Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Members of the community stopped by the Chamber of Commerce office last Thursday to bid outgoing Chamber president Lauren Minor farewell. Minor began working at the Chamber six years ago, in January of 2017. Fresh out of college at the time, Minor had moved to Bainbridge with her husband due to his job with Farm Credit. According to Minor, she had previously interned with her local chamber of commerce back in Buena Vista, Georgia. “When moving to Bainbridge I thought of the Chamber as the first place to look for job openings,” Minor recalled. “They had an opening themselves as an administrative assistant, so I applied and started as the admin assistant.”

As an administrative assistant, Minor began her career by marketing Rivertown Days and planning other smaller events. Minor would serve as an admin assistant for a year, before being promoted to Director of Communications, where she would stay for another year, before applying for the position of President. “I have enjoyed pioneering new ways for the Chamber to make an impact on our community,” she reflected. “There is never a lack of need, so Chamber work is endless – in my mind we could never do enough, which is a hopeful statement because that means there will always be an opportunity to help people.” She described her personal mission during her time with the Chamber as making the Chamber “essential to the success of the businesses in the community.” She stated that the most memorable event during her time with the Chamber was the cancellation of 2020’s Rivertown Days, with the event first being moved from the Boat Basin due to flooding, only to be shut down for good that year because of the COVID lockdown. “It was probably the hardest day I’ve ever had on the job. I didn’t know if the event would ever recover, but here we are now a few days away from our second River Town Days since that time with a record number of sponsors and community support!”

Just as Minor came to Bainbridge for her husband’s job, it’s for that same reason that she is now leaving Bainbridge, returning to Americus to be closer to help with Minor Family Farms. She stated that this was always their intention.

“Bainbridge really became home to us. It is where we formed some of our closest friendships, started our family, and grew professionally,” Minor said. “The greatest part of the job was the relationships I made with Chamber members, volunteers, and people in the community. Most of them began as work relationships and have ended up as true friendships.”

She concluded by thanking everyone she has worked with in Bainbridge, saying, “It is a hard place to leave, and the town should be proud of that!”

Minor hasn’t fully left quite yet, as she will be sticking around to see this weekend’s Rivertown Days festivities through to completion.