Officials of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce include, from left, Karen Thompson, membership sales director; Tim Powers, 2019 Board of Directors chairman; Tommie Beth Willis, president; Jennifer Jarvis, program services director; and Jessica Stone, office administrator.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce was among eight chambers from across the state recognized as a Georgia Certified Chamber.

“We are proud of this award,” chamber President Tommie Beth Willis said. “As the chamber, we want to ensure we are not only meeting but exceeding the standards set by the chamber industry so that our staff may better serve our chamber members and our community.”

The certification is renewable every five years through the Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.

In 2011, the GACCE Board of Directors sought a way to recognize chambers in the state that have focused internally on their operations to assess their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to create efficient, effective organizations positioned to deliver great value.  Thus, the Georgia Certified Chamber program was created.

The purpose of the program is to facilitate continuing excellence in the chamber industry and to foster a pro-business environment across the State of Georgia.  Chambers must meet standards in organization, service intent and capacity, professional administration, financial management, communications, and advocacy in order to achieve the designation.

With more than 150 chambers of commerce in the State of Georgia, the eight chambers that were recognized as Georgia Certified Chambers during the Opening Luncheon of the 2018 GACCE Volunteer Leader Conference held at the Columbus Convention & Trade Center in Columbus on Nov. 15 received a prestigious honor that distinguishes the high quality, expertise, and strong leadership displayed by accredited chambers.  These chambers make up a total of 57 chambers of commerce that have been recognized with this distinction over the past seven years.