Chairman’s Message

Pete Caramanis
2019 Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors
Partner, Royer Caramanis PLC

I could not be more honored or excited to serve as Chair of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for 2019.  Though the Chamber has a long history of important accomplishments in our community dating back over 100 years, I believe that this year is a seminal year for the Chamber as it modernizes and refocuses to meet the needs of our fast-growing and vibrant business community.

After working hard to recruit our new Chamber president and CEO, Elizabeth Cromwell, to Charlottesville, I look forward to supporting her this year in efforts to make the Chamber the primary convener, collaborator and community builder within our regional business eco-system.  There are so many businesses, organizations and associations doing amazing things in our community, and our Chamber desires to be a partner with and to support those people already working to make our community stronger.  We intend to work with those private entities, as well as with local government and our academic partners, to ensure that the entirety of our diverse base of industry has maximum opportunity to succeed in our region.

We have a tremendously talented, experienced and engaged Board of Directors who share the vision and desire I have set forth above.  Expect to see some exciting changes to Chamber programming and events in 2019!  We especially welcome those of you who may not have found value in the Chamber in the past to take a moment to re-introduce yourself to what this new Chamber may do for you.  Our Chamber will educate, communicate and advocate on behalf of the interests of business, small and large, whether member or not – but we are confident you will want to become a member when you see the direction we are headed.

We fully recognize that our effectiveness is not based on us telling you what you need, but rather on you telling us, so please engage with us.  I know I can speak for Elizabeth when I say that our door is always open to hear from you about what is important to your business and how the Chamber can help you achieve success.  The Chamber wants you as a partner in support of our mission and wants to be your partner in support of your business interests.  Through employment, tax revenue and other opportunities created, successful business is the life blood of all the community can accomplish, provided that the business community is open to all.

Here at the Chamber, we invite all business owners to take part so we can achieve success together as a community, and we look forward to furthering our common goals.