Chamber of Commerce’s Amber Batchelor speaks at SGTC Black History Day celebration

   Sumter County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Amber Batchelor challenged individuals to “shape your history and set yourself up for success” at the South Georgia Technical College Black History Celebration program in the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center building on the Americus campus recently.

  “Think about your living legacy,” said Batchelor.  “Where we go tomorrow can be determined by what we do today.  Give of yourself, your time, skillset, ability, and talents and begin building the living legacy you want.  Never allow someone else to tell you what your history will be or define your future based on a history they connect to you.”

   Batchelor shared information about her life and the people who helped her create her own living legacy.  She gave credit to her parents and grandparents and great grandparents. “Taking the time to learn about my family allowed me to have the ethics I have today.  It taught me to be comfortable in my own skin.  I was the first person in my family to complete college but part of my living legacy is the people that helped me get here,” said Batchelor.

   “My grandmother’s legacy lives on in me,” explained Batchelor.  “She owned her own business.  She was an entrepreneur but she would not have described herself that way.  She was just caring for her family and making a way for the next generation to do better.  She left me a living legacy.”

   After sharing her family history and background, Batchelor asked the crowd, “What do you want your history to be tomorrow?  Because today becomes tomorrow’s history.”  Then she spoke directly to the young people in the audience.  “Set yourself up for success.  I challenge you to make a list of milestones and achievements and then look at that list in six months.  If you don’t feel like you have gotten to where you want to be, make some time specific, quantifiable goals to accomplish within the next six months. At the end of the year, think about what those milestones mean to you.  Now think about what those milestones mean for others.  Think about the people who helped you and what your accomplishments mean for them.”

   Then she added, “on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, please stay in Sumter County.  We need you to stay here.  And if you feel like you want to move somewhere else, come talk to me.  We want you to stay here and help define what our history or our future will be for the next 100 years.”

   Batchelor currently serves as President and CEO of the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce.  She considers it an honor to serve as the first African American CEO of the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce, which is over 100 years old.  Her goals for herself and the Chamber Board of Directors is to work on internal strategic planning and development to ensure the Chamber serves as the premier go-to regional business resource to provide opportunities and support for the growth and prosperity of local business and industry.

   Batchelor resides in Americus with her husband, Rowdy, and their two dogs in a 110-year old house.  She is active in Bible ministry and encourages people to humble themselves by using gifts of discernment and wisdom to be kind to each other and to deal with one another out of love not contentiousness.

   South Georgia Technical College Auto Collision Repair Technology Instructor and 2022 Instructor of the Year Starlyn Sampson presided over the Black History Celebration.  SGTC Academic Dean Dr. David Finley gave the invocation.  Zakyah Cameron, SGTC Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) winner, provided the occasion.  SGTC Cosmetology graduate and current Air Conditioning student Shannon Jones performed solos with the assistant of Leonard Tyson, keyboardist.

    SGTC President Dr. John Watford welcomed everyone to the event and introduced Batchelor before she spoke.  SGTC Director of Business and Industry Services Paul Farr gave the benediction.