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.
Adam Forrand, President of the Greater Perimeter Chamber, is a master of relationships. It’s a skill that enables him to sit down at an initial client meeting and come away with a clear sense of who everyone is, where they’re coming from, and what their goals are.
It’s a skill that helps him use that knowledge to map out ways that various and often competing needs just might fit together in a solution.
And it’s a skill that mixes well with Adam’s abundance of creative energy, leading to innovative ideas to meet those needs. And with Adam, an unrepentant optimist who says “opportunity” a lot, there is always a solution. Always. 
Connect with Adam 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, Adam Ferrand, president of the Greater Perimeter Chamber. Welcome.
Adam Forrand: Hello, Lee. Hey, Stone.
Lee Kantor: I am so excited to be talking to you. And I’m asking everybody, why are you for the greater perimeter chamber?
Adam Forrand: Oh, my goodness, I am for the greater perimeter chamber because we are for our members. We are for their prosperity and their growth. Their growth may be defined in many different ways. And as we learn about those goals and objectives, our job is to make sure that they are connected, well resourced and networked in such a way that makes those goals achievable and absolutely possible.
Lee Kantor: So if you were giving a pitch to a business owner that’s part of the community but isn’t part of the chamber, what’s kind of the the the elevator pitch for them?
Adam Forrand: Yeah, you just said it. If they are a part of the community, then they should be a part of the chamber. The chambers of Commerce, no matter where you may be, are an absolutely vital institution in the community. We talk about good schools. We talk about good healthcare, good government, good business makes good communities, great businesses make great communities. And so if they are of the community, if they are rooted in the community, then they should be a chamber member.
Lee Kantor: So now if you’re a business owner out there listening and you you don’t need any sales, you’re good with sales. There’s still a reason to come, right? You still connect. You still learn. There is.
Adam Forrand: Yeah, there’s lots of reasons. One is we challenge our members here at the greater perimeter chamber to show up to coach and to be coached. And that’s shorthand for acknowledging that our members have expertise, have knowledge in a particular domain or a particular specialty that they can help coach other members on. Because you can’t be good at everything, right? I mean, if you’re a small business owner in particular, you try to be the best you can be in all of these different domains and different facets of your business. But fellow members can advise you, can provide guidance and can connect you as well. And so we ask our members to show up to coach with their with their point of view and their position of strength, but then also to be professionally vulnerable enough to show up, to be coached, to recognize that perhaps there’s areas of their business that they need help on as well, and that a fellow member can help.
Lee Kantor: Now, what if I’m an enterprise level organization and I’m I do business all over the world. I do all over the country. How am I getting value from the greater perimeter chamber?
Adam Forrand: Because you are rooted in this community. Your brand is not necessarily your service brand or your product brand or your consumer brand. Now your brand is your employer brand. We work diligently to help advance the employer brands that are particularly of our largest enterprise members because they have talent needs that are very significant. And so we amplify that message that this large company, this large employer, perhaps a multinational or perhaps a domestic employer is rooted in our community and has opportunity, professional opportunities in their in their buildings, in their offices, out in the field that perhaps a local resident may not have to commute as far to find economic opportunity, a professional or career opportunity in our community.
Lee Kantor: And then it’s like the keynote speaker was saying about, what are you for? If you’re saying you’re for your community, then show up and be a part of the community by joining the greater perimeter chamber and being active.
Adam Forrand: Absolutely. And that engagement, that activity is, is important to making sure to ensuring that this is a vibrant membership organization. And so we always challenge our decision makers who decide to join the chamber that, hey, this membership is not just for you, your entire employee roster are members of the chambers as well. And so if you want to advance women professionals, we’ve got a program for that. If you want to advance high potential young professionals, we’ve got programs for that. You name the topic, the issue, your business, regardless of size, when engaged, when active, can benefit directly, indirectly, and with other induced benefits.
Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?
Adam Forrand: Great question. Greater perimeter chamber. Com it’s a mouthful but once you type it in it auto populates. So please join us. Uh, learn more about the value proposition for the greater perimeter chamber. All of the opportunities to engage and to connect. Know that if you are a business in the perimeter community here in metro Atlanta, we are for you.
Lee Kantor: All right. Well, thank you so much, Adam, for sharing your story.
Adam Forrand: Thanks, Lee. Thanks, Stone. Thanks. Abby, too. Over there in the corner.
