain our objective of serving as a unifying influence wherever possible, collaborating with our cities, county and other organizations in our community.

In addition, we will continue to roll out an aggressive and impacting advertising campaign to promote this community as a tourism destination. We will continue to develop the “Meeting Business” ad campaign in order to boost occupancies and bring business to the community in the middle of the week.

I have chosen the theme for this year “Guiding the Vision… A Beacon for Our Community” which I feel depicts what our Chamber is all about. It is an honor to serve as your Board Chairman, and I welcome any suggestions you may have on how we can fulfill our Chamber’s mission. Through the collective efforts of our outstanding team of Chamber staff, volunteers and board members, I have no doubt we will reach new heights this year as we guide the vision and be a beacon for our community.