That's how Nashville Area Chamber President and Chief Executive Ralph Schulz views the organization's recognition as national Chamber of the Year for 2009 by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.
The association, also known as ACCE, is made up of the leaders of more than 1,300 chambers across the nation. It gave Nashville the top award in the large-cities category, beating two other finalists — Louisville, Ky., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
ACCE President Mick Fleming said Nashville was chosen over a field of dozens of competitors largely because of the chamber's "proactive response to the current challenging economic environment," as well as initiatives such as its successful campaign against the English-only proposal that was defeated by Nashville voters in January.
"The criteria are not only that chambers are successful in their own business operations, but that they are able to advance the business community's agenda and make an impact on regional prosperity," Fleming said.
"We had a strong field in our largest-chamber category," he said. "All three of the finalists demonstrated that they were doing the right things to be proactive in regional development initiatives, especially with Cedar Rapids, which fought to recover from a devastating flood. And even though Nashville was the winner, the other two certainly were not losers."
The nearby Bowling Green (Ky.) Chamber of Commerce won the award for midsize cities, and Columbus, Ind., won among smaller cities.
Just to be permitted to compete for the award, a chamber must first meet a long list of benchmarks that are judged by a "jury of peers," Fleming said. Judges are executives from chambers that have won the award in the past.
Nashville's selection came as a pleasant surprise, Schulz said, particularly because he "didn't even know we were a nominee until we were named one of the three finalists," he said.
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