by Ryan Egly, President & CEO of the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce
LAWRENCEBURG, Tenn. – September 16, 2022 – I know you’ve heard the phrase ‘It takes money to make money,’ and I trust that you understand what it means. In the event you don’t, understanding it is simple. If someone invests $100 and gets an 8% return, they profit $8; if they invest $100,000 and get an 8% return, they profit $8,000. This is what the phrase means in a literal sense—one can’t reasonably expect to invest $100 and profit as much as one who invests $100,000.
Our business community is very interested in maximizing the money-making potential in Lawrence County because it means greater returns for everyone. This interest is expressed by what we do day-in and day-out at the Chamber. We work attract and encourage new capital investments by demonstrating they can receive a worthwhile return by doing business here. Why are we so interested in this? Because the returns aren’t just monetary. The returns include benefits like new jobs, new community amenities, and an overall improving quality of life and place.
That’s why the phrase isn’t just about money for me. It’s about teamwork—the pooling of resources and talents to solve problems and accomplish goals. We’re known for being a community that works together, and last week was another great example of what we can accomplish when we come together.
The Lawrence County Chamber has historically maintained a total membership of between 350 to 380 members. While this is a good level of engagement, it’s not a great level. Led by 70 volunteers and in collaboration with our friends at Your Chamber Connection, we decided to host a unique membership development event to increase awareness of and investment in our organization. Community leaders like Mayor Blake Lay, Jesse Turner, Marty Bradley, Barry Doss, Clint Evers, Tiffany Cope, and Brandi Burdette chaired the event and competed to build the Chamber’s membership. Our goal was to become a 500-member organization to have a stronger voice in addressing issues facing our business community, recruiting new business, and supporting small business with marketing and technical assistance.
We are proud to report that the competition was fierce, but camaraderie won the day as we met our goal. More than 200 businesses either joined the Chamber for the first time or increased their level of investment raising over $100,000 dollars to support our mission. Today, Lawrence County boasts a 500+ member Chamber of Commerce—rivaling the size of chambers that operate in much larger communities.
A few novel and highly coveted awards were presented at the conclusion of the event, naming the Top Sales Individual, Top Team, and Lawrence County’s very first “Godmother” and “Godfather”. Congratulations and thank you to our award winners!
- Tyler Doss (Doss Brothers Construction) was named ‘Godfather’ as he recruited the greatest number of new members
- Keeli Allen (Lawrence County Chamber) was named ‘Godmother’ for far exceeding the expectations set by Your Chamber Connection
- Mayor Blake Lay was the Top Sales Individual with 15 sales totaling $16,250; The Mayor also chaired the “Black Team” which was named the Top Group with 53 sales totaling $32,000
- Aaron Story (Lawrenceburg Marine) captained the Top Team with 20 sales totaling $15,000
- Top Dog Awards (6 or more sales) were presented to Tiffany Cope (Crye-Leike Realty), Ty Lanning (Rick’s Barbecue), Jason Grayson (Society American Nosherie), Ryan Evers (Evers Construction), Tracy Evers, Gina Old (ReMax Pros), Clint Evers (Evers Construction), Tasha Beckman (One Stop Medical), Blake Lay (Trace Realty), and Tyler Doss (Doss Brothers Construction)
- 4 or Mo’ awards were presented to Barry Doss (Doss Brothers), Stephanie Evers (Paper & Thread), Aaron Story (Lawrenceburg Marine), Shannon Barnett (Shannon Pest Control), Judy Hartsfield (Hartsfield Insurance), Raleigh Kent (Prime Automotive Inc), Roy Story (Story & Lee Furniture), Jim Brewer (J&M Tax), Jesse Turner (City of Loretto), JP Plant (P/SEC Services), and Nakia McFall (Farm Bureau Insurance)
As the voice of business, a chamber’s influence is only as good as the input it receives directly from the business community and corporate leadership. In Lawrence County, we are privileged to now have such a large base of businesses that support the Chamber’s mission. Yes, it takes money to make money—and in our case, it takes members to make a difference.
View photos from the event here.
About the Chamber
The Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce is a network of businesses, industries, local governments, utilities, and private citizens that are committed to improving the quality of life in Lawrence County, Tennessee through economic development, community development, tourism marketing, and workforce development.
