The inaugural Greater Perimeter Chamber Annual Meeting celebrated the launch of a new era in business leadership across Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and the broader Perimeter region. This pivotal event unveiled their bold vision for the future and clarified what the Chamber stands FOR: business growth, innovation, and collaboration.
Toni Hannah, External Affairs Professional with Georgia Power, is a results oriented External Affairs professional with fifteen+ years experience working with Fortune 500 companies.
She has a proven ability to work with executive management to effectively integrate strategic initiatives into business functions. 
Connect with Toni on LinkedIn.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the greater perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, the headliner. Today we have Toni Hannah with Georgia Power. Welcome.
Toni Hannah: Thank you so much. I’m excited to be here.
Lee Kantor: Well, Tony, I’m asking everybody and I’m going to ask you, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber.
Toni Hannah: So thank you for asking that question. I met with Adam several months ago as they were talking about this, this new idea for merging the chambers. And I think it’s a wonderful idea. The reason that I’m for it is I’m for collaboration. I am for economic growth, I am for partnerships, and I am for seeing businesses succeed in the perimeter of the greater perimeter area. So that’s why I’m for it? Yes, absolutely.
Lee Kantor: Now, usually we ask our guests to tell us about their company. But your company is Georgia Power, and it’s kind of ubiquitous around here. So it’s hard to ask that question. But do you want to share anything about Georgia Power that maybe we don’t know, and maybe we don’t kind of appreciate that you’re doing behind the scenes that maybe we’re taking for granted, but you want to kind of spotlight it a little bit.
Toni Hannah: Sure. So when I gave my remarks earlier, everybody pretty much knows what we do. But I think one of the things that we love to highlight that people don’t understand that we do is what we call being a citizen wherever we serve. So we’ve got employees across the state that give so much in so many different ways, and people don’t know about that. So again, we’re a citizen wherever we serve. And of course we provide power and all that good stuff. But our company contributed. In 2023, our company contributed $34 million to various organizations which support education, communities in need and the environment. A lot of people don’t know that, and our employees actually give out of pocket in 2023, we gave 900,000, almost $1 million of our personal earnings to what we call our Club of Hearts campaign to support the organizations which are personally near and dear to our hearts. And then our volunteer organization, um, citizens of Georgia Power. We’ve got 11,000 members across the state and 38 chapters, and our employees volunteered more than 77,000 hours of their time to help communities and organizations in need. So a lot of people don’t think about us when we talk about giving back to the community. They think about us in terms of keeping the lights on. But I’m really proud of the work that we do to support our communities.
Lee Kantor: Now. Do you if you were to pitch other enterprise level organizations around the perimeter to get involved and to lean in like Georgia Power has, can you explain why that was important to you, and why it would be important for other enterprise level organizations to really kind of lean into this effort to create a more thriving, greater perimeter.
Toni Hannah: Absolutely. So I think about one of the things that I mentioned in my preliminary remarks, Georgia is growing like gangbusters. So many businesses want to be here. We’re like the number one state to do business in the country. And so as we have that growth, it’s obviously impacting perimeter. We’ve got a lot of opportunity here. And we need all businesses in the area to get involved, to have their say, to know what’s going on, to collaborate. And that’s why it’s important to be part of this.
Lee Kantor: And then so far, this is kind of the beginning. Obviously it’s the inaugural annual meeting. What are you most looking forward to as we continue the growth?
Toni Hannah: So looking forward to honestly having a seat at the table. Georgia Power is new in terms of supporting the perimeter, the greater perimeter chamber where a new member. And so getting to know other leaders. It’s interesting having a seat at the table when you hear what’s going on, what are the concerns, what are the challenges. How we can work collaboratively as a team, um, to come together. And so being at the table, you’re privy to those conversations, you’re hearing what’s happening. And you’re like, for me, I’m hearing what’s happening, but also I’m looking at how can I collaborate, how can I support. And so I think that that’s important.
Lee Kantor: So what are some of the ways you look most forward to supporting moving forward.
Toni Hannah: So really kind of gaining a better understanding of what’s currently happening, what the needs are, future growth potential? I know we’ve got some businesses up this way, um, that are making a positive impact, economic impact in terms of revenue and jobs. And so just being more tied in to see how I can, how I can support.
Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you? Do you need more connections with these leaders? What what could we be doing more to help you achieve what you’re trying to accomplish?
Speaker4: I think that’s great. I think, you.
Toni Hannah: Know, events like today where you have the opportunity not not only to hear from great speakers, but to network to. I know people don’t like the word networking, but it’s building. It’s all about building relationships, right? And it is building relationships, establishing trust with each other. And again, just kind of hearing what’s happening and figuring out how to plug in and to support. And so I think in terms of how it’s like helping it’s reciprocal, how we can help each other, It’s just again, having a seat at the table, hearing about what’s going on, connecting with other leaders to make positive things happen moving forward.
Lee Kantor: Right. It’s like they said, the rising tide lifts all the boats. Absolutely. The more the area grows, the more that benefits Georgia Power. Absolutely. They’re I mean, they’re just built into the equation.
Toni Hannah: Yes.
Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about what’s happening with Georgia Power or to connect or collaborate with you, what’s the best way to do that?
Toni Hannah: Absolutely. So you can go on to Georgia Power’s website, Georgia power.com. It’s easy to remember. Yes. Um, and then we’ve got information about like how to plug in the things that are top priorities with us right now. And then there is, I guess, an org chart, if you will, in terms of getting in touch with me personally, I am part of what they call the Metro North region, and my contact information is there as well.
Lee Kantor: Well, Tony, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you. Thank you.
Toni Hannah: So much. Thank you for having me.
Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor signing off.
