The Salem-Roanoke Chamber of Commerce held its 91st Annual Meeting and Economic Outlook Update breakfast, drawing over 100 attendees to celebrate achievements, introduce new leadership, and discuss the region’s economic future. Executive Director Amanda Livingston opened the event by acknowledging sponsors and mission partners, including supporters like Mersen, Yokohama, and the Salem Civic Center, while encouraging new partnerships for the coming year.
Spotlight on leadership
Livingston introduced the event’s keynote speaker, Colin McLaughlin, the new CEO of LewisGale Medical Center. McLaughlin, who joined LewisGale in November, shared his journey from Las Vegas to Salem, detailing his family’s search for a community-focused and welcoming environment.
“We made a list of what we wanted in a community,” McLaughlin said, “and Salem checked every box. The warm welcome from the people here, along with the area’s natural beauty, made our decision easy.”
He also highlighted LewisGale’s contributions to the community, including a $250 million economic impact in 2024, the expansion of healthcare services like the NICU and Level II trauma designation, and plans for future growth to attract medical professionals and businesses.
“We have on any given day about 2,000 employees who are dedicated to making this community a better place. Couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this organization, but just to highlight a couple new things with LewisGale in case you don’t know. In 2023, we did receive level two trauma designation, and that’s something that we’re really excited about. We’re adding to the scope of care we provide, not only to this community, but to the surrounding area. We also are very proud to say that we just celebrated our one-year anniversary for our NICU service line, which was our neonatal intensive care unit, and in that first year, we were able to provide great care for 77 NICU babies,” McLaughlin said.
As a facility in 2024, we added about 250 million dollars of economic impact in the area through wages, charitable care, through taxes, so we’re a big part of this community, and you know, my role as CEO and our role as a leadership team, we’re looking to expand care, to elevate health care, to grow service lines that can attract more medical professionals, that can attract more businesses, so we are really excited about the things to come,” McLaughlin said.
Reflecting on a year of success
Outgoing Chamber President Allen Lawrence addressed the attendees, reflecting on a productive year and expressing gratitude to the board, ambassadors, and staff for their dedication. “I’m going to go off script here for just a second, and I just want to say thank you to a few people that made this last year extremely fun and rewarding for me. First of all, a huge thank you to our board of directors and our ambassador team. Thanks for letting me be a part of it, you guys. The amount of time that you volunteer and your dedication to this chamber is what makes this chamber so great, so thank you,” Allen said. “I just wanted to mention three people specifically that I leaned on pretty heavily over the past year. First, our past president, Ashley King. Especially at the beginning of my term last year, I reached out to her rather frequently to pick her brain, and she was more than willing to help me out and get back to me, and I can’t thank her enough for that. Secondly, our first vice president and incoming president, April Woodward. Same thing, just more in the recent months.”
“As busy as she is at LewisGale, she still made time for me to either take my call or get back to me, and I really appreciate that. April was also the one responsible for keeping me on time at our meetings. We start our board meetings at 8 a.m., and people are still trickling in and getting breakfast, and if I hadn’t started that meeting by 8.01, I’d look over at April and she’s starting to get a little fidgety, and by 8.02, she’s like tapping her foot and banging her her hand on the desk, and by 8.03, by that time, she’s made eye contact with me, and she’s not cracking a smile, and she’s giving me this number, and I’m going to be honest, I was way too scared to let it get to 8.04” Lawrence joked. But thank you, April, and last but certainly not least, Carey Harveycutter. I don’t know if he’s here today, but he’s been with the chamber forever, and he’s someone that I’ve reached out to a lot throughout the year, just to pick his brain, get some guidance and advice, and I appreciate everything that Carey did for me,” Lawrence said.
He passed the gavel to incoming President April Woodward, who vowed to build on the Chamber’s legacy. “April, as is the tradition of our Chamber, I now turn over the leadership of this great organization to you for this coming year. I have set the bar extremely low. I can only imagine the amazing things you will accomplish as President, and I present the gavel to you,” Allen said.
“I’m honored to lead this Chamber in its 91st year,” Woodward said. “Our mission to create and support business opportunities while connecting members to the community is more important than ever.”
Honoring volunteers and staff
The Chamber recognized its board members, ambassadors, and staff for their contributions. Livingston and her team received praise for their exceptional leadership, with Allen noting, “Amanda and Haley have made my time as president a heck of a lot easier.”
The meeting concluded with optimism for 2025 and beyond, celebrating the Chamber’s commitment to fostering business growth and community connections in the Salem-Roanoke region.
Photos courtesy Carissa Divant
Allen Lawrence hands the gavel over to April Woodward.
Colin McLaughlin speaks at the breakfast.
