-- by Mary Loose DeViney, Tuel Jewelers,
2007 Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors

Businesses associate themselves with a Chamber of Commerce so that their one collective view may be heard among the many individual voices.  Our Chamber is the "Voice of Business in the Charlottesville Region."

Our Chamber has represented business in the Charlottesville area since 1913, when a few folks met to conduct the first meeting of our Chamber.  We have come a long way since 1913, yet the mission is the same: to represent private enterprise, promote business and enhance the quality of life for members of our community.

The members expect us to serve them.  We offer educational seminars, networking events, topic-specific luncheons and dinners, business resources and directories, access to economic development opportunities, partnerships with Chamber events and an opportunity for leadership.  This leadership opportunity is to serve on the many roundtables, committees and taskforces that focus on relevant issues that affect our diverse membership.  Advocating for an opportunity to make a good living is at the core of our offerings.  Our Chamber's involvement in local and state issues has created positive impact for our members and the business community as a whole.

Economic vitality is an ever arching goal.  Our Chamber strives to create an environment that will encourage businesses to start and grow and flourish.  The brain trust that inhabits this community is overwhelming.  We have excellent school systems in Charlottesville and Albemarle, as well as a multitude of private schools, a Technical Education Center, a responsive community college at Piedmont, private technical schools, world-renowned University of Virginia, and corporations that invest in workforce education.

Community service is promoted and encouraged by our Chamber.  We realize that for a healthy, safe and vibrant economy, our businesses need to be responsive to the multi-faceted civic issues facing our community.  Non-profit organizations and civic organizations enhance our quality of life and our economic vitality.

As your Chairman, I would like to increase and diversify our membership.  I would like to continue the cooperation that we enjoy with like-minded business organizations and our governmental agencies.  I believe we need to seriously focus on the workforce needs of this community today and into the future.  WE can be the catalyst for this discussion.  Growth in a highly desirable community is inevitable, and if we are not growing, we are dying.  I believe our Chamber can be a guiding hand in the discussion and in the planning of the future of the Charlottesville Region.

Additionally, I believe as a member of the Board of Directors, it is incumbent upon us to be good stewards of the resources of our Chamber, and we should use our collective skills to lead this Chamber to become the benchmark for all chambers.  We must not be afraid to push and to do things differently, to listen to discordant voices, and then to make sound, responsible decisions.

This is my hometown.  I grew up here, I was educated here, and I am fortunate to work in a family business that has served this area since 1945.  This area has seen and managed change since the 18th Century.  During those hundreds of years and for hundreds of years to come, business will create jobs that will empower this community to excel.  I am excited to play a small role in this unfolding drama.

I ask you to join me in sharing the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce with those who are not a member.  Ask them to join the "Voice of Business in the Charlottesville Region."

Thank you,

Mary Loose DeViney