President's Message - April 11, 2018

Bell will ring at 7:25 this week – be ready to join the breakfast line!

For those of you who were out enjoying Spring Break – welcome back!  Those of us left behind appreciated your absence in the form of light traffic and, by and large, a more manageable week! Thank you for the break!

 

We have an exciting meeting lined-up this Friday, so please do your best to get into the breakfast line early so that we have ample time for all on our agenda.

 

Don’t delay in registering for District Conference! If you’ve not been, it’s a great opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians from across the District, enhance your knowledge and understanding of Rotary, and best of all – spend quality time with members of our Club.    So - - - Please sign-up for District Conference, April 26th – 29th at San Destin. We strongly encourage you to register as soon as possible. http://www.ismyrotaryclub.org/register4/index.cfm?EventID=77348682. If you are a new Rotarian since the last District Conference date, the Club will pay your registration fee!  See more detail, below!

 

This Week…

 

New Member Inductions

We have a full meeting this week, including the induction of three new members: Emily Metallo, Michelle Coleman, and Michael Gordy. Please give them a warm welcome as they join us in service as new Alpharetta Rotarians!   

 

Past District Governor, Bob Hagan, will be on hand to present a check to our Club. This check represents a “refund” on dollars we, like others in our District, had paid into a fund reserved for the Rotary International Convention.  This is a nice “bonus” for us – both the dollars, and a visit from PDG Bob.

 

Our Speaker this week is Senator, Brandon Beach. Brandon was elected to the Senate in 2013 and represents District 21, which includes portions of Cherokee and Fulton counties. 

Senator Beach serves as the Chairman of the Transportation Committee and is a member of the Economic Development & Tourism, Higher Education, Science and Technology and MARTOC committees. 

As the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce he has played an integral role in helping North Fulton grow and prosper in his 25-plus years in Atlanta. During his tenure with the Chamber of Commerce, membership of top level executives and chief executive officers (Chairman’s Circle) increased by 60 percent, and commerce retention developed from 67 to 82 percent annually. 

Senator Beach also served as the Chairman of the Public Private Partnership Committee (P3 Committee) on the Georgia Department of Transportation Board. Under his leadership the P3 Committee was able to acquire key local transportation projects approved for Cherokee and North Fulton. Before being elected to the Senate, Beach was elected to the board of the Georgia Department of Transportation by state legislators from the 6th Congressional District in 2008. 

In 2001 Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Senator Beach to the board of Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). In 2005, he was selected to chair one of GRTA’s most important committees--The Land Development Committee (formerly the Development of Regional Impact Committee). In this role, Senator Beach was responsible for leading a review of every significant development brought before the 16-county area that GRTA serves. 

Closer to home, Senator Beach is the President & CEO and one of the founders of the North Fulton Community Improvement District (CID). The group focuses on moving infrastructure projects forward. Under his leadership, the North Fulton CID has invested more than $18 million to help bring more than $91 million in new infrastructure for the CID District. 

Senator Beach is a member of numerous community boards including the Regional Business Coalition, Encore Park for the Arts and the Historic Roswell Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Senator Beach received an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and a Masters in Business Administration degree from Centenary College. He is also a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute and a former member of the Alpharetta City Council and the Alpharetta Planning and Zoning Commission. He and his wife, Shuntel, have two children and have lived in Alpharetta for the past 25 years.

 

Vocational Minute

We will learn more about veteran Alpharetta Rotarian, Rory Young, as he will give us our Vocational Minute this week.

 

Opportunities to Serve

  • Lionheart Gardens workday – May 5th (details to follow)
  • Completion of work on the Gillard Grill pavilion and picnic shelter.  Mickey Rogers is working on the details.
  • Fresh Market – questions? Contact Lee Doernberg 678-773-1039

 

Rotary Leadership and Conference Opportunities

District Conference San Destin! April 26 – 29th Join us at the BEACH!

 Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI)

  • Rotary Leadership Institute will be held in Griffin, GA on June 16th at Southern Crescent Technical College. Parts 1, 2, 3 and a graduate course on Membership will be offered. There will also be a Discussion Leader Course by invention. Go to www.rlitraining.org to register and more RLI information on courses.

 

In the next few Weekly Updates, I want to give a special shout-out to some folks who do much behind the scenes that has a significant impact on the experience we all have as Alpharetta Rotarians. The Spotlight this week is on Mike Lowry. Every week Mike posts this weekly update on our Club Runner website, has been our traditional “go-to” for technical issues, and has (once again) taken-on registration duties on behalf of our District at District Conference. He has also spent considerable time with DG Alec in regard to the District 6900 website functionality. When you see Mike, please take a moment to thank him for his consistent club service on our behalf.

We appreciate you, Mike!