Greater Raleigh Chamber Blog

Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential. It is the beginning of a beautiful one. Congratulations on completing your Leadership Raleigh program. You are forever a member of our Leadership Raleigh Alumni Association. We hope you had a fantastic year despite these challenging times. This year, we want to say thank you for your tenacity and dedication to the program. One unique aspect of Leadership Raleigh is the project team element. Each participant is placed in a project team based on his or her background and experience.
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Today, we are highlighting our Leadership Raleigh 39, Project Team 4. This group collaborated with Raleigh Area Land Trust, an organization dedicated to expanding affordable homeownership opportunities for families, with low to moderate incomes, so that they can live or remain in the community of their choice in Raleigh and Wake County.

This team will continue to support the launch of Raleigh Area Land Trust and their mission to establish to increase affordable housing, homeownership, and preserve neighborhoods for residents.

Congratulations Project Team 4 for your hard work and completion of Leadership Raleigh:

Thomas Barrier, Branch Banking & Trust Co.

Dusan Cecich, Danis Construction Company 

Kaitlin Dewberry, PoynerSpruill LLP

Rhett Fussell, Raleigh Area Land Trust

Sarah Newton, SAS Institute, Inc.

Ashleigh Sholar, Raleigh Chamber 

Morgan Zoellner, Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education

​Applications are now available for our next Leadership Raleigh class here. Please note that these are due back to Des Burton  by 5 p.m. on Aug. 14.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new one.” Congratulations on completing your Leadership Raleigh program. You are forever a member of our Leadership Raleigh Alumni Association. We hope you had a fantastic year despite these challenging times. This year, we want to say thank you for your tenacity and dedication to the program. One unique aspect of Leadership Raleigh is the project team element. Each participant is placed in a project team based on his or her background and experience.

Today, we are highlighting our Leadership Raleigh 39, Project Team 2. This group collaborated with STOP THE BLEED, an organization dedicated to training individuals to be the true first-responder in the case of severe trauma and bleeding. Project Team 2 raised awareness around an important, life-saving skill – a skill from which everyone in the community can benefit. Accidents happen and they can happen to anyone, anywhere – playground incidents, sports practice, car accidents, yardwork mishaps, kitchen slips, natural disasters, or mass shootings. The more bystanders trained in how to respond in a time of crisis, the safer our communities will be.
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Congratulations Project Team 2 for your desire to spread awareness and completion of Leadership Raleigh: 

Melyssa Allen, Meredith College

Randi Ligon, Apex Tool Group and Junior League of Raleigh

Kasia Nels, Stewart

Charles Setzer, Contec Inc.

Jenny Saul, Greene Resources

Olivia Scarbrough, Elliott Davis

Wesley Fricks, United Community Bank

David Boaz, Replacements, Ltd.

Applications are now available for our next Leadership Raleigh class here. Please note that these are due back to Des Burton  by 5 p.m. on Aug. 14.

Graduation isn’t the end of a tough journey. It is the beginning of a beautiful one. Congratulations on completing your Leadership Raleigh program. You are forever a member of our Leadership Raleigh Alumni Association. We hope you had a fantastic year despite these challenging times. This year, we want to say thank you for your tenacity and dedication to the program. One unique aspect of Leadership Raleigh is the project team element. Each participant is placed in a project team based on his or her background and experience.

Today we are highlighting our Leadership Raleigh 39, Project Team 1. This group collaborated with KidsPeace, an organization dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, families and communities. This team significantly influenced the reach and platform of a local foster care organization. Foster care in North Carolina is severely understaffed and underfunded. This team worked diligently to develop a social media/marketing campaign that will make a difference of hundreds of children's lives in the future.

Congratulations Project Team 1 for your outstanding work and completion of Leadership Raleigh!

Sabrina Burns, PNC

​Chad Danford, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina

Alysia Eve, Citrix

Deb Horwitz, Merz North America

Brad Murray, Murray Real Estate Group, LLC

Gretchen Saussy, Mid-Atlantic Associates, Inc.

George Smith, Nexsen Pruet, PLLC

Applications are now available for our next Leadership Raleigh class here. Please note that these are due back to Des Burton  by 5 p.m. on Aug. 14.

We are excited to announce the 2019/2020 participants of Leadership Raleigh, a premier leadership development program.
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Last month, our newest Leadership Raleigh classes got their programs started at retreats at the Graylyn International Conference Center in Winston-Salem. 
 
The following professionals are members of the 40th class:
 
Michelle Adel
First Citizens Bank

Cody Ball
HH Architecture

Diesha Banner
Toast It Up!

Christopher Battles
Shanahan Law Group, PLLC

Manoj Bhatia
Ultimate Storage Company

Heather Brewer
Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities

Katherine Carlton
Investors Management Corporation

Carrie Chandler
Genworth Mortgage Insurance

Matt Choplin
PWM of NC

Tom Clancy
Clancy & Theys Construction Company

Charles Davis
Poyner Spruill LLP

Rodney Faulk
City of Raleigh

Frantz Flora McNeill
York Properties, Inc.

Donna Gaskin
MetLife

Patricia Glidewell
Bernard Robinson & Co. LLP

Walter Gray
ms consultants, inc.

Paul Hammersley
First National Bank

​Zach Hall
Balfour Beatty Construction

Syreeta Hargrove
Raleigh Chamber

Ms. Taylor Holloway
Strategic Behavioral Health, LLC

Jessica Holt
Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau

Leland Hyer
Durham Public Schools

Monica Jacimore
First Bank

Emily Jeske
Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, LLP

Davis Johnston
Foundry Commercial

Laveda Joseph
Wake Technical Community College

Stephen Kenney
Kenney Properties, Inc.

Caitlyn Kinnaird
JLL

Audrey Krenitsky
JDavis

Allyson Kuegel
Citrix

Amanda Latham
Clean

Hannah Lipstone
KPMG LLP

Toni Lockett
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Brett Malone
North Carolina FC Youth

Kelly Monroe
Skanska USA Building, Inc.

Brieanna Myers
North Carolina FC

Lynn Percival
Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP

James Pratt
CLA

John Rash
Clark Nexsen

Cherith Roberson
Wake Technical Community College

Neal Seigler
Duke Raleigh Hospital

Andrew Sims
Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors

Ms. Mary Skinner
PNC

Julie Smith
NC State University

Kayla Strampe
DHIC, Inc.

Ashlie Thompson
Wake County Public School System

Anthony Vellozzi
Metcon, Inc.

Kallie Walker
Kane Realty Corporation

Afrika Williams
LCI

We are excited to announce the 2019/2020 participants of Leadership Raleigh, a premier leadership development program.

Last month, our newest Leadership Raleigh classes got their programs started at retreats at the Graylyn International Conference Center in Winston-Salem. 
 
The following professionals are members of the 39th class:

Clark Abbott
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Melyssa Allen
Meredith College

Benjamin K Bailey
JLL

Thomas Barrier
Branch Banking & Trust Co.

Chris Bell
Deloitte

David Boaz
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

Tiffany Burba
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Sabrina Burns
PNC

Cooper Cash
North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives

Dusan Cecich
Danis Construction Company

Erica Campion
Genworth Mortgage Insurance

Shane Corbett
Piedmont Service Group

Chad Danford
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina

Kaitlin Dewberry
Poyner Spruill LLP

Alysia Eve
Citrix

Tara Freeman
UNC REX Healthcare

Joseph Fricks
United Community Bank

Rhett Fussell
Raleigh Area Land Trust

Sarah Heminuk
Haven House Services

John Holton
Williams Mullen

Deb Horwitz
Merz North America

Randi Ligon
Apex Tool Group

Daniel Lord
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

Michael Lutz
Barnhill Contracting Co., Inc.

Sean Maroney
Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, Inc.

Gina Miller
Nationwide Insurance

Adrianne Moody
United Way of the Greater Triangle

Brad Murray
Murray Real Estate Group, LLC

Kasia Nels
Stewart

Kekoa Nelson
IBM Corporation

Sarah Newton
SAS Institute, Inc.

Joy Pariz
YMCA of the Triangle Area, Inc.

Paul Pierron
Gilbane Building Company

Jenny Saul
Greene Resources

Gretchen Saussy
Mid-Atlantic Associates, Inc.

Olivia Scarbrough
Elliott Davis

Charles Setzer
Contec, Inc

Ashleigh Sholar
Raleigh Chamber

Amie Sivon
Ragsdale Liggett PLLC

Richard Slater
McAdams

Erin Smith
BAERING

George T Smith III
Nexsen Pruet, PLLC

Lisa Snedeker
Campbell Law School

Heather Spencer
NC State University

Anna Traylor
Clark Nexsen

Heath Tripp
Smith Anderson Law Firm

Debbie Wilkinson
Wells Fargo

Jessica Green Willson
Fox Rothschild LLP

Morgan Zoellner
Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education

By Sejal Patel
IQVIA

To say Leadership Raleigh Class 37 has come full circle is an understatement. Many of us remember our first day of class which focused on Quality of Life. That day we had the opportunity to hear from some of Raleigh’s biggest developers and go behind the scenes on how they have contributed to Raleigh’s growth over the years. We heard about their successes, their failures, but most importantly how much local government impacted their business. I remember many of our classmates looking forward to this day to hear from our local government leaders and get their point of view. So the day finally came, and it was definitely jam packed.

Our day started with a tour of one of Raleigh’s most ambitious projects to date, Dix Park. On July 24, 2015, the City of Raleigh purchased the Dorothea Dix Campus from the State of North Carolina for the purpose of developing a destination park. As stated above, the planning and development of Dorothea Dix Park represents one of the most exciting and ambitious new park projects in America.

Our tour covered the history of the buildings, land, and legacy of Dorothea Dix, the current use of the area as the headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services and the steps the City will take in planning a future park.

The city’s motto for this park is “A Park for Everyone, Built by Everyone.” The Master Plan process was governed by a community-led, multi-tier structure. On February 19, 2019, the Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan was adopted unanimously by Raleigh City Council. This was an important and exciting milestone for everyone in this community. I think we can all say we are excited about this project and the impact it will have in Raleigh for years to come.

For more information and upcoming summer activities schedule visit:

https://dorotheadixpark.org/

Our next stop on the day was the Wake County Justice Center. Our new Justice Center opened in 2013 and has 19 courtrooms with space for four more in the future. We first started with a County/City Manager Panel. Our panelists were Wake County Manager David Ellis, Raleigh City Manager Ruffin Hall, and Town of Cary Mayor Pro Tem Lori Bush. They all provided insight on their day-to-day activities, how much collaboration is involved between the cities and Wake County, and how local government is so important to our day-to-day lives. Many people focus on the national government and don’t realize that many of the policies that affect our daily lives start at the local level. I remember hearing the same thing during the Quality Of Life day and since then I have made a conscious effort to follow local politics and find ways that I can get involved. The first place to start change is to talk to our local leaders!

After our panel discussion, we participated in a Q&A session with Judge Jefferson Griffin. Judge Griffin was born and raised in Red Oak, N.C. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then graduated from North Carolina Central School of Law. He also serves as a First Lieutenant in the North Carolina Army National Guard as a JAG Officer. Currently, Judge Griffin is a district court judge for the 10th Judicial District, serving Wake County. Judge Griffin provided insight on how the Justice Center is set up and the daily life of a judge. He currently is presiding over cases in family court and it was very interesting to learn about his judicial philosophy and how he goes about judging cases.

From the Justice Center we walked over to the Stockroom for lunch, followed by a budgeting exercise. We listened to a presentation on how government budgets are created and passed. The process takes a long time and includes many stakeholders. There is a lot of back and forth as everyone wants to get their projects funded. We then were split into teams and given an exercise to create and fund our own budgets based on certain parameters. It was a very informative exercise and was cool to see how each group allocated their budgets and what people felt was important to fund.

Our next stop of the day was the Legislative Building, where all the magic happens! There was a tour planned, as well as a General Assembly panel, but both houses were in session and were voting on the budget so our plans changed. We were able to sit in the gallery of both the houses and see them debate on the floor for various bills and amendments. There is a lot going on at the same time and things can definitely get heated. Everyone has their views and when there are hot-button topics the debate can go on for a long time. Since the houses were in session, we ended up doing the panel with some of their young staffers. We learned some history about the building, their day-to-day life, and some of the upcoming bills on the slate. We did get Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, (D – Wake County), to stop by for a few minutes during a break to talk to us and give some insight which was great. I wish we would have gotten some one-on-one time with more representatives and senators because I know our class had many questions from our day with the developers earlier this year. But this whole afternoon showed how the government works. Things are constantly in motion and can change at any given minute.

Our last stop of the day was happy hour at Norris House. Norris House is a beautiful house in downtown Raleigh that has been restored and available for private parties and special events. Definitely check them out if you are in downtown.

https://www.norris-house.com/
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What a fantastic year with all the classmates. I hope all of you have valued this once in a lifetime experience as much as I have. Over the last year, I have learned so much about Raleigh and plan on getting involved and making an impact. I enjoyed getting to know all of you over the last year and hope we can all stay in touch. Thanks to David and Jackie for their support over the last year as well. Lastly, I am looking forward to seeing everyone at graduation and celebrating. For those who can’t make it, let’s definitely keep in touch. 

Cheers :) ​​

​By Catherine Clodfelter
Associate, Parker Poe Law Firm
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Quote of the day:

 “You don’t just go viral.” - Seth Crossno

Our Leadership Raleigh 37 Media Day couldn’t have opened a more relevant month of news. Am I right?

I started out the day with a heavy dose of skepticism that I would enjoy talking about or learning about social media.  When I think of media and social media, I tend to think of going “viral,” how many followers someone has, or the “tweet.” But my Media Day epiphany is that media and social media is all about the people behind the tweet, insta, camera, or whatever comes tomorrow, and if you’re going to be a successful user of media, you can’t forget that.  Sounds obvious, but I’ll explain. 

Seth Crossno’s presentation was a serious reality check for me about two different aspects of social media.  First, you reach more people through humor.  You can use social media for any type of message, whether it be an advertisement, social commentary, or news.  But, humor delivers the message to the most people. Second, if you work in social media, and your goal is to wake up and make content, you’ve missed the point.  Seth is successful and continues to enjoy what he is doing (or appears to) because he wakes up every morning with the goal of making himself laugh, which then makes us all laugh.  He doesn’t get out of bed to create content.

As an aside, that’s a powerful observation for both social media and also what we do in our professional lives.  As a lawyer, I don’t often get to get up and have a goal of making people laugh (though it sometimes happens by accident).  I can take Seth’s comment to heart in my business, though, and I think we all can.  If you are a lawyer, and your goal is to wake up and get your motion filed with the court, you’ve missed the point.  The goal is to wake up and get the best result for your client possible. 
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Our lunch panel of hosts described social media as an aid to the sports media business that is only helpful because it helps reach more people.  My take away from that panel was that social media is a necessary pain.  It has the ability to reach the most people possible.  The important cautionary tale was, if social media starts to take away time and effort from the people whose stories you are telling, you’re doing it wrong.  Once again, the point isn’t creating “content.”  If you spend so much time worrying about pushing content out that you aren’t putting something out that celebrates the stories that make you love sports, you’ve missed the point. 

Our final official stop was the ABC-11 newsroom.  For those of us who mostly sit in offices all day, this place was a playground.  I was get inspired by our panel with ABC-11 Anchors Amber Rupinta and Joel Brown to have some fun in capturing the message learned from their experiences in social media:

Listen up Triangle, they start with coiffed hair and big voices boomin’
Bringing us news, of gunshots, good deeds and bad weather loomin’
So, Triangle, in your DM’s and posts,
Show respect and love to those who care to convey to us most,
Cuz behind the glamour, microphones, and cameras rolling, everyone’s human

By Jessie Rumbley
Marbles Kids Museum communications + freelance writer
 
“Healthcare is the great equalizer. In one bed, you can have one of the richest men in the area. Next door, you can have someone who can’t afford to pay. They’re both vulnerable in these places, and they both need care.” WakeMed Health & Hospitals CEO Donald Gintzig aptly summarized the importance of healthcare in our – and in any – community during a panel discussion for Leadership Raleigh 37’s Healthcare Day. It’s a vast and complex sector to understand, and we spent the day learning firsthand about each of the county’s key players.
 
“There’s a collaborative spirit here that transcends competition,” said Steve Burriss, president of UNC REX Healthcare, in the same panel discussion. In that spirit, we visited three major medical hubs: Duke Raleigh Hospital, WakeMed Hospital, and UNC REX Heart & Vascular Hospital. Often, they work together, such as the two-year-old Cancer Care Plus+ collaboration and innovation partnership between Duke and WakeMed. Partnerships like these aim to provide a wider network of care locations that will create a stronger, and together more comprehensive, system that truly serves the best interests of community health.
 
At Duke Raleigh, we learned about its steady growth and “high-end boutique” procedures and services. The Raleigh location is a relatively small slice of the Duke hospital network, which is based in Durham. It is small but mighty, and gearing up for physical expansion in the near future.

Part of our strong system is access to nutritious food. At UNC REX Heart & Vascular Center we learned about the hospital’s award-winning culinary approach. Chefs James McGrody and Ryan Conklin lead an outstanding and creative food program, serving menus that are flavorful, healthy, and rooted in local ingredients and seasons. On my group’s tour of the beautiful new heart facility, we ran into a visitor who knew our tour guide. “I’m here to visit a friend,” she said, “and enjoy the food!”
 
To conclude another jam-packed Leadership Raleigh day, a few classmates chose to tour the new Poyner YMCA facility downtown. It’s a gleaming space including several group exercise spaces and specialty fitness classes, such as hot yoga and TRX training. We ended on a high note when we learned about an exciting new initiative the YMCA is helping to develop: a “medical membership” program where doctors can write a prescription to patients … for the YMCA. These patients receive a special discounted membership rate to use exercise equipment and take classes. The program is an important step toward systemic preventative care, and felt like an optimistic full-circle end to Healthcare Day.

By Marisa Bryant
Contract Affiliate, moss+ross, Salt Strategies

Leadership Raleigh is all about connecting with our community, and a BIG part of that community is our schools. The Wake County Public School System is the largest school district in the state, the 15th largest in the country, and the third largest employer in our county. Our county also is home to 12 traditional universities and colleges, Wake Technical Community College, and numerous satellite campuses and for-profit institutions of higher education. The Raleigh community’s education culture is unusually rich and it was so informative to learn more about it.

Education Day was timed perfectly for our Leadership Raleigh 37 class, since we had heard so many panelists talk about the need for quality educational opportunities from pre-K through college during our Local Economy Day. We started Education Day with a panel discussion at Meredith College on trends and projections for education in North Carolina. Our panelists included deans from the schools of education at local colleges and the director of the Teaching Fellows program. We learned about the looming teacher shortage crisis, the lack of diversity among educators in our state, the rural/urban divide regarding teacher retention, and many other complex issues facing education in our state.

We then toured Exploris Elementary School, one of the oldest charter schools in the state, near downtown Raleigh. Our class participated in student-led tours where we saw student projects, peeked inside bustling classrooms, and heard the big dreams of our fourth and fifth grade tour guides.

From there we toured the Vernon Malone College and Career Academy, where students not only work on their high school education, but also can begin taking community college classes on site through a partnership with Wake Tech. Students can earn credits in programs such as biopharmaceutical technology, welding, and cosmetology. Each of the seven credit programs offered was selected because of the high demand for that trade among Wake County employers. While enjoying lunch at Vernon Malone CCA, we heard tips on common sense leadership from Tom Cavanagh, chief customer officer and vice president of the intellectual property solutions division at Eastman Kodak Company.

Finally, we visited the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the most visited attraction in North Carolina. We met with scientists and naturalists who help run the museum’s educational programs, both at the museum and off-site. We also were wowed by the survivalist skills demonstrated on one of the museum’s mobile learning carts. We had fun testing out our science knowledge with a quiz game in the museum’s three-story Daily Planet Theater.

As always, our Leadership Raleigh day was engaging and informative, and we all are now better informed citizens of our education-rich city!  

By Chase Wellford
Commercial Banking Relationship Manager, BB&T

The Leadership Raleigh Class 37 launched into 2019 with a series of local leadership panels and small business tours featured for Local Economy Day. The day kicked off at the Raleigh Chamber with coffee and donuts where the first panel leaders awaited LR37 to discuss their thoughts on the overall state of Raleigh’s local economy and what they thought was vital to continued economic success of the region in the future.

Our first panel consisted of Derrick Minor (K4 Connect), Thomas White (NC State University), and Bridget Harrington (Innovate Raleigh). The three local leaders discussed what drew them to the area and why they think Raleigh has such a promising future. While each of the three had very different backgrounds and stories that led them to Raleigh, they all cited reasons for being here such as the nearby top quality universities, a high caliber local workforce, an affordable cost of living, and an overall high quality of life. Additionally, the panel unanimously agreed that while Raleigh does is not identified nationally by a particular landmark or structure, its most recognizable asset is its people. That fact is something to be excited about as the current and future leaders of the community can have a profound effect on molding Raleigh’s identity.

During our second interactive panel, we heard from Maggie Kane (A Place at The Table), Joe Milazzo (Regional Transportation Alliance), Billie Redmond (Trademark Properties), and Jimmy Connell (Hodge & Kittrell Sotheby’s International Realty).  They shared their thoughts on the current state of the Triangle’s real estate market and transit conditions. Milazzo provided updates on the current transportation initiatives in the area that are aimed at improving all aspects of transit across the area. He also gave insight on future initiatives that will seek to improve mobility across the region as the area continues to grow. The panel expressed their views on what they believe is needed to ensure the region can continue to sustainably grow while meeting the needs of a diverse population of different socioeconomic backgrounds. During this panel, our group was encouraged to be active in Raleigh’s local government so that we may have a voice in the planning decisions that will shape our community’s identity in the future.

After our second panel, we traveled a few blocks north to Martin Street to the HQ Raleigh Capital Club where we had a delicious catered lunch.

For the second half of the day, we kicked off the afternoon with a small business panel that consisted of Kris Larson (Downtown Raleigh Alliance), Danya Perry (Wake County Economic Development), Pete Phipps (Arrow Barbering Co.), and Christie Williams (HQ Raleigh).  We heard some of their thoughts on what has enabled small business growth in the downtown area to flourish over the last several years. We also gained a better understanding of how organizations like the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and HQ Raleigh support start-ups and small businesses both inside and outside downtown Raleigh through a plethora of resources centered around collaboration to fuel small business growth.

Following our last panel, we walked a few blocks until we reached the City of Raleigh (COR) Museum located in the historic Briggs Building on Fayetteville Street.  Here, we learned how this city-operated museum carries out the mission of “preserving Raleigh’s past for the future” through collecting and preserving artifacts, curating exhibits, and providing educational programing to highlight the city’s unique history. Admission to the museum is free, but donations are well received as the organization relies on contributions to continue its offerings.

To wrap up the day, we toured two small businesses in downtown to gain a firsthand understanding of how they operate and contribute to the success of the local economy.  First, we visited Father & Son Antiques on West Street in the Warehouse District. We toured the warehouse with all of its unique items for sale. Father & Son started in 1997 and offers a wide range of specialty items for sale from mid-century modern furniture and antique décor to vintage clothing and record albums. The specialized and rare inventory has enabled Father & Son to serve customers all around the country who are in search of a unique find.

The second small business we toured was Raleigh Denim Workshop, which also is located in the Warehouse District on Martin Street. Raleigh Denim has been in business for nearly 10 years and is well known nationally for its hand-crafted custom fitting jeans. The company prides itself on the quality of each of the nearly 300 pairs they hand make each year such that each pair is signed by its artisan. LR37 was able to witness every aspect of the jean manufacturing process, which is all handled at the company’s office in Raleigh. In addition to being able to purchase Raleigh Denim’s jeans and other hand-crafted clothing in store, the company’s inventory is carried around the country in a number of high-end retailers such as Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Reflecting on the day as a whole, we were very fortunate to hear from so many local business leaders and entrepreneurs that are actively shaping our city and greater community in a positive way.  One major takeaway was the importance of supporting small businesses through our patronage and collaboration to help them thrive in our area. Small businesses make up the backbone of not only our local economy, but also our state and country. Additionally, we need to continue to foster diversity in our community so that we may remain a dynamic region that continues to attract the best of the best in the future. We are so thankful for all the time committed by our speakers and for all the planning that went into our tours. We all look forward to what is in store for our Education Day in February.   ​