Karin Hopkins

The Chamber meeting this month will be intentionally short.  We will start with a year-end review, focusing on major accomplishments that occurred within 2019. For the record, we must give credit to our community partners for contributing to our successes. That’s a long list, which includes the City of Tuskegee, Utilities Board of Tuskegee (UBT), Macon County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA), Macon County Commission, Tuskegee University, Town of Shorter and Victoryland. We place Macon County Schools in a league of its own as we acknowledge the support of school officials. We hold our monthly meetings at the school transportation building and Dr. Jacqueline Brooks graciously accommodates the Chamber in other ways, including community engagement projects. We are also grateful to the many individuals who have pitched in to help us; this list is way too long for the space I am allotted in this newspaper.  And of course, we are thankful to our members and the dues you pay that sustain us. Those funds help us develop products and programs that ripple beyond this organization. The Chamber is a cheerleader for this community—marketing and promoting our assets to our own local residents as well as audiences beyond our zip codes. The Chamber advocates on behalf of local businesses, challenging policies that may be hurting profitability. We are a helpmate to projects, including the annual Carver Festival. We have a presence in other events, including All Macon County Day and the Healthy Halloween Harvest Festival. We offer our meeting platform to speakers so that our attendees can learn more about issues affecting all of us. We created a special membership classification for Tuskegee University students. Any student, attending this college, can join the Chamber with a payment of just $5 for annual dues. Dr. Elaine Harrington has often paid membership dues for students through a quasi-scholarship fund she established.  We provide our members with networking opportunities and other benefits. Speaking of membership brings me to the second item on the Chamber agenda. During this month’s meeting, members will elect the officers who will govern the Chamber for a two-year term beginning in 2020. A slate of nominees has been recommended. However, write-in candidates are also allowed. After we have decided this issue, we will adjourn the meeting and shift gears to a holiday social with food and beverages. The meeting will begin at 6:30pm at the Macon County Schools transportation building on MLK Highway near Booker T. Washington High School. The community is welcome to attend from beginning to end. When we turn the lights out, it will be the Chamber’s final act for this year. We will skip the December meeting and reconvene in January 2020, charged up and ready for a new year of challenges and opportunities.

Karin Hopkins is executive director of the Tuskegee Area Chamber of Commerce. Contact her at ourchamberworks@gmail.com.