“I was just on the phone with a woman who's looking to open a bookstore, but before I was on a call talking about how we grow and evolve our organization. So I just kind of love that no two days are the same, but ultimately that the work that we do at the Chamber, it truly is transformative.”
The Douglas County Chamber of Commerce seeks to assist businesses and business owners in improving the economy of the county. Sara Ray is the president and CEO of the Chamber, and we sat down with her to find out more about her role and the impact of the organization.
“I had kind of a diverse career path until I got to the chamber. My degree was in marketing and communications, and I went through several different careers in sales and marketing, operations, finance, and then kind of got into the nonprofit space working at the Cultural Arts Council. I found the opportunity at the chamber and then over time was able to use my degree as well as all the different skill sets that I've learned because those are all different things that the chamber does.”
Their mission statement focuses on promoting "an inclusive business community," which Ray explains can result in many altruistic pursuits.
“The impact that we have on our business community is creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem where, no matter what phase of business you're in, we're able to provide resources and opportunities to connect with other businesses to help them grow and thrive. I think we do a lot in the leadership development space, so that's helping cultivate leaders all the way from our high school students up to our executive leadership within the community.”
But in this field there’s a lot of variation. Ray cites this as one of her favorite parts about the job.
“I love that no two days are the same. We do work through several different areas, whether it's our leadership programs, our networking and signature events, the work we do advocating on behalf of our community and our small businesses. I love that it's always ever changing and evolving. So I think that I really love that. But also just being able to help our businesses and the people that live here in such a variety of ways.”
This work even includes policy changes and support of programs which seek to further the organization’s mission. The Douglas County Chamber works in an official capacity in hopes of making broader changes to assist businesses as a whole.
“We do a lot in the advocacy and government relations space, so advocating for things that impact our community on a local, state, and federal level, that's definitely something that we're doing a lot more of, making sure we're maintaining those relationships with our elected leaders and driving true change and how that looks for our community.”
“So again, it's kind of multi-pronged in how we have that impact. And sometimes it's helping and supporting one person, one business. Sometimes it's helping a company grow. Our tagline is to be a place where partnerships and businesses thrive and that looks different like I said any given day to anybody, whether it's one business, a large company, or just one individual.”
As a business based out of Douglas County, The Zachos Team was quick to step up to help this cause, in order to further the success of our fellow business owners where we call home.
“They won our Legacy in Business award last year, and I think that that is a testament to the work that they've been able to do through supporting Douglasville and Douglas County and surrounding areas, but also the chamber. So they have been immensely involved in our organization and that's through different things like our Leadership Douglas program, working with our small businesses. [Paul] serves on our board of directors.”
We’re happy to help in improving the lives of others in our community, in this case through the success of our fellow businesses. Sometimes that could mean through connecting others with residential and commercial real estate. If you want to buy or sell a home or commercial space in Douglas County or around Atlanta, contact us and we’ll help you as best we can.
“They're just great conveners and connectors in truly connecting business and philanthropy in Douglas.”