Key Note Address by Chairman Tom Edd Wilson
What's on the Horizon for United Way

Every great city has a number of characteristics that make it different from other cities. These vary of course between locations, but certainly, the ability of a city to compassionately deal with its population that is in need of assistance to support a decent quality of life is a desirable trait.

Chattanooga has that quality as evidenced by the many effective organizations here that do their good work everyday to help those in need. The United Way has a strong and long history of being the visible leader in meeting those needs and has distinguished itself with numerous programs and initiatives that raise the standard of living for many families.

For the past two years, Zan Guerry has led this organization and taken it to record levels of achievement. Zan, I join everyone here in thanking you, not only for your leadership, but also for your dedication to excellence and accomplishment that has characterized your tenure.

The economic times we are now entering are uncertain and will require of all companies the ability to be nimble and innovative in dealing with ever present challenges. Our UW has the tools to do that with the good work that has already been done toward self-sufficiency through Building Stable Lives and Invest in Children and they are performing at a level to ensure we remain competitive and relevant.

With that said, this is a good time to conduct an assessment of our strategy and what we must do to continue meeting the growing challenges of a city on the move. To accomplish this, we will put in place a planning process that will review our mission, examine our goals and establish directives for moving forward in a way that unites all of the constituencies we serve. Working together we can prepare ourselves for a changing and uncertain economic future.

I believe strongly that our biggest challenge will always be the ability to communicate effectively to all concerned citizens in the marketplace. We are going to jump start this effort with those of United Way of America. You can see today a preview of how the United Way messages will be communicated to demonstrate how United Way adds value to our community.

LIVE UNITED is a phrase you will hear repeatedly this year. It is a call to action for us to work together TO ADVANCE THE COMMON GOOD in our neighborhoods and communities through the simple acts of giving, advocating and volunteering.

I look forward to working with each of you this next year and solicit your questions and ideas. This is a great organization and this is a great city. United we can do great things.

Thank you for attending - meeting adjourned.