About the Chamber

The Queen Anne’s County Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a Character Counts! Business of Character. As such we require our membership to practice the values of Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship toward each other, their customers and their community.

Letter from the President

Every 10 years the federal government conducts a census.  The information gathered takes a hard look at how things have changed with regard to population and demographics.

As I celebrate my 10 year anniversary with the Queen Anne’s County Chamber of Commerce, I thought it would be interesting to do my own ‘census’.  That is, take a hard look at the changes the Chamber has experienced over my 10 years as President.

To say that there have been many changes over the past decade would be an understatement.  Operationally, Chamber membership has doubled, the office went through a major renovation bringing a new sense of professionalism.  Our programs and member benefits have significantly improved as has the support staff.  

The board chair has changed 10 times and the County Commissioners have changed several times, both always providing new challenges.  Through all of this we’ve been able to maintain and deliver superior service and support to our members with only 3 staff people which is a huge accomplishment.  

A few other changes over the past 10 years that I am extremely proud of:

• The Business Showcase bringing public awareness to the many outstanding businesses in our county
• Excellence in Business Awards highlighting our businesses and business leaders
• Establishment of ‘Vision’ our young professionals group
• Spearheading implementation of the financial literacy course in our high schools
• Participation in the Today Show wedding which brought tremendous national publicity to our county
• Establishing Chamber representation on the Economic Development Commission
• Unprecedented partnerships with local and state government

                       
Over the past 10 years I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some wonderful and dynamic people who have all brought something new to the Chamber and/or the community.  I have always tried to reinforce the fact that the Chamber is here to not only serve its members but to serve the entire community.  The business community and the residential community shouldn’t be adversarial.  Both communities need each other!

As the quote says, ‘The only thing constant is change!’  Like Maryland weather, if you don’t like just wait a little while, it will change!  Over my 10 years I’ve seen this with our government leadership where we’ve gone from the county leadership working in partnership with the business community to county leadership being completely adversarial to the business community.  Now we’re seeing county leadership once again embrace the benefits business and the business community can bring to the county and its residents.   One can only hope this return to working together will remain for the foreseeable future.

It’s also funny how some things NEVER change.  The need for more and higher paying jobs has been on the agenda since I got here.  As has the need to keep our residents working in our county without having to commute across the bridge.  We need to continue to focus on opportunities for our children as they graduate high school and college so they don’t have to move away to find work.  Our communities continue to have needs.  The Chamber has been on the forefront of these and other continuing issues and we will continue to be there, fighting for what we believe is the best for our members AND our community!  I look forward to continuing to lead the charge!

It’s hard to believe that in January I will be celebrating my 10th anniversary!  Statistics show that most Chamber Presidents lifespan is approximately 5-7 years.  So why, you may ask, am I still here?  The answer is simple.  I love what I do, I love the people I work or have worked with, and I love this community.  Some people work their entire lives without finding that right fit.  I’ve been blessed to have found my fit 10 years ago and I plan to be here for as long as my members will have me!

- Linda Friday