Jackson chamber changes name, striving to work harder, reach all
As West Tennessee grows around the city of Jackson, the chamber of commerce is clarifying its business reach with an anticipated population increase due to recent projects such as Blue Oval City and the economic growth that will follow in the region.
"We are the Greater Jackson Chamber," president and CEO Kyle Spurgeon announced on Nov. 9. "Honestly, that's something we have always been."
The Greater Jackson Chamber, formerly known as the Jackson Chamber, is a business organization with the primary goal of increasing economic prosperity in the region. They achieve this by recruiting new industries to the area, providing leadership programs, supporting small businesses and more.
The GJC is over 117 years old and has members throughout West Tennessee. The core reason for the name change is that the chamber wanted to ensure that it was known they work not only in Jackson but in surrounding areas in West Tennessee.
"Our team has always been there to support those communities and those organizations around us. Now we're adding that to our name," Spurgeon said.
The change in the name doesn't necessarily affect the organization, as it was done to clarify that they can and want to work with more communities in the West Tennessee region.
"It means that we're not only going to keep doing what we're doing with these surrounding communities, we're going to do even more," he promised. "We just put a name on what we've been doing for years."
More:'Being a good neighbor:' BlueOval City officials talk community impact, jobs
Citing the BlueOval City project, Spurgeon said the planned automotive assembly encouraged all the communities in West Tennessee to work together toward a common goal.
"We can only be successful as a region if we work together, and the Greater Jackson Chamber will be a key piece of that success," he said.
Big name economic projects have recently been announced in West Tennessee, including the $5 billion-plus Ford Motors plant, also known as BlueOval City, Clearloop solar plant and the $425 million Georgia-Pacific corporation, which makes Dixie paper products.
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Jackson Chamber of Commerce changes name as reach increases
