The Chamber Board held its annual retreat on Dec. 7. With a couple new faces and a few not so new, the vibe in the room was positive, energizing and contagious!

Incoming Chair Kim Bourgeois welcomed everyone and set the tone for 2018 with our original tagline, “Come Grow with Us.”

Even after 13 years of existence, this one statement remains true. While your local Chamber operates as a non-profit, we do our best to run it like a small business.

We acknowledge and appreciate our lifeblood, which is you, the business community.

I don’t see the statement above ever getting old, even when RRCC celebrates its 20th and more!

If you’re a business reading this and still haven’t joined or just not sure if you should, I’d like to remind you that your INVESTMENT — yes, INVESTMENT — contributes to the daily work of your local Chamber.

We know how hard it is to attend events, that’s why we strive to be flexible by offering a variety of opportunities, either in the morning, at lunch or after 5 p.m.

We are conscientious of making sure we are visible in all three parishes. Please make an effort to attend when you see an announcement that we’re coming to your parish.

We want to know you and learn more of your service to our communities.

We need YOU to help build a regional mentality. It all starts with YOU. We can’t do what we do without YOU.

While we will come to challenges and bumps in the road, we need to ban together as one REGION to address these issues collectively and collaboratively. That’s what the work of your chamber is about.

We are embarking on a massive effort to create a regional workforce development plan for the River Parishes. The three Tri-Parish Presidents, school superintendents, LED, LCTCS system, local SCLTC – Reserve Campus, River Parishes Community College and local workforce investment board signed an MOU in May 2017 to agree to work together to build a marketing plan to address the shortage of workforce in our region, help more local people get opportunities for needed education and training and ultimately get more local folks hired.

The 2018 Program of Work is getting some finishing touches.

Stay tuned to the calendar at riverregionchamber.org.

The 2018 Annual Banquet is scheduled for Friday/Jan. 19 at 11:30 a.m. at San Francisco Plantation in Garyville. Details are located on the website.

I am so humbly thankful to have the opportunity to serve and work with you to make our region better each day.  Wishing you and yours a most blessed, happy holiday season!

We need your help!!! Have you liked us on Facebook yet? Help us reach 1,000 at facebook.com/riverregionchamber.

Chassity McComack is executive director of the River Region Chamber of Commerce. Email her at Chassity@riverregionchamber.org or log onto riverregionchamber.org.