With the passing of the gavel Thursday night in the Vidalia Community Center, the Chairmanship of the Toombs-Montgomery Chamber of Commerce shifted when Pat Dixon, 2019 Chair welcomed Tres Herrin as the 2020 volunteer leader of the organization. As one of her final official tasks, Dixon presented her Chairman’s Award to William Ledford and The Advance for marketing and promoting the Chamber during her tenure.

As the new Chair, Herrin plans on keeping some thing as they are, but also working on improving the way the Chamber conducts business. The new Chairman said there will be some tough changes forthcoming, but that they are intended for the betterment of Chamber members and the community. He went on to say that support from the community is vital in seeing that the 2020 Plan of Work is satisfied.

Herrin said while life in the area is good, it’s going to take more than just those serving on the Board and the Chamber staff to see change.

Quint Studer of The Studer Group was the keynote speaker. Studer conducted a workshop Thursday morning and reflected on a recent survey the Chamber conducted through the membership and communitywide. The overall score of how local residents feel about their community was an average of “5,” or as Studer calls it, a “C.” Studer said that while a "5" may not sound impressive, compared to other communities the size of Montgomery and Toombs counties, that figure is better than most.