December 06, 2021

CEO Message: Thank you Round Rock. Your future is bright.

As you may be aware, last week it was announced that I will be leaving the Round Rock Chamber in mid-January to take up the post of President/CEO of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce in Lincoln, Nebraska.

There are a few things that I want to be sure to clearly communicate to all of our stakeholders. First, and most importantly, our family has been very happy in Round Rock, and I have been honored to be the President and CEO of the Round Rock Chamber. The organization is in very stable financial and operational condition. The staff team is very effectively pursuing the Chamber’s strategic objectives and the support of the community remains strong. My transition, while coming too soon after two years of service, is very much about returning to Lincoln – the city we still call home, and to our family in Nebraska. While we are excited to return to family and home, we are also sad to be leaving so many friends and colleagues in Round Rock.

What you can anticipate looking forward is the following: The Chamber staff and volunteer leadership are unified behind maintaining the momentum of all Chamber initiatives in such a way that investors and the community hardly notice a transition is happening. You can have every confidence this will be the case.

While I am (appropriately) not directly involved in the process of determining a successor, I am very sure that Round Rock can and will do so. There are excellent Chamber professionals, both locally and further afield, who will find this organization and community a compelling opportunity. Chamber and community leadership are already in conversations regarding how the process will be organized during the interim. I anticipate they will communicate with the community as soon as it is appropriate to do so.

Mayor Craig Morgan has often said in his public comments, “Round Rock is bigger than any of us.” His point is that Round Rock is so full of excellent and dedicated leadership, organizations, and city team members that the community is happily not dependent on any one person or entity. I could not agree more. In the same way that elected leadership changes over time, people will come and make contributions to the future of Round Rock and some will transition to other locations or opportunities. No matter who occupies any position of leadership, the community of Round Rock will continue its trend of growth, innovation, and leadership among Texas communities.

Having been through the 2020 coronavirus shut down, the economic recovery, a contentious election cycle, and the unprecedented February storm of 2021 I have learned – you should never, ever bet against Round Rock. It is a community full of people and businesses that will always rise to the occasion and always “punch above our weight”.

The Chamber has many initiatives underway at this time that provide authentic reasons to be very excited about the future. Businesses continue to work with our program to evaluate making an investment in facilities and jobs in Round Rock every month. Several projects are underway right now that will continue the trend of economic growth and vitality in the coming year and beyond. The Chamber is working more than ever with regional policy partners, entrepreneurship programs, defense industry leadership, and life science developers to identify new opportunities to both grow and diversify the economy.

Perhaps most importantly, the staff team of the Chamber is the best in Texas in my opinion. Just in 2021 they have launched new marketing initiatives with a new brand, redeveloped the strategic plan for economic development, launched the Momentum Capital campaign, and initiated new engagement events with partnerships the Chamber has never had before. Your Chamber is not just stable, it is poised for rapid growth in the coming year.

In closing, our family would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Chamber and the community for allowing us to be a small part of the Round Rock story. This is a special place, because so many past leaders have worked to make it one. We will miss you, and we wish you all the very best of success as you create the future for Round Rock.

Thank you.

Jason

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