If you are in receipt of this Weekly Digest, you are part of a large and highly diverse group of SAGA stakeholders – sole proprietors and Fortune 50 global manufacturing companies; not-for-profit charitable organizations and thriving “big box” retail establishments; governmental organizations and commercial real estate developers; lifelong Sanford residents and folks who arrived in town just last week. The list goes on and on, encompassing nearly 550 Chamber Member businesses, 50 SAGA investors and our public sector partners in Sanford, Lee County and Broadway, as well as our friends and allies at the regional and statewide level.
As diverse as this group is, we all have one thing in common. If you have interacted with SAGA in any way over the past seven years, you have been a beneficiary of the efforts of SAGA’s Operations and Events Manager, Morgan Barbour.
If you have attended a SAGA or Chamber event in the past seven years, if you have participated in Leadership Sanford, if you have read a Weekly Digest, if you have participated in a Webinar or attended an in-person meeting of any kind, if you’ve called or visited the SAGA office, if you’ve found the business connection you were looking for in the Lee County Living or FYI Magazine or SAGA’s website, if you’ve seen a SAGA ad in Our State Magazine, or if your question or concern has been quickly resolved by a simple call to the SAGA office, then you have benefited directly from the amazing talents and unfaltering commitment of Morgan Barbour to the mission of SAGA and the success of each and every Lee County business.
Morgan’s servant leadership, tremendous organizational skills and tireless commitment to follow-through is universally appreciated, and she is much of the reason that SAGA enjoys such a great reputation as a highly responsive and effective resource for members and investors large and small.
As you have likely heard by now, Morgan is leaving her role at SAGA to pursue another exciting career opportunity. In her farewell note to our board members, Morgan recounted some of her most memorable experiences as a leader on the SAGA team. She joined SAGA as a key member of Joy Thrash’s team in 2016, and has been making a lasting impact ever since. In addition to consistently delivering amazing annual events like the SAGA and Chamber Annual Meetings, Chamber Clays Tournament and Children’s Business Fair, she organized dozens of Ribbon Cuttings, AM Buzzes and Business After Hours on behalf of our members, and facilitated dozens more successful meetings of the organization’s leadership and various committees.
Morgan has played an integral part in SAGA’s past successes, but her impact on our community will continue to be felt for years to come. In her own words:
“Facilitating the Leadership Sanford program for the last seven years has been a highlight of my career. The next generation of committee leaders and community advocates is bright and strong. This community is no doubt a 10-year overnight success and looked at by others across North Carolina and the Chamber + Economic Development industries. This organization and the community are on the cusp of the pivotal movement towards the next 10 years. Many community projects will come to fruition like the next spec building, library, sports complex, agricultural marketplace, and more. I am eager to watch from afar as the community continues to grow.”
Morgan’s last day in the office will be next Wednesday, so I hope that each of you will reach out and join me in thanking her for the incredible work that she has done on behalf of our organization and the business community at large, and wish her all the best in her next and future endeavors. You may catch her in person at AM Buzz on Thursday, the Children’s Business Fair on Saturday or next Tuesday’s Ribbon Cutting, but if not, feel free to stop by the SAGA office or give her a call in the next few days.
Thank you, Morgan, and may God bless you and speed you on your way as you begin a new chapter in your life’s adventure.
Jimmy Randolph, CEO