The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce exceeded its four-year economic development goals for both job creation and business investment, and it has set new targets for 2019.
Hamilton County's chief economic development recruitment group said 17,536 jobs were created during its "Can-Do" campaign that ended last June. Its goal was 15,121 jobs.
Also, private capital investment came in at $1.08 billion in the four-year period, which more than doubled its goal of $500 million, according to the Chamber.
Bill Kilbride is the new Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer.Chamber Chief Executive Bill Kilbride, who joined the business group about a year ago, said it accomplished a lot in the past 12 months.
"We enjoyed a banner year in terms of new jobs and membership value," he said at the Chamber's annual meeting. In the past year, he said, more than 3,000 jobs were announced along with $800 million in private investment.
According to the Chamber, it directly assisted in the creation of 8,268 jobs over the four-year period, above its goal of 5,000.
The average wage of the jobs created was $43,946, the business group said. It said the Chamber supported new payroll of $810.5 million.
Additionally, Kilbride said 700 new Chamber members were added in the 12-month period.
"Our mission calls for us to champion membership, and we did," he said. "Most Chambers in the United States don't have 700 members. We're counting on everyone of them to help us reach new goals in the coming years."
The new Chamber economic development effort, which started last month, calls for increasing employment by 15,121 jobs and directly assisting with creation of 5,000 of them by June 2019.
The new average annual wages target for the jobs is $44,000. The new campaign has set a goal of increasing private investment by $500 million and supporting new payroll of $438.8 million.
Chamber officials said the business group so far in its new campaign has helped create 1,194 jobs and capital investment of $81.3 million.
Michael Mathis, Regions Bank's city president and the past Chamber chairman, said Kilbride took over a solid foundation at the business group and brought a new perspective.
Mathis said the Chamber recently was named one of the top three chambers in the U.S. among the 7,000 countrywide by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.