Bobby Hildreth is looking forward to the many challenges that await him as the new chairman of the Thomson-McDuffie Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Hildreth, who serves as area manager of Georgia Power Company in Thomson, took over his new community leadership role during the Thomson-McDuffie Chamber of Commerce's 38th Annual Membership Banquet held on Tuesday, Jan. 26.
"It's an awesome privilege being asked to serve in this capacity," said Mr. Hildreth during a recent interview with The McDuffie Mirror .
"It's very humbling and at the same time, it's an awesome responsibility," he said.
Mr. Hildreth, who formerly served as chairman of the Macon County Chamber of Commerce from 1995-1996, said he enjoys community service work. It's something, he noted, that his parents, Don and Frances Hildreth, taught him when he was growing up in Columbus, Ga.
"My parents always stressed the importance of community service," said Mr. Hildreth. "It was engrained in me by them. We're citizens wherever we serve. It's who we are."
Mr. Hildreth is in his 30th year of marriage with his wife, Gail. The couple has two children, Lindsey Welch and Justin Hildreth.
Mr. Hildreth began his career with Georgia Power Company at a sub-station maintenance department in Albany.
"It's been a fun and very quick 30 years with Georgia Power," said Mr. Hildreth, who recently was elected a deacon at First Baptist Church of Thomson.
As for his new leadership role with Thomson-McDuffie Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Hildreth already is off and running. He and the staff of the chamber office are preparing to move from the Thomson Depot to the old post office, across from the old Regions Bank building on Main Street. The new office is expected to open sometime soon.
One of the top business issues confronting chamber board members "is making sure we're being good stewards of member dues," said Mr. Hildreth. "We met our budget last year and we want to accomplish that again this year."
The Chamber recently received word from officials with the Thomson-McDuffie County Industrial Development Authority that they would help finance the salary of a new chamber office manager. The amount agreed upon was $6,000.
"We greatly appreciate the Industrial Development Authority helping fund this position," said Mr. Hildreth. "This will help us towards balancing our budget this year."
Soliciting new chamber members also is a goal of the new chairman.
"I'd like to increase our chamber membership and we're going to be working towards that all year," Mr. Hildreth said.
Currently, the Thomson-McDuffie Chamber of Commerce has a membership of 285.
He explained that chamber officials "worked very hard" to achieve the success that was realized in 2009 and that despite a slow economy, "we are very proud that our members continued to recognize the value our chamber provides their bottom line."
In 2010, Mr. Hildreth explained, chamber officials pledge to work even harder to increase the value that they provide area businesses.
"Our program of work for 2010 includes a continued focus on member services," said Mr. Hildreth. "Your chamber provides a host of services to enhance your business and we continue to enhance those services for changing markets and evolving new markets."
One of those ways is providing businesses with opportunities to receive discounts in groups and worker's compensation insurance -- thus lowering those costs for business owners.
The chamber also will continue to provide human resources, sales and customer seminars to help grow area businesses, Mr. Hildreth pointed out.
"We will also continue to support your business through the sponsorship of events that bring visitors to McDuffie County," he added.
Some of those events include Festival Off Main, Classic Car Show, Annual Belle Meade Golf Tournament, Tour of Homes and the Fourth of July Fireworks show at Raysville Marina.
Mr. Hildreth said other chamber initiatives like Shop McDuffie and Chamber 411 will continue. Salutes to area chamber businesses also will be featured on WTHO radio.
"We're going to have another big year and I'm looking forward to it," added Mr. Hildreth.
