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Each year, we host an Annual Meeting to reflect on the past year, celebrate achievements, and share our vision for the coming year. Of course, no one could have predicted what 2020 would bring. When we discussed the theme for the event, we kept coming back to the idea of ‘looking ahead’, ‘moving forward’, and ‘facing the future.’ We landed on the theme ‘Forward Facing’ as the theme is a nod to our commitment to repairing and rebuilding our community.
 
For the first time, our Annual Meeting was held virtually. Attendees enjoyed the benefit of networking (via Zoom) and heard from several key leaders in the community. Here are a few of our favorite quotes from the event: 
 
Mike Golden, Presenting Sponsor, Wells Fargo
“We are proud to continue our support of the Raleigh Chamber because empowering businesses dreams is something Wells Fargo has been doing for over 150 years.”
 
Adrienne Cole, President and CEO, Raleigh Chamber
“The past year has been challenging and a lot has changed. However, our team is committed to building a community that is strong, collaborative, unified, and prosperous for all.” 
 
DeLisa Alexander, Executive Committee, Chair, Red Hat
“I am confident the Raleigh Chamber and YOU will continue to work each day to make our community a place where everyone can thrive.”
 
O’Hara Macken, Executive Committee, Incoming Chair, IHS Markit
“The Raleigh Chamber is a trusted pillar for our community, and we are focused on the progress of our region.”
 
Larry Wheeler (winner, 2019) introduced and honored this year’s winner of the A.E. Finley Distinguished Service Award, Brenda Gibson. The A.E. Finley award is presented annually to a person who has through leadership, dedication, support, and involvement made significant contributions to the community. Brenda is a leader in commercial real estate and a dedicated volunteer in our community. Congratulations, Brenda!
 
Attendees enjoyed a keynote from Innovative Business Thought Leader and New York Times Best-Selling Author, Dan Heath. Dan shared how business leaders can prevent problems rather than reacting to them. He asked attendees, “how many problems in our lives are we tolerating because we forgot we can fix them?”
 
Another highlight of our Annual Meeting is sharing our achievements from the past year. Despite the challenges related to the pandemic, we recorded many major accomplishments:  

• Launched a recovery taskforce in response to the pandemic to help stabilize, adapt, and accelerate our economy and stood up a COVID-19 response website.

 

• Recruited 77 new and expanding companies to Wake County that led to the creation of over 5,900 jobs and capital investment of $406 million.

 

• Several exciting economic development announcements:
  • Bandwidth announced a new global headquarters, moving from NC State Centennial Campus to a new location in Raleigh. Bandwidth announced they will bring over 1,100 jobs to Wake County.
  • Envestnet, a financial technology company headquartered in Chicago, expanded their Raleigh presence with the addition of 148 new jobs.
  • Hansae, a South Korean company, selected Garner for a PPE manufacturing facility further adding to the region’s list of over 700 international companies.
  • Microsoft announced the creation of 500 new jobs, expanding the company’s growing presence in Morrisville.

 

• Even when events went virtual, Chamber members met new customers and learned new skills at 205 events, 120 of those virtual. Several events welcomed over 800 people and included attendees from around the U.S. (Women’s Leadership Conference and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Conference)

 

• 300 small business owners made new contacts through programs like We Connect and Hispanic and Black Business Momentum.

 

• The Triangle Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity Alliance provided resources to encourage the success of more than 100 underserved businesses and supported economic mobility in Wake County.

 

• Graduated two classes of Leadership Raleigh to build the pool of ambitious young leaders.

 

• Focused on talent and workforce development by completing a 15-county regional skills analysis to gather information on business needs for the next three years.

 

• Launched a program to promote the expanded growth of the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem with a “wrap-around” program.

 

• Innovate Raleigh led a group of volunteers in the creation of the ‘All In For Raleigh’ campaign to generate individual donations to support the Raleigh Small Business Relief Fund.

 

• Kicked off a regional digital marketing campaign focused on business recruitment. The campaign will drive awareness and bring new business to the Research Triangle region.

 

• Expanded policy reach and developed broad priorities to increase influence in several major areas such as economic development and education. The team also kicked off work related to housing affordability, pre-k expansion, broadband investment, liability protections, and more.

 

• The Regional Transportation Alliance business coalition focused on leading two initiatives on enhancing transit and improving equity, including a study with NCDOT and GoTriangle to create a regional Freeway And Street-based Transit (FAST) network, and a study of a potential pilot that would expand zero fare transit in our market.

 

• The Regional Transportation Alliance focused on sustainable funding for essential growth at RDU, along with pushing for the full completion of 540 in eastern Wake County.

 
Your Chamber and business community moved forward despite challenges. We are dedicated to building a thriving economy and enhancing our community’s quality of life. We are grateful for the support of our members, partners, investors, and Chamber leadership. We look forward to working with you in the coming year!
 
To see quotes and screenshots from our Annual Meeting, search #AnnMtg20 on social media! 

When COVID-19 hit early this year, Cydney Davis-English, like many other business owners, braced for the inevitable impact on day-to-day operations and her bottom line. More than five months into the pandemic, her businesses are booming.
 
The serial entrepreneur, who co-owns The English Garden Florist of Raleigh and Two Maids & A Mop with her husband Warren English, discussed the importance of being a strong leader and creating opportunities in this unprecedented time with Chamber members at our virtual Coffee with Leaders event on Sept. 16.
 
Cydney shared her mindset on “pivoting with purpose” during challenging times by implementing a tried-and-true list of methods that have not only sustained her businesses, but helped them thrive.
 
“When the pandemic hit, we started off in limbo like many other business owners in the area. Our supply chain was interrupted, clients were calling en masse to cancel or reschedule services, and we didn’t know if we’d be able to keep our full staff employed,” she explained.
 
Her solution? Focus on the three C’s of business: coworkers, customers, and community, and get creative.
 
Across both businesses, Cydney preemptively implemented sanitization and social distancing methods to protect her employees, reached out to clients to retune contracts and offer customized services, and collaborated with her vendors and other local business owners to provide unique and mutually beneficial products.
 
This focus, coupled with an open mind and willingness to take risks, led to the creation of a number of avenues to overcome obstacles and maintain profits, including flower bouquets paired with spinach leaves from nursery vendors, toilet tissue rolls from her cleaning company, and handmade masks from partnerships with a local boutique.
 
The key, she shared, is finding what you do well, and doing more of it.
 
“It’s important to acclimate yourself to each challenge by viewing them as opportunities,” she said. “What’s going on around you? What are your customers looking at? What do they need?”
 
Cydney encouraged business owners to utilize the tools at their disposal, especially social media, to know their consumer base, evaluate who they are not reaching, and show that they are listening.
 
“By nurturing and organically growing our social media presence, we were able to tap into additional markets by offering more affordable options for our community, such as a la carte cleaning services and flower bouquets at lower price points,” she explained.
 
Of the utmost importance, she added, was to maintain communication with clients and to walk a mile in their shoes when formulating solutions or refining contracts.
 
“If you can’t provide a service as intended, think about what you would want, and be willing to engage openly and aggressively,” she advised. “Don’t dodge in an already stressful time, being steady and transparent will help keep customers calm and open to alternative solutions.”
 
We want to thank Cydney for sharing her perspective and methods with us.
 
To register for other Raleigh Chamber events, please visit our event calendar.

Recognized as a 'New Civil Rights Leader For The 21st Century' by CNN and the Los Angeles Times, Opal Tometi introduced the world to the Black Lives Matter movement and organization along with Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors. Opal joined us for a Courageous Conversation on September 9 to reveal raw insights on the adversities inflicted by social injustice, anti-black bias, and uninformed views on immigration.
 
Opal started the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement because she grew up seeing injustices against black people, from the murder of Trayvon Martin to present day with the shooting of Jacob Blake. It became clear to her that something needed to happen to promote justice.
 
Recently, we have seen the world activate around standing up for social justice. This has been driven largely through social media. This is why Opal chose to develop the #BlackLivesMatter movement on social media in 2013. Not only does it allow black people to share their experiences to a larger audience, it also has given people who otherwise might not have had a microphone to share and participate in the movement. Opal shared “social media unlocks the power in each of us and amplifies everyone’s voice. We need each person to feel it. To be moved by the stories and to know that they have power to create change.”
 
Opal shared how corporations can step up power within their own sphere of influence. She shared how companies can play a role in change and be more than a performative ally.

• Experiment, try out new ways of stepping up commitment
• Have robust internal dialogue
• Diversify at all levels of the organization
• Think externally. What are the products you’re producing, the messages you’re sharing, and what impact are you having on the communities you impact and engage with?
• Create an infrastructure to maintain the strategy

 
Being a performative ally means you might have the intention but there was no actual impact. You need to have the infrastructure to ensure you have that impact. There can be trainings that takes place, but what are the programs and plans to ensure that day in and day out you are maintaining that infrastructure and the intention you had?
 
Opal shared that the leaders of corporations should think bigger about how they are implementing DEI in their culture and how this will funnel to employees and consumers. People interact every day with businesses and they touch every sphere of our lives. We are participants in it, we interact with the products they produce, the messages they put out, and with the whole supply chain.
 
Final words from Opal shared a message of action, “for groups looking for how to change or step up, the answer is to just do it. Everybody is responsible. Take the time to do the readings and self-reflection. What we need is for people to be transformed. And it’s not just about one group of people – it’s a challenge and responsibility on all of us to solve.”