It had only been given out 26 times in the 208-year history of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. On Friday, the chamber presented its 27th and 28th Oglethorpe Leadership Awards to educator Joe Buck and outgoing U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston.
“This award is named for General James Edward Oglethorpe, a humanitarian, leader and visionary who led 120 colonists in founding Savannah and the colony of Georgia in 1733,” chamber chairman Toby Moreau told the 400-plus business people gathered at the Westin Savannah Harbor for the chamber’s annual meeting.
“Today we honor two great leaders — Congressman Jack Kingston and educator Joe Buck.”
Kingston, a Republican, steps down this month after 22 years representing the First Congressional District in the U.S. House.
“Congressman Kingston has championed many issues during his tenure, including the all-important deepening of the port of Savannah and fighting to protect and ensure the future of our local military installations,” Moreau said.
“His work will leave a positive legacy for years to come.”
Kingston said it has been his honor to serve the more than 700,000 people in his district for more than two decades.
“I have been fortunate to learn from great leaders — Art Gignilliat, Herb Jones, Tom Coleman and so many others,” Kingston said. “The most important thing I learned was to listen.”
Moreau characterized Buck as “a man whose work and life has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of students through his 38 years at Armstrong State University and, most recently, his eight years as president of the Savannah-Chatham County School Board.
“Dr. Buck has certainly left his mark on Savannah,” Moreau said.
Buck said he felt fortunate to live and work in Savannah.
“The people of this community are what make it great,” he said. “But we are only as good as our poorest poor and our weakest link.
“It is up to each of us to reach outside ourselves and do what is hard to do sometimes.”
Buck called his school board service the “eight most marvelous years of my life.”
“I always thought Armstrong was why I was on earth, but I now know Armstrong prepared me for this,” Buck said. “This school district is one we should all be proud of. Our young people are going to make this port even greater, these small businesses even better and Savannah an even better place to live.”
A successful year
As is tradition at its annual meeting, Moreau recounted the organization’s accomplishments for 2014:
• The addition of 300 new members brings chamber membership to 2,200-plus with a membership renewal rate of 90 percent.
• More than 40 chamber-sponsored networking events brought some 9,000 people together to talk business.
• Successful public policy initiatives included supporting the state in accumulating $266 million to begin deepening the harbor and helping pass legislation that made the Savannah area more competitive in terms of incentives and reduced taxation. Education initiatives continued to top the agenda, as expansion of the HOPE Grant and investment in local Universities passed the legislature.
• While public safety continues to be a challenge, Moreau said, the chamber has supported the hiring of Chief Joseph Lumpkin and advancements in police technology.
• The chamber has developed and reinforced a coastal coalition to help protect area military installations and their $5.6 billion economic impact to the area, hired a D.C. consulting firm to help and traveled to the nation’s capital to meet with top decision makers regarding sequestration.
• Visit Savannah recorded its fourth consecutive record-breaking year, representing an economic impact of $2.4 billion and 26,000 local jobs.
Looking ahead
After recognizing outgoing board members, Moreau introduced Hurley S. “Trey” Cook III, chief operating officer of Savannah Tire and Rubber Co., and the incoming 2015 chamber chair.
Cook said he will continue to advance many of the programs highlighted in 2014, focusing on small business, sequestration and public safety.
“We live in a dream place — Savannah,” he said. “We should get behind our new police chief and our men and women in uniform and make a conscious effort to support them, to be a community of leaders, not a community of dividers.
“I guarantee that if we stand together, we will not fall.”