TIFTON — Georgia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Chris Clark spoke to local members of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce, including state representatives and local dignitaries, at noon Wednesday at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village.

The Georgia Chamber hosts at least 13 of these meetings throughout the year to give chamber members in local communities an update on what’s going on with the state chamber. Clark and his colleagues planned to travel to Thomasville after leaving Tifton.

Clark is a native of Fitzgerald and currently serves on the state board for the Department of Economic Development as an ex officio member, the Governor’s Rural Development Council as an ex officio board member, the Georgia Academy for Economic Development Board of Directors and the advisory board for the College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Southern University. He’s a graduate of Leadership Georgia and served as president of the Georgia Economic Developers Association in 2009.

Clark served previously as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and prior to that, he was executive director of the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. He also served as deputy commissioner for global commerce at the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Brian Marlowe, president and CEO of the local chamber, introduced Clark to the crowd. He said they’re fortunate to have Clark leading the state’s advocacy of business.

“We’re successful at the chamber because of partnerships,” Clark stated.

He said the state chamber is working on building a partnership with local chambers, as well as businesses. By doing this, they’re focusing on economic development, education and business climate to help grow the state of Georgia.

According to the Georgia Chamber website, “Representing businesses of all sizes and industries across our state, the chamber continues to be involved in expanding our advantages, and creating more, to ensure Georgia continues to be a desired location for businesses of all kinds.”

Clark discussed economic development — “How can we improve the competitiveness of the state of Georgia?”

He stated, “Everything we do is about competitiveness.”

He said in 2011, they went out and asked communities what needs to be done in order to grow businesses. He noted that there is a lot of frustration from businesses due to the government.

“We listened to everyone and developed a blueprint for economic development,” Clark stated. “We came up with the best legislation for businesses in 20-plus years.”

In addition, they received comments that there needs to be more involvement on a local level from elected leaders.

Clark said they need to change how they do things at the chamber to work with businesses on a bigger level in the long term.

“We have to build a grassroots effort around that,” he stated. “We have four full-time lobbyists to help represent businesses.”

Clark said they looked closely at the recommendations, which focused around four specific areas for long-term improvement — foundation, innovation and technology, economic growth and education.

As he discussed these areas, he mentioned that the Georgia Chamber is working on agriculture. He said they’re proud to be a part of Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black’s “Georgia Grown” promotion.

However, they want to go another step by also promoting “Georgia made.”

Clark stated, “Look for a major effort in promoting that.”

He said there’s also quality in Georgia-made products.

In addition, he stated that they have to work on transportation. Even though the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum didn’t pass here, work still needs to be done with transportation, he explained.

Clark said they’re going to make a commitment to help put a transportation strategy in place to figure out how to fund transportation over the long run.

“We want to build the partnerships to help grow the economy,” he stated.

He said the No. 1 issue they heard everywhere in Georgia on long-term economic success was education. He commented that Georgia's technical colleges are the envy of the world.

“We know we have an incredible system,” Clark stated. “Young people need to realize that there are multiple career paths out there.”

He added, “The other pipeline is fourth through 12th. We have made great progress, and we have great schools.”

He noted that many businesses are complaining that a lot of young people wanting to be hired lack leadership skills, communication skills and soft skills. He said the chamber will engage in early learning.

Clark mentioned that they’re doing a study with the University of Georgia to build a new curriculum for the 2014 session and is working with the Gates Foundation.

He lastly stated, “We have a new partnership to work with local chambers to provide for small businesses. We think it will bring our local and state chambers together. You should expect a lot out of your chamber.”



To contact reporter Latasha Everson, call 382-4321.