The New North Carolina Chamber
Emerged from our 65th Annual Meeting

Our Chamber unveiled its new name and logo yesterday at the 65th Annual Meeting Luncheon. As many of you know, our organization's new name is the North Carolina Chamber. The reason for the change, driven by the Chamber's customers, is that the new name more accurately reflects the chamber's mission and vision, as illustrated by the logo tagline: A force for business.

"The North Carolina Chamber is extremely excited to unveil its new brand today," said NC Chamber President/CEO Lew Ebert. "Our new name and logo more accurately reflects who we are, what we stand for and what we do. We are a non-partisan business advocacy organization working to make sure that North Carolina is and remains the best state in America in which to do business, and the most competitive for jobs."

The Chamber retained the services of Rockett Burkhead Winslow (RBW), a full-service advertising and marketing agency in Raleigh to help develop its new brand mark. RBW President and COO Grant O'Neal worked closely with Ebert and Chamber leaders on the branding project. The new name and logo was received enthusiastically by a crowd of 1,000 leaders in business, government, education and the non-profit sector at our annual event. "The positive feedback we have received already has been tremendous," said Ebert, "but it's no surprise because we acted on our customers' expectations."

Our annual meeting concluded with the passing of the gavel from current Board of Directors Chairman Graham Denton, who is a North Carolina market president for Bank of America, to John Atkins, President and CEO of O'Brien/Atkins Associates, PA-an award-winning architecture firm in Research Triangle Park. Atkins will assume the role of chairman of the board on April 1.

Union Bill: Update on Continued
Threat to Our State's Businesses

Our Chamber called its members to action February 26th in preparation for the U.S. House of Representative's vote on H.R. 800: "Employee Free Choice Act." Despite strong efforts from our Chamber, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NAM, and others the U.S. House voted 241-185 to pass H.R. 800.

Notably, nearly every American business group is united in opposing this affront to worker freedom. They understand as our Chamber does, that this legislation will make union organizing that much easier and thus will make our businesses less competitive. The message from the National Association of Manufacturers, of which our Chamber is the state affiliate: "This legislation infringes upon American democratic principles, and we vow to fight this legislation in the Senate. Employees are our greatest asset, and we are committed to protecting their rights and benefits. In this aim, we will not falter from our goal."

As this bill goes to the Senate it is imperative that our members join as a united front and remain committed to advocating opposition to the passage of this bill. Organized Labor is promising an unprecedented lobbying effort over the next few weeks and our business organizations must do the same. We must send a clear message that we want Congress to address fundamental competitiveness issues in the U.S. education, regulatory, tort, and tax systems instead of focusing on "re-unionizing" the economy.

North Carolina Gets an "A"
on Nationwide Education Scorecard

Our Chamber realizes the importance that education plays for the state and its business community. As our Chamber's 2007 Competitiveness Agenda reflects, in order to be a leader in job competitiveness North Carolina must achieve and maintain excellence in education as well as economic development, innovation and business climate. While we have clearly made great progress in recent history as reflected in a recent national scorecard, we will continue our advocacy work to provide the most skilled and prepared workforce for our business community.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, partnering with the American Enterprise Institute and the Center for American Progress, recently published a state-by-state report card on educational effectiveness. The report gauges how state educational systems compare and graded each state in areas from academic achievement and teacher quality to how wisely a state is spending its education dollar.

North Carolina received above average scores in comparison to the rest of the country and its neighboring states. The report gave North Carolina a perfect score, "A", in 3 of the 9 categories. North Carolina also received an equivalent grade or better in 6 out of 9 categories when compared to its neighboring states of South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. North Carolina was 1 in only 3 states in which received an "A" in the return on investment category. The only category in which North Carolina received a low grade of "D" was the category of "Truth in Advertising About Student Proficiency."

For North Carolina Results  

Hear our Chamber on Internet Radio:

Our Chamber's 2007 Annual Meeting held March 14 in Durham will be the topic on Capitol Close Up, State Government Radio's newest channel, Monday, March 19, 2007, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. To listen point your internet browser to www.StateGovernmentRadio.com, and click on the Capitol Close Up button.

During the hour-long program hosted by SGR's Josh Ellis, highlights from our Chamber's Annual Meeting will be covered by President and CEO Lew Ebert. The program will also feature speeches and interviews from Gov. Mike Easley and Milton Jones, Finance Services Executive for Bank of America.

Capitol Close Up is an hour-long program dedicated to interviewing and covering the most influential people and issues in North Carolina state government and education. It airs via Internet radio Monday-Friday and can be heard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monday's show where our Chamber will be featured will repeat every hour after 5 p.m. for 24 hours.

In May 2004, Curtis Media Group launched State Government Radio to cover the news and business of state government and education in North Carolina.