Friday, January 16, 2009
Cecil County Chamber of Commerce Hosts Reception for Delegation
The Cecil County Chamber of Commerce hosted a reception Thursday at the Governor Calvert House in Annapolis to interact with their representatives as well as other members of the General Assembly, and to present their legislative goals for the 2009 session.
“The purpose of tonight’s event is to introduce Cecil County to the entire delegation, give them a chance to meet us face to face so they know what Cecil County is all about, so we’re not lost in the shuffle,” Laura Mayse, Executive Director of the Cecil County Chamber of Commerce said.
Priorities on the agenda for the Cecil County Chamber include issues in infrastructure, education, environment, and fiscal responsibility.
“I think it’s really important to keep the county itself and also our issues in the forefront as our legislators move forward through the session,” Joyce Bowlsbey, chair of the Cecil County Chamber’s Legislative Committee said.
The priorities on this year’s legislative agenda are being presented in the light of the impact BRAC is expected to have in the region as well as current economic conditions.
“As we move forward with BRAC and as we’re looking forward there will be about 7,000 people moving to the area in the upcoming year so, any issues that come up or things we can do to help our community and the state to embrace these people that are moving here is what we’ll be working on,” Mayse said.
Delegate Richard Sossi of the 36th district said that while there are several issues that need to be addressed, he believes the economy and budget would be the overriding issue this session.
“This a tough year down here. In many ways we’re playing defense. We’re trying to make sure important programs and issues are saved from the budget knife,” he said. “I’m pretty confident, though, that the things we care about and look at will be fairly safe.”
Terri Kelly, President and CEO of W. L. Gore and Associates Inc., which employs approximately 2,300 associates in Cecil County, said that the company is looking forward to 2009 and preparing to brace for some tough economic times, but thinks they will be able to weather the storm because of the company’s unique structuring across several industries.
“The idea is that as one business is very strong, we can really get our associates to gravitate and migrate to the biggest opportunity, which has really helped us weather the current economic environment… The good news is we have some businesses that are up and some that are down and we can smooth that out so it allows us to not see such a dramatic decline,” she said.
Kelly also said Cecil County’s Business Environment has contributed to the company’s growth.
“It isn’t by accident that we’ve seen such growth in our plants in Cecil County, and I think a lot of that speaks to just the ease of doing business, which is a big consideration as we think about building new facilities and we’ve had really good cooperation at the state level and with the Chamber of Commerce that we really value,” she said.
Delegate Richard Sossi and Executive Director of the Cecil County Chamber of Commerce Laura Mayse
