Toby Moreau, city executive of Branch Banking & Trust, was introduced as the 2014 chairman of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce at the organization’s 207th annual meeting Friday at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa.
“I’m excited about 2014, as we’re seeing more of the economic recovery take hold,” Moreau said. “Port deepening will hopefully begin very soon and position us to continue the economic growth we’re experiencing.
“The chamber’s agenda will be fairly consistent. We will support manufacturing as it continues to grow, with partners such as Gulfstream, Mitsubishi, JCB and others as they expand.
“We will remain keenly focused on Visit Savannah and our very import tourism industry. We have 12 million reasons to make sure our visitors have a reason to come back,” he said.
“We will continue to be the business voice with our governmental affairs council working on local, state and federal issues.
“During 2014, we will stay focused on our community’s education and workforce development strategies, as well as the community’s health care needs, as these are all important cornerstones to assuring our future growth,” Moreau said.
“But our attention won’t be just on these issues,” he added. “The core of our chamber is small business, which makes up 80 percent of our membership,” he said.
“As promising as 2014 looks, we aren’t clear of the storm clouds yet. Sequestration, the upcoming and another possible round of military base realignments and closures will be a major concern next year. Our military community is some 26,000 soldiers strong with a $5.4 billion economic impact.
“Needless to say, 2014 will be a very busy year for the chamber.”
Outgoing chair Jenny Gentry, city executive of Wells Fargo Bank, opened the meeting with the announcement that the Chamber’s coveted Oglethorpe Award would go posthumously to John Matthews, former managing partner at the accounting firm of Deemer Dana & Froehle, who died recently from a brain tumor.
“This is not an annual award. It has only been bestowed on 25 individuals in the 207-year history of the Chamber,” Gentry said. “The Oglethorpe Award — named for humanitarian and visionary Gen. James Oglethorpe, who led 120 colonists in founding Savannah and the colony of Georgia in 1733 — recognizes exceptional leadership and insight and is the business community’s highest honor.
“John Matthews placed great value on maintaining relationships and truly cared about those with whom he did business,” she said. “He loved God, his family, his business and his community. And while our hearts are heavy with John’s passing, we can celebrate the full life he lived and the fact that our community is a better place because of him.”
Matthews’ widow, Penny King-Matthews, accepted the award to a standing ovation.
Before turning the gavel over to Moreau, Gentry recapped the Chamber’s 2013 accomplishments. Among them:
• A membership retention rate that remained at more than 89 percent for the second year in a row and the addition of 300 new members with no official campaign;
• More than 30 networking events that drew 7,200 attendees, with a 10- to 50-percent increase in attendance at many events;
• A chamber-led campaign that resulted in Chatham County voter approval of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax;
• Visit Savannah was voted the No. 1 worldwide tourism marketing organization on Twitter, while the Visit Savannah convention sales team has booked more than 100,000 hotel-room nights for 2014 through 2018;
• Visit Savannah continues to achieve accolades for the city, including a “Top 25 destination in the World” from Trip Advisor and No. 7 on “America’s Best Cities” by Travel and Leisure.
In the public policy arena, the chamber helped secure another $50 million for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, supported the passing of bills continuing the sales tax exemption for general aviation parts, the restoration of Medicaid funding, the Tourism Development Act updating tax exemptions for select tourism projects and restored state funding for 180 days of Pre-K.