The Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce recently sent members a survey, asking to score each nine questions on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being “strongly agree”.

Two of the questions had to do with community involvement.

“The chamber should focus on coordinating/sponsoring civic events and keeping the community informed on local matters,” and “The chamber should focus on marketing Suwannee County to prospective businesses in an effort to bring their operation to our community.”

We won’t spill the beans on what number we put down (it’s higher than 9). As for keeping the public informed, leave that to us. We need businesses and jobs in the community and that’s not our job.

We believe the Chamber of Commerce is a vital part of our county and its future success or failure. They are, in essence, the forerunner when it comes to potential new businesses scouting the area. Our chamber, and the role of the other entities under the Economic Alliance, should have to recite those two questions at each board meeting; insert name of entity where applicable.

With that said, we thought it prudent to give two thumbs up to Chamber Chairman Bruce Tillman. It’s been awhile since we have heard this much from the chamber. It’s not just the survey. The chamber is now holding quarterly luncheons for the community, and attempting to get more feedback from local businesses.

“As an organization, we intend to promote local business and its members. We want to continue to build value for the business owner and their success which in turn helps their employees,” Tillman told us. “It’s quite evident throughout the county that good jobs are in need. The chamber wants to promote the expansion of our job base both in new industry and for existing businesses.”

In addition, Tillman said the chamber is developing promotional videos in both tourism and business development “that will be able to tell our story to prospective visitors or companies looking to expand in our region.”

We think that’s a fine idea.

There is only one way to go, in our view, and that’s straight up.

Keep up the good work, Bruce.