Columbus Chamber CEO Decides To Walk Away After Four Years

By Wane Hailes

Jerald Mitchell said he’s proud of the things he’s accomplished as Chief Executive Officer of the Columbus, Ga., Chamber of Commerce, a job he left Oct. 31, 2024, after four years.

“The organization is in a good spot. The financials are good. The staff is trained and professional. Membership is moving economic development. We’re on the radar in ways that we have not been in the past,” Mitchell said. “So, I felt like it’s a good time to step down while we were on top.”

Despite rumbles in the community about Mitchell being asked to step down, he adamantly said that is not true.

“The community politics is what it is, and you have to deal with that,” Mitchell said. “But at the end of the day, I feel like this is a good thing.”

He said he plans to continue his leadership with several projects dealing with economic development, innovation, redevelopment, and policy making.

“I feel like with the political connectivity that I have, I'll be able to use that on a broader scale to work on some consulting projects and so on and so forth; and obviously, if an executive level opportunity comes up, that I just can't say no to then I'll do it,” he said “But at this point, you know, the goal is to get involved in some projects.”

He said he is most proud of his involvement is attracting the Atlanta Braves minor league Double A affiliate, the Columbus Clingstones, and the renovation of the stadium, supporting a major Pratt & Whitney expansion project, Welcoming AFB International, The Georgia Red Carpet Tour, and supporting the world kayaking championship.

However, he said his biggest accomplishment was making minority businesses feel like they belonged at the Chamber and that it was their Chamber too.

“I’m most proud of the outreach that we’ve done to be a more inclusive organization, and there is still a lot of work that has to be done in that area,” Mitchell said. “When I got to Columbus, I don’t think it was malicious or anything, but it felt like there was a lot of opportunity in the black and Hispanic communities in terms of building bridges. I don’t know that those folks felt like it was their Chamber.”

He said it is important for the Chamber to work with all businesses, no matter where they are in their organizational journey.

“I just think that we make an assumption sometimes that everybody's starting from the same place. You get some people that are in business because they went to school and got a Ph.D. in that particular subject, and they're like, ‘I'm going to be the best at this because I got this Ph.D.’ You get some people that go into business because it's a family business. Their parents left it to them, left them a gift wrap. You got some people that know how to make pizza, and they just want to make pizza the best they can. They're not savvy businesspeople, but they know how to make pizza. Then you get some people that just say, ‘I don’t know what kind of business I want to run; I just want to be in business.’ And they have to kind of go through a different process. So again, we have to offer different levels of sophistication and different levels of support structures and different levels of resources.”

He said he worked to hard to make their outreach and recruitment intentional to make sure the Chamber was working with different segments of the Columbus community to engage with all types and sizes of businesses.

“Again, I think there's still a lot of work to be done on that, but I think at least while I've been here, we have raised the flag on the fact that this is everybody's Chamber, and that we want more and more people to feel like that,” he said.

As the first black CEO at the Chamber, he completed a four-year tenure that was unblemished by scandal or organizational strife.

Mitchell said this is because he practices servant leadership and does not seek the limelight, but rather just works to make sure events and activities are successful.

“My position has always been the more I do to help other people, the better things have worked out for me. So, I just try to do right by people, you know, not trying to get into any minutia, not trying to get into any mess, not trying to, you know, make anybody feel like I pulled one over on them, or anything like that,” he said. “I’m just trying to be authentic; trying to keep my head down and get the job done. As I think people will tell you, I'm not a flashy person. I don't seek the limelight.”

He said the role of the Chamber is unique in that it’s not a political organization, but still one that supports initiatives and ideas to enhance the community.

“A lot of people look at the Chamber’s role as purely local, but we’re in a global society now, and a big part of what we've talked about in supporting the Columbus 2025 initiative is how to put Columbus on the map,” Mitchell said. “A big part of that is reputation building outside the community, and to a large extent, there have been many occasions where I've been able to be involved in other things, participate in other events, do things that allowed us to be more recognized outside of Muskogee County and outside of the Chattahoochee Valley. I think people have to embrace that as long as you've got an organization that is built to cover a lot of local bases, and you've got people covering those bases, that it's okay for the leader or for members of that organization to be outside, doing external work that helps move the needle. We need some of these global companies and some of these developers that are in other places to come to Columbus.”

During his tenure, Mitchell has worked to bring thousands of jobs to Columbus with direct and indirect positions.

“For instance, you get the Pratt & Whitney announcement where they're going to spend $200 million and create 400 new jobs. Well, it's not just about those 400 jobs. There's a multiplier effect, where you got construction workers, you've got general contractors and other contract support that is going to create jobs that, again, then support the Pratt & Whitney expansion,” he explained.

Mitchell may be walking away, but he said he feels confident the success of the Chamber and the pivotal groundwork he has started will continue.

“The team is working on a revolving load fund to support small businesses to support things like emergency operating expenses,” he said, adding that another area where the Chamber and the City have made significant investments that will continue to add jobs to the area is in robotics.

Therefore, Mitchell is optimistic about his next opportunity and the continued success of the Chamber.