Annual Report Program of Work

Program of Work 2008 2009 Annual Report Photo by Curt Peters Our Vision Charlotte, along with the Charlotte Region, is the best place to run a business and to live. Our Mission The Charlotte Chamber works to grow the economy, to serve as a voice for business and to deliver value … in order to ignite success for its members and for Charlotte. Delivering Value to Our Members … 2009 Program of Work • Increase the member retention rate by improving the member experience, in part through a new, standardized member satisfaction survey to help us create benchmarks and develop a stronger understanding of what our members want and need. • Develop and implement four supplier diversity forums and the Chamber’s internal Crossroads strategy. • Attract at least 50 more diversity partners to increase the business network. • Continue to grow and brand the Innovation Awards, increasing attendance to 750. • Determine the next Charlotte-Mecklenburg Development Corporation (CMDC) project to revitalize the next key redevelopment corridor. Jennifer Appleby, Wray Ward Member Value Vince Berkeley, Bill Daleure, Compass Group North America Crosland Member Value Area Chapters Keva Walton, Senior Vice President, Member Value Running the Chamber Effectively … • • • • • Conduct a successful Total Revenue Campaign. Ensure strong fiscal and operational management of the Chamber. Launch an external green initiative, including an information depository and Web page. Implement a social networking component on the Chamber’s Web site. Ensure professional, well-trained and responsive staff. Brenda Anderson, The Galilee Agency Operations/Communications Charles Bowman, Bank of America Campaign Brett Carter, Duke Energy Campaign Frank Emory, Hunton & Williams General Counsel Carlos Migoya, Wachovia Treasurer Bob Morgan, President Mike Manning, Chief Financial Officer Blair Stanford, Chief Operating Officer Lori Lewis, Chief Revenue Officer 2009 Program of Work Growing the Economy … • Increase jobs by nearly 4,000 and investment by $325 million through direct Chamber economic development activity. • Conduct a strategic marketing campaign promoting Charlotte-Mecklenburg, targeting certain geographic areas and industries and placing a priority on diversity. • Broaden the outreach of the BusinessFirst Charlotte business retention and expansion program utilizing Chamber Chapters and Councils and targeting specific business corridors. Conduct at least 400 interviews with existing and diverse Charlotte-Mecklenburg companies. • Forge a partnership with Wells Fargo to maintain a majority of the 20,000 jobs Wachovia has in Charlotte. Kevin O’Hara, Piedmont Natural Gas Economic Development Jeff Edge, Senior Vice President Economic Development Serving as a Voice for Business … • Expedite completion of I-485. Encourage legislators to loan the Highway Trust Fund up to $180 million freed up by the appropriation of gap funding for the Monroe Bypass. • Support the recommendations of the Committee of 21 and the 21st Century Committee on Transportation to address Charlotte-Mecklenburg road needs. • Partner with Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to work toward higher student achievement and to provide principals, teachers and parents with the necessary leadership skills. • Facilitate collaboration between businesses and educational institutions to promote apprenticeships and internship programs, incentivizing businesses and matching students with available opportunities. • Support higher education in the Mecklenburg County region by lobbying for policy and funding needs and by helping the Chamber’s economic development group promote the region’s offerings. • Consistently monitor and advocate at all levels of government (including Charlotte City Council, Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, N.C. General Assembly and the U.S. Congress) on issues that affect the cost and ease of doing business and the quality of life in Charlotte Walter Price, Wachovia Public Policy Betty Turner, Bank of America Public Policy Bo Boylan Ravenwood Consulting Education Natalie English, Senior Vice President, Business & Education Advocacy 2008 Growing the Economy Accomplishments • A total of 1,339 firms created 12,165 jobs. Total investment amounted to more than $2.3 billion, adding 27.9 million square feet of new space, the latter being an all time record. • The 161 volunteers of BusinessFirst Charlotte, the business satisfaction program of the Chamber and the City, completed more than 400 interviews. The information from the meetings is used by strategic partners to address individual business needs and to shape the Chamber’s public policy agenda. • The Chamber’s economic development group successfully recruited several corporate divisions and U.S. headquarters to Charlotte and conducted several headquarters recruitment events with targeted companies. • We also successfully located energy production and biotech/life science projects from the American Red Cross, Babcock Power Environmental, Celgard, Fluor Power Group, Global Cosmed USA, Liburdi, Praxair, SCR Tech and Sencera. • Our strategy for recruiting firms from Asia began with our first recruitment mission to China. PHOTO OF SHAnGHAI, CHInA By jEFF EDGE PHOTO By PATRICK SCHNEIDER 2008 Accomplishments Serving as a Voice for Business • The Chamber led a successful campaign to win voter support of four bond referenda that affect our quality of life: parks, roads, affordable housing and neighborhood improvements. • We created the local Committee of 21 to recommend local funding sources for roads and worked with the 21st Century Transportation Committee to affect roads funding at the state level. • The Chamber hosted several candidate forums to influence candidates for north Carolina governor to raise transportation as a priority issue for Charlotte, the region and the state. • Chamber staff attended most meetings of the Charlotte City Council, Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners and Board of Education during 2008 to provide representation of the Charlotte business community on issues of importance. • We worked with Mecklenburg County Partners for Education to implement a leadership development initiative in our public schools. PHOTO By PATRICK SCHNEIDER 2008 Delivering Value to Members Accomplishments • We began implementing the Diversity Advisory Cabinet’s (DAC) recommendations, including expanding the DAC’s membership beyond the original steering committee to include representatives of all the Chamber’s key stakeholders and constituencies, and establishing a Corporate Diversity Officers Roundtable. • We realigned the Chapters to be the front door of the Chamber and unveiled the first Chapter informational kiosk at SouthPark Mall. • We launched the Survive and Thrive! initiative that, through partnerships with other local organizations, provides tools and resources to help businesses in a changing economy. • More and more regional and ethnic chamber members are joining the Charlotte Chamber through our strategic partnerships. • In September, we held the first annual Innovation Awards Gala with more than 700 people in attendance. • The Chamber helped the Charlotte Mecklenburg Development Corporation begin reconstruction of the Greenway Business Center to revitalize the Rozzelles Ferry Road business corridor. PHOTO By RON DESHAIS The Charlotte Chamber recognizes the commitment of our Director and Trustee level members to the Chamber and the Charlotte community. DIRECTOR Allen Tate Comany Belk, Inc. - Central Division Branch Banking & Trust Co. The Charlotte Observer Crescent Resources, Inc. Goodrich Corporation (Headquarters) Grant Thornton LLP Hendrick Automotive Group IKON Office Solutions LASH Operations, LLC Parsons Piedmont Natural Gas Company PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson P.A. Sharp Business Systems The Shaw Group, Inc. Signature Consultants, LLC University Volvo US Airways TRUSTEE AT&T North Carolina Bank of America Carolinas Medical Center Duke Energy Corporation Philip Morris USA Time Warner Cable Wachovia Corporation 330 S. Tryon Street P.O. Box 32785 Charlotte, NC 28232 www.charlottechamber.com