About Chris Clark
Authored 26 articles.
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: The Facts About Vaccine Distribution in Georgia
Features, December 18, 2020
2020 has certainly been a year for the books; one that has challenged our health, our thinking, and our collective willpower as a global society. And though there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel with the first vaccines arriving in Georgia, I wanted to briefly address the thousands of inquiries that we are receiving about vaccine distribution in our state.
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: Changing for a More Inclusive Future
Features, November 20, 2020
This year has been nothing short of unequaled in our lifetime. From a global pandemic wreaking havoc on our lives and livelihoods to the social and racial injustices that we watched unfold on our televisions and in our backyards around America, 2020 has truly offered much hindsight from which to learn.
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: The Future of Georgia Transportation
Features, November 16, 2020
As the Georgia economy continues its recovery, we are seeing the return of the strength and importance of logistics and transportation. Moving manufactured goods, agriculture products and employees around town and around the world requires a visionary outlook.
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: The Future of Energy
Features, October 30, 2020
I recently participated in the Energy Forward virtual forum produced by Gas South and Cobb EMC. The discussion was eye opening and the take-away clear. Energy plays a more critical role than ever in site selection decisions and job growth. In many ways, energy investments are actually creating and supporting a “New Georgia Economy.”
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: Secure Your Vote, Georgia
Features, October 13, 2020
2020 will go down in history as one of humanity’s most challenging moments in time. We started the year with a strong economy, and in the blink of an eye we were crippled by a global pandemic. Needless to say, this year we have witnessed extreme highs and lows; yet, we are still here, still moving forward one step at a time, and still with one challenge before us as we usher in 2021.
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Chris Clark: The State of Rural Resiliency
Features, October 05, 2020
My rural upbringing has taught me a lot about working har d, finding ways to overcome even the most seemingly impossible challenges, and realizing that my faith can keep me grounded when the ground is shaky. I’ve seen small towns grow, decay and reinvent themselves time and time again; yet this time, with a global pandemic still in our midst, and a recession that many economists are saying will take 10-years to overcome, rural America is facing the greatest challenge of its time.
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Chris Clark: D.C. Fly-in Emphasizes Importance of Vote
Features, September 28, 2020
Last week has been nothing short of extraordinary. From economic recovery and foreign affairs to health care, transportation, rural initiatives, agriculture and so much more, last week’s all-virtual Georgia Chamber D.C. Fly-In reported record attendance and conveyed a strong message that business and government can and must work together for a better future and more rapid recovery from the COVID recession.
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Chris Clark: Building a Global Talent Pipeline
Features, September 14, 2020
Even before COVID-19 hit our borders and changed virtually every business plan and legislative priority for 2020, the war for talent was being fought across every industry sector around the world.
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Chris Clark: The 2020 Census. Just Do It.
Features, August 31, 2020
When Nike launched its “Just Do It” campaign in 1988, no one had any idea what would become of such a simple phrase.
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Chris Clark: How Small Businesses Recover and Become More Resilient
Features, August 11, 2020
Growing up in Fitzgerald, I witnessed the evolution of entrepreneurial spirit as small businesses would open, some close, and new small businesses would take their place. There is an economic cycle of 20-years that supply and demand generally drive.
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Chris Clark: New Talent for the New Georgia Economy
Features, August 04, 2020
Talent and workforce have long been key factors in the decision of businesses to locate or expand in a community. When I first started in economic development in the 1990s, I quickly learned that the mantra for site consultants was “location-location-location.” However, as the years went on, the factor of ‘location’ was surpassed by the community's availability of a skilled workforce.
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Chris Clark: The Call for Rural Resiliency
Features, July 27, 2020
My Fitzgerald roots ground me and millions of other small-town Americans to a strong work ethic, value of family, and a deep-rooted faith. We believe in community and helping each other through the tough times. And we celebrate in parades and on back porches when things are good. Of course, those occasions often come from long battles and commitment.
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Chris Clark: Reclaiming A Stronger, More Resilient Economy
Features, July 20, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic and the recession it has caused have been described as unprecedented. It has introduced new terms into our common language such as “social distancing” and “elbow bumping”. Simply put, it’s made us rethink how we shop, worship, educate and interact.
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Chris Clark: What You Can Do As COVID-19 Continues
Features, July 06, 2020
Political pundits and healthcare researchers can argue second wave or simply a continuation of the original COVID-19 pandemic. However, the fact remains that the virus which hit us so hard in the spring continues to be a potent force as we head into the summer months.
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Chris Clark: The Inequality of Opportunity
Features, June 22, 2020
We are in an important national conversation on systemic racism and the underlying inequality of economic opportunity in America. The Georgia Chamber and the business community will directly engage in dialogue and actively advocate for policies that create long term job growth, mobility, and equality for all Georgians. Doing so is essential for our collective prosperity.
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Chris Clark: Immediate Action for a Strong Economic Recovery
Features, June 12, 2020
In 2008, I was called to Governor Perdue’s office, given the responsibility of Commissioner for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and immediately challenged to build a budget that would cut spending by 40%. Like all agency heads during the early days of the Great Recession, we worked hard to steward the public dollars while protecting employees, citizens, and in our case, Georgia’s incredible environment. And not only did we survive, we also laid a foundation for the future.
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: Free Enterprise Responds
Features, April 30, 2020
Over the last few weeks, the power of free enterprise has been on full display as companies around the world have shifted, planned, reprogrammed and adjusted to protect employees and customers across a very different economic landscape.
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: Act Now
Features, April 15, 2020
As leaders begin discussions about reopening the economy, we know that it does not signal an end to the pandemic nor an abatement of the financial crisis for which we all face an inevitably long and rather costly recession. It is instead a call for the business community to engage and the government to prepare and consider additional action at the local, state and federal levels.
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: How Small Businesses Move Forward
Features, April 08, 2020
As Georgians track the daily statistics on COVID-19, praying for our families as well as those combating the pandemic, we are also gaining a clearer picture for another set of startling data. The economic impact of Coronavirus will, by many expert projections, lead to a prolonged recession.
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Georgia Chamber CEO: The Current Job of Business
Features, April 03, 2020
Our daily news feeds overwhelm us with statistics, predictions and partisanship at every turn. Anxiety and worry consume many of our friends and neighbors. We pour over our ledger sheets as we check in on customers and clients. However, in this temporarily chaotic time, we want to recognize the incredible sacrifice and leadership borne out of this crisis and recommend a few ways for how we all can rise to the challenge.
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Georgia Chamber CEO: Lawsuit Reform Essential to Georgia Business Growth
News, February 24, 2020
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: Rural Renaissance Op-Ed
Features, September 18, 2019
I’m a child of rural Georgia. I was born and raised in Ben Hill and Irwin Counties with ample time spent in Brooks and Colquitt Counties. I stayed in rural environments through college at Georgia Southern and grad school at Georgia College. My first chamber job was on the banks of the Ocmulgee River in Hawkinsville.
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Georgia Chamber's Chris Clark: The Value of Chambers of Commerce
Features, September 03, 2019
Since the first Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1599 in France, businesses have banded together for the common interest of economic growth and prosperity. In 1768, the New York Chamber established the first new world outpost to push back against ‘foreign’ governmental overreach. The Georgia Chamber was incorporated in 1915 by local chambers to promote small businesses, support rural communities and to protect our largest employers from job killing policy.
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Georgia Chamber President Chris Clark 8 for 18 Infrastructure Op-Ed
News, October 10, 2018
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Georgia Chamber President Chris Clark: Tactics for Keeping Georgia’s Economy Strong
News, October 01, 2018
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Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark: 8 for 18 Business and Legal Climate
News, September 11, 2018