President's Report from September 14, 2026

Last week, we hosted our annual Past Chairs luncheon. Once a year, we bring the people who have led this Chamber back to the table, tell them where we are and ask what they see. They bring perspective you cannot get anywhere else. As always, our conversation turned to some of the biggest issues and projects our community has faced over the years.

Our past chairs reflected on the long fight for an I-40 connection between Wilmington and Raleigh. They still debate which governor gets to take credit. What they agree on is that this Chamber spent years making the case that a port city needed a strong highway connection to the rest of the state.

We talked about MLK Parkway and the great debate that surrounded that project. It affected hundreds of acres of wetlands and was incredibly controversial. The fight was loud, but the project created an important connection that has helped move people and goods through our community for years. Both I-40 and MLK Parkway outlasted the terms of the leaders who helped make them happen. That is the nature of this work.

The people sitting around the table when those projects were being debated knew they might not be the ones to see the full benefit. They knew there would be criticism, disagreement and difficult decisions along the way. They also understood something important about the role of a chamber: Our job is not simply to respond to what is happening today. Our job is to help shape what this community will need tomorrow.

That requires patience, persistence and leaders willing to make the case for something they may never get credit for. The projects that have changed this region did not happen because everyone agreed. They happened because people were willing to stay at the table, make the case, work through the difficult parts and keep moving forward. That is the responsibility we have today.

We are facing another one of those decisions with the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement. NCDOT holds public hearings this week in Wilmington and Leland, and public comment remains open through October 15. This is an important opportunity for our community to understand the alternatives, ask questions and make its voice heard.

The decisions made during this process will shape how people and goods move across the Cape Fear River for generations. As a Chamber, our responsibility is to look beyond the next headline or political debate and ask a longer-term question: What will our region need 20, 40 or 75 years from now?

Thank you to the past chairs who joined us: Charlie Mattox, Louis McColl, Rick Willetts, Chris Boney, Michele Holbrook, Stephanie Lanier, Lisa Leath, Jim Hundley Jr., Nicolas Montoya, Dickson McLean and Scott Cromartie.

Over the last nine years, this Chamber has continued to mature alongside the needs of our community. Our programming has become more intentional, our operations more professional and our advocacy more responsive to the issues our members and region are asking us to address. Our past chairs helped build that foundation. Our responsibility is to keep doing the work, taking the long view and earning the trust of the business community we represent.

We may not see the full impact of every decision we help shape. But we can make sure the business community has a voice in those decisions and that those who come after us inherit a stronger, more connected and more competitive region. That is the work of a chamber. And it is work worth doing.