This year offered even more to celebrate than usual, since 2024 is the 75^th anniversary of the Chamber. We don’t know if there was a banquet in 1949, but we do know local leaders have been working a very long time to promote Lawrence County both in and outside its borders.

The growth of the Chamber and our community illustrate the adage about generations plowing, planting, and reaping. All of us stand on the shoulders of those who went before us, just as those who follow us will stand on ours.

I was so happy to see the Chamber add the Legacy of Leadership Award to its annual agenda, which honors longtime, visionary leadership like that of its first recipient, Steve Hill. It is aptly named The Steve Hill Legacy of Leadership Award.

Steve served on the County Commission, then was County Executive from 1998 to 2002. With that Commission, Lawrence County purchased the land on Highway 43 North that became Team Lawrence Commerce Park. It is now filled with industries and a FedEx shipping hub.

Steve was also a leader in the effort to combine the county’s economic development work with the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber had been strictly focused on local businesses and community events, like ribbon-cuttings and the Christmas parade. Lawrence County’s economic development agency was the 21^st Century Council, founded by full-time volunteer Cromer Smotherman.

Given the success of both the land purchase and newly-imagined Chamber, it’s hard to remember the criticism that accompanied them. It takes visionary leaders like Steve Hill to see beyond the moment and its limitations to tomorrow and its possibilities. They plow rocky ground because they see it has the potential to be  fertile.

Steve continues to serve the community as chairman of the Joint Economic Community Development Board (JECDB). This group includes myself, the mayors of our incorporated cities, and other community leaders who work hand-in-hand with the Chamber on economic development efforts. 

I am honored to call Steve Hill a friend, and I thank him for his years of dedication to Lawrence County and its future. He is still part of the effort to plow, plant and reap, and I hope he remains so for many, many years to come.