Jonathan Utrup |
Message from the Chair, Jonathan Utrup
Engage Charlotte experienced a strong second half of 2011. We’ve received rich and positive feedback from the recent “professional reinvention” lunch with former NFL Panthers players, the after-hours networking event at the stylish Silk at Enso, in addition to the first speed-networking lunch at the locally owned and operated VGBG.
Thanks to everyone who attended our final after-hours event of 2011 on November 16. We had a strong 150+ turnout, and we were fortunate enough to have representatives from the non-profits Good Friends and Good Fellows share more information about their great charities and local outreach. Thanks also to the Charlotte City Club for serving as the host venue for the event and donating 15 percent of the food and beverage sales to Good Friends and Good Fellows.
Engage Member Highlight
Congratulations to former Engage Charlotte board members Tameka Green of Compass Group and Meigan Powell of Powell & Partners Creative on their new roles serving on the Board of Directors for the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. This is a great opportunity for both of them and for the chamber to incorporate YP creative talent.
We'd like to express our highest appreciation to the current Engage Charlotte board members rolling off of their 2010-2011 term at the end of this December.
- Andrea Miceli, Bank of America
- Wes Misson, Mayer Brown
- Trey Rhyne, Wells Fargo
- Chad Zalesiak, CS Leasing
Please also note we are currently reviewing all recent applications and will be announcing the new 2012-2013 board members in the upcoming January newsletter.
Featured Coming Attraction
Meet & Greet
January 4, 7:30 to 9 a.m. | COSTCO Tyvola Rd.
Kick off 2012 with new business leads and contacts. Our speed networking format enables you to share your marketing messages and business cards with every attendee. Also enjoy a continental breakfast and door prize drawings. Free for chamber members.
Upcoming Charlotte Chamber Events
The holiday season is in full swing. Here is what the chamber has coming up:
Visit charlottechamber.com/events for more details on these and other upcoming chamber events.
Curtis Watkins |
Public Policy: How Only 16 Percent Impacts 100 Percent of Us
by Curtis Watkins
You’ve all seen the iconic images and heard the stories from around the globe. An Iraqi woman holds up a purple finger after voting in the 2005 parliamentary elections, where under threats of death close to 75 percent of the voting population still came out to vote. Just this month in Egypt, a 55-year-old businessman is quoted by CNN as stating since this is the first time he will be able to vote in his entire life, “I am willing to wait 10 hours, or until tomorrow morning if I have to, but I will vote.” Stories like these are repeated very often around the world. The value of voting is not lost on them, it is not taken for granted, it is not ignored – it is in fact cherished and treated as sacred.
And then we come back home here to Mecklenburg County, where a sparse 16 percent of the eligible voters showed up in the 2011 elections. Not 16 percent of the population mind you but 16 percent of eligible, registered voters. That means a whopping 84 percent of those citizens who actually took the time to register simply decided not to show up during the two weeks of early voting or full day of election day options given to them to cast their vote. Eighty-four percent stayed home, went out with friends, hung out at their local coffee shop, etc. – anything apparently but take 15 minutes to come vote. Excuses I heard ranged from not knowing there was an election this year (really, because we only have one EVERY year) to thinking the offices up for election weren’t that important (yes, picking visionary leaders for our city or drivers for education for all our children does seem rather unimportant after all).
Reagan was right when he said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same.” So while there are plenty of places around the world where people are fighting and protecting their freedom to vote, we are dangerously close in this country to forgetting what that is really worth in ours.
So I urge you never to forget, never to give up, never to let down your guard and think things like, “I’m just one vote.” After all, that 16 percent turnout not only impacts 100 percent of us by the decisions made but also by the apathy shown.
As the French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu once said, “The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.”
Economic Development: What Do New Jobs Mean?
The Charlotte Chamber works around the clock to bring new jobs and capital investment to Charlotte to help grow our local economy. It also closely monitors job growth that occurs without the chamber's direct involvement. The total growth number is reported quarterly in the chamber's New & Expanded Report. Through the third quarter of 2011, 801 firms created 6,861 new or expanding jobs. But what does that mean? Is that more than 6,000 jobs for Charlotteans to fill? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Either way – whether a Charlottean gets a new job or Charlotte gets a new gainfully-employed citizen – our local economy benefits. Read What New Jobs Mean to the Charlotte Community for more detail on how these new dollars roll through our economy.
Demond Richardson |
Diversity: Importance of Mentoring in Low-Income Neighborhoods
by Demond Richardson
Over the last five years the need for mentors in low-income Charlotte neighborhoods has increased dramatically. This is in part due to the rise of single-parent families and families with two working parents. These factors have conspired to reduce the number of adult role models.
There are a number of organizations that do a great job providing mentors to fill this gap. One that I have observed closest over the last few years is 100 BLACK MEN OF GREATER CHARLOTTE, INC.
Per their website, note a few of their recent mentoring and education objectives and successes:
- More than 600 young lives have been touched since 1991. More than 300 Saturday Academy sessions have been conducted for the betterment of our youth.
- Structured one-on-one and group mentoring is offered to students living with risk factors.
- Partnerships have been developed with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, KIPP Charlotte Academy, and the Urban League of Central Carolinas.
- Two student delegates won 2010 African American History Challenge senior division award of $3,000 scholarships, and two mentees in 2010 junior division were finalists.
Visit www.100blackmenofcharlotte.org/history.html to find out more.
Engage Charlotte Blog
Interested in joining the dialogue on the Engage Charlotte blog? We're looking for interesting, intelligent, constructive guest posts about the Charlotte area or for local young professionals. If you would like to contribute, submit your entry to engage@charlottechamber.com. If your entry is selected, we'll email you to let you know when it will be published. Be sure to include a title for your post, your name, organization and your job title.
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