HARRIS COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

July 19, 2022; 8:00 a.m. networking; 8:30 a.m. meeting

Harris County Community Center

In Attendance

In-person: Joel Ames, Shelia Baker, Gary Butler, Kathy Carlisle, Tyler Dunn, David Hawkins,

Ralph King, Kimberley McElveen, Lindsey Platt, Ken Pope, Wes Tyus, Steve Wells

Staff: Vance Smith, Gloria Boyer, Alex Johnson, Conner Olds

2022 Board of Directors Meeting

At 8:30 a.m., Kathy Carlisle brought the meeting to order, welcomed everyone and offered a

prayer. She called for a motion to approve the consent agenda (March minutes, financial

reports, updated bylaws); Ralph King moved and Wes Tyus seconded so the motion passed.

Kathy stated that the revised job description for the president/CEO position at the Chamber is

under development. She stated that the Chamber doesn’t want to move too fast or too slow

on the process, since the position is anticipated to include economic development duties for

the county as well as day-to-day oversight of the Chamber. In an environment without

pressure or rush, we can take the time to do the combined job description correctly, Kathy

said. Vance Smith has agreed to stay in the interim position as long as needed, to ensure a

smooth transition.

Kathy also informed the Board that we should adhere to the Chamber’s bylaws in the future to

be sure that all nominations for Directors and officers follow the stipulated processes. This will

assure full involvement of the Board and provide good transparency for future leadership.

Kathy asked Vance to provide an update on the Pine Mountain Business Association work.

Vance thanked the staff for their continued support and hard work over the last several

weeks. He informed the Board that the Chamber met with the PMBA twice and proposed

changes to the structure and organization of the relationship to the Chamber. The Chamber

offered to be responsible for all events and functions of the PMBA, including tracking their

financial viability and reporting their results. The concept is that the PMBA would become a

committee of the Chamber, assuring the 53 members of the PMBA who are also Chamber

members that their funds and interests would be recognized and promoted. The PMBA

members approved the move and it became effective July 1, 2022. Vance feels this model may

be acceptable to other organizations in the county in the future.

At 8:37 a.m., Kathy called on Steve Wells to discuss the financial reports (see attached). Steve

explained that he is continuing to work with Luby LLC, the accounting group who is helping

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maintain the Chamber’s financial records. Through April 2022, Steve said the Chamber is

ahead of its budget in profitability and that the Gala made a $14,000 profit. He hopes to have

the second quarter of the year closed by the next Board meeting, including the rollover of the

PMBA’s funds. Kathy thanked Charles Sweat in absentia for his ongoing support of the

Chamber, by providing Steve’s services.

At 8:41 a.m., Kathy called on Vance for a membership review. He first thanked Joel Ames for

his work on the Chamber bylaws with the Task Force. Then Vance discussed the impact of

COVID on some members and their ability to pay their dues last year, as a result of the

downturn in their businesses. Vance recommended a “dues forgiveness” program for some

members and pointed out that 22 had renewed this year, 13 had dropped, 7 were granted

forgiveness and about 70 remain past due. The total outstanding balance on past due

memberships is about $30,000. Vance and the staff will continue to work with those accounts

and may call upon the Board to make supportive calls to bring those funds in. Vance reported

that he made 64 visits to members and officials in June and 36 to date in July. He’s met with

County Commissioners, Rotary Club, GA Economic Development personnel, Harris Co High

School intern coordinator, the new GA Power representative replacing John Asbell and an

Atlanta developer, besides many small business members. He is also attending Harris County

Airport meetings monthly and the Chamber will be involved next year for the May fly-in.

Vance and staff are delivering member packages and asking what the Chamber can do for

businesses, to strengthen their viability. Vance also feels there are eight to ten prospective

members across the county, even in West Point.

Kathy announced that she’d like to spotlight a Chamber member or Board member each

month, to better familiarize the Board with their peers. She offered to do the first spotlight on

herself and gave a brief history of her working career, leading up to the time Kim Tharp asked

her to become the 2022 Chair of the Board. Kathy has worked at DFACS as a case worker,

Hughston Clinic in Human Resources, Columbus State University in Human Resources then as

Dean of Academic Services, Goodwill Industries in corporate training, then as the CEO of the

Career Academy in LaGrange. Now, Kathy is the CEO of Focus in Pine Mountain.

She called upon Gary Butler to do an additional Board member spotlight on himself. Gary said

he’d been married 30 years and has three children. He puts his family first, then God then his

work in his priorities. He’s been with WC Bradley/Charbroil for 29 years and is the General

Manager for Sabre Grill and Oklahoma Joe’s, doing international business for both. Gary has

extensive sales and marketing experience. His father was in the military and his mom is from

Panama; Gary is fluent in Spanish and he offered his services in that area to anyone who needs

them.

At 8:59 a.m., Kathy called on Conner Olds to give a social media introduction and Conner

explained that a new company will be maintaining and advising on the Chamber’s branding

and social media accounts. Conner then asked Alex Johnson to discuss several PowerPoint

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slides of social media statistics and analytics (see attached). She showed the views, users,

clicks and engagement (regarded as the most desirable result) for each of the Chamber’s social

media platforms. There were significant decreases in the month of June compared to May in

some platforms, due to the Chamber dropping some of its paid ads on social media and a

decrease in the number of scheduled Chamber events in June (which normally drive traffic to

social media sites).

At 9:06, Kathy asked Gloria Boyers to lead the Board in a discussion about the event calendar

and details on the Man-o-War Trail. New signage will go up along the trail soon as it extends

further along its course on Phase 5 in 2022. Phase 6 will begin in 2023. A major trailhead will

be in Pine Mountain. Paving will soon resume near Spartan Mowers and the school in

Hamilton. A suggestion was made to have high school students fabricate bicycle racks for

stopping places along the trail.

Gloria talked about Soil to Soul and the use of tourism funding through the Designated

Marketing Organization (DMO) arrangement with the county and into advertising.

She also talked about Atomic Brands and AirDNA reporting services used by the Chamber to

monitor its brand dissemination and strategies. She reminded the Board of the Women

Leaders meeting on August 11, the DEI Committee’s next Mixer on August 25, Wheels of Fire

on September 10, Old Chipley Days on September 24 and the Chamber’s annual golf outing on

October 7.

At 9:22 a.m., Kathy asked for committee reports and Gary reported that the Membership

Committee was meeting later today to focus on the quality of their programming and a new

approach to growing membership.

Next, Alex explained that Women in Leadership Development (WILD) is restructuring and

emphasizing professional development and business networking. She reiterated that the

organization is for all women in the county and that she anticipates it remaining a quarterly

meeting.

At 9:28 a.m., Kathy opened the floor to any items of information or interest for the group.

Vance reminded everyone of his cell phone number (706.616.1501) and encouraged Board

members to call him and give him feedback or suggestions. Ken Pope stated that of all the

Chambers of Commerce with which he’s worked, the Harris County Chamber seems to be

among the best run and focused. David Hawkins voiced concerns over (1) the county’s

proposed unified development code and (2) new impact fees that he feels could impact county

growth and expansion. David urged the Chamber to stay abreast of these items and to take a

stand to support businesses who depend upon growth for their livelihood. Wes Tyus pointed

out that many Harris County residents seem to get their information about topics like this

from social media. He urged the Chamber to consider appropriate education around the facts

to provide a balanced picture of the real issues. Ralph stated that from a builder’s perspective,

higher fees mean more difficult sales and potentially lost business. Kathy suggested that the

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Economic Development Committee of the Chamber, led by Kim Weaver, look into these two

issues and determine a solid plan of action for the Chamber.

At 9:35 a.m., Kathy asked for an update on the Harris County school programming and Tyler

Dunn explained that there would probably be a new name for the committee that oversees

the projects. However, the cyber security and agricultural academy work is nearing

completion. Equipment and instructors are coming together for a planned August 5 opening.

Kathy concluded the open session by reiterating the importance of following up on the unified

development plan and the impact fees, suggesting that Board members contact

Commissioners to express their concerns about both and to encourage better education on

the issues to the public. Kathy and the Board would like to see the facts shared as education

and the Chamber at the table when discussions are held.

Conner stated that copies of all the documents and slides from today’s meeting would be

made available.

At 9:47 a.m., the meeting concluded.

2022 Meeting Schedule for Board of Directors and Executive Committee

2022 Board meetings will be held the 2 nd or 3 rd Tuesday of March, May, August, October and

December (March 22, May 17, July 19, August 23, October 18 and December 13) at the

Community Center with 8:00 a.m. as networking time and 8:30 a.m. as the meeting time

2022 Executive Committee meetings will be held on the 3 rd Tuesday of February, April, June,

July, September and November (February 15, April 19, June 21, September 20 and November

15) with 8:30 a.m. as the meeting time.