Mike Bergey, Bergey Windpower,
Chamber President 2008-2009
It will be my great privilege to serve as
president of the Chamber for the next year. I promise to
try my best to make our Chamber a more effective voice
for business in Norman and a stronger partner with the
City in their efforts to make Norman an even better
community. I stand on the shoulders of my 86
predecessors and can only hope that I will be able to
rise to their standard.
Business is the life-blood of Norman. It
not only drives our local economy, it also funds our
service infrastructure. It is amazing, and sometimes
annoying, to me that so few Normanites seem to know that
sales taxes, generated at your cash registers, pay for
over 2/3rds of our City’s core services. When sales
taxes grow, opportunities grow and the level of service
that the City of Norman can provide our citizens
grows. In fact, we must have growth just to stay even
because the City’s costs continue to creep up. In the
coming year we will reinvigorate the Chamber’s “Shop
Norman” campaign and encourage the City to think more
strategically about growing our sales tax base.
I believe, unlike some others in our
community, that growth is fundamental and good. Growing
rooftops is an important component of a dynamic and
progressive community. But, I believe in Smart Growth, a
whole discipline which, as the name implies, strives to
improve quality of life, protect the environment,
invigorate neighborhoods, improve transportation
alternatives, and promote sustainability – all at the
same time. Paving over paradise is not a part of Smart
Growth or my vision for Norman.
I see a role for the Chamber to work with
the City to promote appropriate Smart Growth principles,
what I call Prairie Smart Growth, and for Norman
businesses to set and follow a high standard of
environmental stewardship. We have builders that are
nationally recognized experts in this field, we have
tremendous academic resources at O.U. to draw upon, and
we have a City government that has already shown
leadership in this area. Norman can and should be at the
leading edge of progressive development practices in
this region and the Chamber should be a full partner.
As you have heard, the Chamber has a
robust and diverse committee structure. We have many
irons in the fire and many opportunities for member
involvement. I am particularly excited about
Norman Next, our
new young professionals group. Norman has long needed a
forum for our best and brightest in the early stages of
their careers. We will nurture Norman Next and I hope
that they can, in turn, teach us more mature
professionals how to be more hip, more cool, and maybe
even a little bit “edgy”. Please encourage your staff
and colleagues under the age of 40 to plug in to Norman
Next.
Sometimes appearances are important. Over
the next year you will see the Chamber take on a fresh
face, as we update our buildings’ entrance and meeting
rooms and bring them into the 21st
Century. We will also soon introduce a new logo for the
Norman Chamber and we will launch an effort to increase
the Chambers’ visibility in the places where Norman
shops and eats.
We have plans to expand our successful
Get Out The Vote program. And we have new programs to
help ensure that policy positions important to Norman
business are given the exposure they deserve. We will
be more engaged.
We will also continue our efforts under
Imagine Norman to bring forward community enhancement
projects that will garner the support of both the City
Council and the voters.
In Closing, I hope that the voice of the
Norman business community, your Norman Chamber of
Commerce, will be a stronger voice for progress in
Norman in the coming year. And that our activities will
represent you well. Thank you for your financial support
and countless volunteer hours. I am proud to be a part
of your team.
Mike Bergey, Chamber
President 2008-2009 |
