Two new members have joined the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber’s highest membership level, the Chairman’s Circle.  Renasant Bank and Home Instead Senior Care join the ten inaugural members of this exclusive group of Chamber members.
 
“Chairman’s Circle members invest membership dues above-and-beyond regular dues that allow the Chamber to provide above-and-beyond service to all of our members,” explained Chamber president Myrna Ballard.  “Our Government Affairs Council could not do the work that it does without this supplemental investment, for example.  Neither would several new programs, such as the Valdosta Business & University Alliance, be possible without the additional investment of our Chairman’s Circle members.”
 
The Chairman’s Circle membership level is the most exclusive that the Chamber has to offer.  Comprised of 12 of Valdosta’s top businesses, the Chairman’s Circle members are the solid foundation that make it possible for the Chamber to be as involved as it is in the Valdosta-Lowndes area.
 
Citizens Community Bank and First State Bank & Trust have been Chairman’s Circle members since the program was created 2013; both have been Chamber members since the 1950s.   The remaining inaugural members of the Chairman’s Circle are Georgia Power, Valdosta State University, South Georgia Medical Center, Ameris Bank, Southeastern Credit Union, Fresh Beginnings/eLead1one, Southwest Georgia Bank and Bush Wealth Management.
 
“When Ameris Bank decided to join the Chairman’s Circle in 2013, we certainly considered all the tangible benefits of Chamber membership at this level including sponsorship of all major events and recognition at every Chamber event,” says Michael Lee, 2016 Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors and an original member of the Chairman’s Circle.  “However, we deem the opportunity to pour back into our community through the important work of the Chamber to be more valuable than the benefits we receive.  Through our Chairman’s Circle membership, we are privileged to support the South Georgia Military Affairs Council, the Government Affairs Committee, the SEEDS Business Resource Center, the new Valdosta Business & University Alliance as well as all the programs of the Chamber.  Our membership in the Chairman’s Circle facilitates our commitment to a growing business community in Valdosta and Lowndes County.