Page 14 - Coweta NCG 2017

Back to Her Roots

A C ONVERSA TION WITH L YNN SMITH

~ B Y D A N A B R O W N

lected to the Georgia House of Wednesday for several weeks. We brought in key people
Representatives in 1996, – our local government, our major industries – and
State Representative we finally started seeing that our Chamber focus
ELynn Smith should be on our members.
has enjoyed some significant We also realized we were relying on talent
accomplishments in her 20 years brought in from outside to keep us
in office. She authored where we were, and that needed
several legislative bills to change. It was obvious that we
that became law, needed our own home-grown leaders
championed the Water in place. We had a few, but we didn’t have
Stewardship Act, authorized what we needed. That year we implemented
the creation of the Regional Water Plans Lynn Smith Leadership Coweta to help local citizens become
and enacted revisions to the Brownfield Act. She more aware of the issues facing our community so that
also partnered with the UGA Carl Vinson Institute they could then take on leadership positions to help us go
of Government to develop the House Natural in the correct direction. C OWET A
Resources and Environmental Committee Policy How has the Chamber impacted Coweta County?
Academy to make an annual intensive study of the It’s a strong voice for the business community, and it is
issues before the committee. one of the cornerstones for leadership in our community. It gives local
Smith has received countless prestigious awards including people a sense of ownership and place and helps them realize their role
recognition as one of the 100 most influential Georgians every year in maintaining our vitality.
since 2011, but her leadership roots were forged in local positions Why would you recommend that local businesses get
including a chairmanship of the Newnan-Coweta Chamber. involved in the Chamber? Relationships are so important,
What led you to the role of Newnan- and if you have an established Chamber in the area, that is how you build
Coweta Chamber Chairman of the Board relationships. It’s the real-life LinkedIn. Face-to-face contact is still a
in 1995? I was a business owner in the community, and we had cornerstone of business and relationship development even if
always been engaged in the Chamber through our business. Back technology can help us be more efficient.
then Chamber board members were elected, and I was voted in and What is the best resource the Chamber offers its
worked my way up to Chairman. members? The best resource is the fact there is no one best
What did you accomplish as Chairman of resource – there are lots of them. It’s kind of like you can pick and choose
the Board? Back in 1995, there was a lot of from a menu to get what you need from the Chamber. It used to be a
negativity concerning our Chamber and, in fact, chambers static formula, but the new leadership is very responsive to change and
of commerce everywhere because the chamber of commerce the needs of members.
model was changing. Some of our traditional support was What sets Coweta County apart? Engaged leadership –
becoming less local and more regional. Locally, we lost a percentage our people are very engaged in moving this county forward
of our financial base, the county took over tourism and our role through significant community involvement and investment. You might
in economic development was confusing to community have the best thing in the world, but it doesn’t happen if you can’t bring
advocates. When I was Chairman, I realized we needed to the best people in. All these volunteers make it happen. A diverse
take a year and look at ourselves, analyze and see where business community makes it happen, and it takes all those
we were and where we wanted to go – 1995 was a huge year constituencies to make something happen. What can I say? We have
for change. We came in, did our workshops and met every Coweta magic!

10 www.newnancowetachamber.org • 770.253.2270