Chamber names Roquemore city liaison
Group's focus to remain on membership in 2008
BY CHARLOTTE SMITH Editor

Approximately 60 members of the Whitehouse Chamber of Commerce gathered for a quarterly luncheon Tuesday, with incoming president Mike Peterson announcing plans for a city liaison position and a second Business Expo.

Larry Roquemore will assume the newly created position of liaison between the chamber and the City of Whitehouse.

"We still have some challenges, and the City of Whitehouse has some challenges," said Peterson, who is also the city's director of community development and code officer. "This is a first positive step in a new direction for the chamber."

Roquemore serves on the chamber's board of directors and is a local business owner and developer. Peterson said the new position will give the chamber and city the opportunity to work more closely together and share concerns and suggestions for the community's growth.

Based on the success of the last year's event, a second Business Expo is scheduled for April 22. More than 30 area businesses turned out last year, offering attendees a chance to network as well as reach potential customers.

Chamber members interested in participating in the expo can sign up now by contacting Sandra Knackstedt at 903-520-4585 or emailing sandraknackstedt@hotmail.com. Cost is $25.

Both Peterson and outgoing president Brent Conaway spoke of the chamber's growth in 2007 and its focus for the upcoming year.

Conaway celebrated the achievement of 116 members, the most ever for the Whitehouse Chamber of Commerce.

"We now have achieved the number of people we need to supply the Chamber with support to get things done and make an impact on the Whitehouse area," he said, adding that

the chamber was still working on defining the role of its directors.

"The bottom line is, for the past one or two years we've made a lot of progress, but we're not there yet," said Conaway.

Peterson seconded Conaway's remarks and said membership would remain the focus, but along with that the chamber wanted to push for recognition and increased publicity for its membership. He cited mail-outs, newsletters and the newspaper as avenues to achieve this.

"We want to try to get every opportunity we can in making the businesses in Whitehouse famous," he said.

Peterson briefly discussed his background, which includes 20 years of military service (primarily in security and military intelligence) and 20 years employment with the City of Whitehouse.

"I love the City of Whitehouse. I've given it 20 years of my life and hope some of the things I did helped make it a better place to live," he said.

The quarterly membership luncheon was held at Whitehouse's United Methodist Church, with Brookshire's providing the meal.