Happy New Year Palm City Chamber members and Palm City residents. Don’t forget to make your New Year’s resolutions. What’s mine? To never again miss a Board of Directors meeting when they are electing officers. That’s what yours truly did, and here I am, your new Chamber President for 2012.

All kidding aside, I am pleased to serve. Having been a board member for a number of

years, I know I will have a group of dedicated people to work with, who represent companies that have long supported the Chamber’s efforts. It is this dedication, and that of our staff and volunteers, that has enabled this Chamber to sustain its energy and viability through a very difficult economy.

We don’t know what 2012 will bring. Economists tell us that the economy here has seen its worst, and will grow at a slow pace over the next few years. But we all know that this growth will mostly help those who help themselves, and that we have a lot of work to do, as a county, to bring economic recovery. Our time and energy will be best spent on supporting all serious efforts to diversify the types of employment offered in our community and raising the rate of pay earned by most of our workers. This means we must focus our energy on attracting high-

technology, research and educational industries to locate in Martin County, and decrease the number of employees dependent upon wages earned in service industries.

If you, like me, have already made and broken several New Year’s resolutions, to go back to gym and eat only healthy meals, consider getting involved in the Palm City Chamber this year, or other business organization that vocally supports local efforts to help our workers and

our families by getting them jobs and increasing their pay. Join us in encouraging our community leaders to make a long term investment in bringing high quality employment to Martin County. Remember, it takes a village ... and it will take all of us to make it happen.

Wishing all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead.