The Georgia Chamber of Commerce is acknowledged to be the unified voice of Georgia’s diverse business and economic community. It has an enviable record of success in lobbying specific legislation, but it lacks the program capacity to take a forward-leading, proactive role on issues that will positively impact the state’s business climate and quality of life. Rather, it typically finds itself reacting to specific bills as they are teed up in the Legislative Agenda. The Georgia Initiative will provide the Georgia Chamber with the capacity to move from a primarily reactive organization to adding a more proactive capability and permanently enhance its ability to serve its members and every Georgia business.

The objective of the Georgia Initiative is to make proactive participation and leadership possible by increasing the capacity of the Georgia Chamber to identify key legislative initiatives that can enable progressive change, to develop and shape policy positions that will drive that change, to more effectively lobby to support these positions, and to dramatically expand communications initiatives and infrastructure to support this proactive shift.

The top executive of one of Georgia’s major employers captured the need for this change best when he said, “The Georgia Chamber should force attention and collaboration on key issues. Its role should be as a forcing function.”

To successfully take on this challenge, five areas have emerged as key strategic imperatives for action:

1. Move from a primarily reactive organization to adding a more proactive capability by developing policy positions and impacting action on legislative and regulatory issues by increasing the Georgia Chamber staff and providing the tools and resources to strengthen its ability to respond forcefully and in a timely manner.
2. When legislative positions are developed, create and execute a more rigorous communications function to achieve broad alignment and support of the Georgia Chamber’s agenda.
3. Establish education, workforce development, and healthcare cost containment as priority issues that demand attention, collaboration, and action from state and local governments, businesses, and appropriate agencies, institutions and associations. The Georgia Chamber is uniquely positioned to drive the debate and facilitate viable solutions for each of these issues.
4. Represent business interests and support legislation on key issues affecting Georgia’s business climate such as a favorable tax structure, tort reform, and infrastructure issues such as water, transportation, education and environment. An example is the Georgia Chamber’s position of support to repeal the sales tax on energy used in the manufacturing process.
5. Develop a strong network of Georgia CEOs and the Georgia Chamber’s large grassroots membership, and mobilize when needed on key legislative issues and economic development projects.

The Georgia Chamber has a strong track record and has been an effective advocate for Georgia businesses despite its limited resources. The Georgia Initiative represents a bold and aggressive strategy to dramatically increase the Georgia Chamber’s capacity to deliver on its mission and solidify its position as the “go to” organization for business. This is the time for us to build on the past, not the time for the state’s leading business organization to retreat. Because of the skills it has acquired, the good will it has built, the reputation it has earned and the successes it has achieved, this is the time for the Georgia Chamber to grow, expand, tackle new challenges, break new ground and become an even stronger advocate for business.

These are much more than incremental changes. The end result will be a quantum leap in both the Georgia Chamber’s level of service for its member firms and constituents and its impact on the state as a whole. In a very practical way, the voice of Georgia business must be as strong as any special interest group it encounters. Never should any narrow, anti-business group or profession, however well funded, prevail on a public policy issue without the business position being equally represented. The Georgia Chamber is the only organization in the state prepared and able to assume this role, but it must have the active support of the business community.

The leadership of the Georgia Chamber believes the aggressiveness of this five-year strategy is needed, and it is needed now. Its impact will far outweigh its costs. Moreover, they believe its successful implementation will stimulate permanent increases in capacity and effectiveness through increased membership, awareness and influence, and the expansion of its top leadership base.

The commitment of the Georgia Chamber’s leadership to this initiative is strong, and broad- based support will be needed to fund it and achieve its potential. Only through a positive response from members around the state can an initiative of this scope be mounted.

You can download the Georgia Initiative Brochure and Leadership documents as PDF files:

Georgia Initiative Brochure PDF file

Georgia Initiative Leadership PDF file

For more information on The Georgia Initiative, please contact:

Jeff Esola
Office: 404-223-2264
Fax: 404-223-2290
Email: jesola(at)gachamber.com

The Georgia Initiative
233 Peachtree St. NE, Suite 2000
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

The Georgia Initiative - Strengthening Georgia's Business Voice