Newly elected  BKCOB President, Terry Taylor challenges the business community to become more proactive and positive in together building the city of East London and conquering hurdles in this open letter delivered at Chambers 2010 AGM.

Allow me to begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude for the trust the Chamber has shown by bestowing on me this important office. Please be assured that this is a responsibility I assume with the utmost dedication, and that I will endeavour to continue the good work done by John Smith and previous past presidents by working tirelessly to promote and further the business interests of this great Border Kei region.

East London, like many other growing urban centres around the country, and indeed around the world, faces many serious economic and developmental challenges. The recent global turmoil will continue to have multiple ripple effects that will impact on how we do business, and how we grow our city and our region, for years to come.

But like many of you, I am an unashamed optimist who sees on the horizon many more opportunities than there are hurdles; many more reasons to celebrate than to complain or grumble. And the main reason for my faith in East London is represented right here in this room: the leadership and vision and tireless loyalty to our city being shown on a daily basis by all of you, the business leaders of this region. I need only look at you, individually and collectively, to know that the Border Kei region is, on the whole, in good hands.

Having said this, I know, however, that much work needs to be done in the coming months and years to ensure that East London lives up to, and delivers on, her vast potential. And for that we, the business community, have a very important task at hand. As much as we labour every day to build our individual businesses, and to become ambassadors for our specific organisations, we have what I believe is an even greater responsibility: to come together as ambassadors for the greater Buffalo City Border Kei Region.

To achieve this, we need to reach across the aisles that separate us, professionally, to forge even stronger personal and professional ties. The success of our region depends on the synergies we create, the bonds of cooperation we forge, and the united vision of opportunity and competence we project.

This is a challenge I wish to pitch to each of you this evening: to make a concerted effort tomorrow, and every day after, to find meaningful ways to build not only business relationships, but indeed business friendships, with your fellow captains of industry.

The task of promoting and building our city must be a collective effort - only by working as a unit, and by identifying and pursuing collective goals and objectives, can we effectively pool our vast resources to achieve our objectives.

As you are all well aware, one of the most important challenges facing us in the short and medium term is attracting, and retaining, quality investors to our city. To achieve this, I believe, we need to proactively identify and engage people who will serve as ambassadors for our city. We have been fortunate to have had numerous individuals over the past years who have fulfilled just such a role: who have been national and at times even international beacons for the skill and expertise that is resident here in our region.

And a number of those individuals are with us here in this room this evening

We need more of this. We need to harness the support of everyone who has a national or international profile, in whatever field, to become actively involved in marketing East London. But it's not just those enjoying a public profile who become the face of our city. Indeed, everyone who travels outside of our region in effect becomes an ambassador: everything we say and project about our people, our schools, our government, our business environment - that ladies and gentlemen - becomes the public profile of our city.

I urge you therefore to become newly aware of the power of you representation. Every time you speak about our city, everything you say, has an impact, either negatively or positively. Make your representation a positive one. It is so easy to slip into negative speak, to voice frustration about the things that hamper our efforts to build the city. But this negative speak only re-enforces many of the negative perceptions we have to battle on a daily basis. My challenge this evening, both for myself and for all of you, is to become positive ambassadors for our city in all of our endeavours, and to be constantly aware of promoting and advocating all that is good about the Border Kei region.

And there is much to celebrate about our city as we enter the second decade of this millennium. Yes, there have been disappointments, and doubtlessly there are many challenges ahead, but we are here because we are privy to what still constitutes, from a national point of view, a rather well-guarded secret:

That the greater East London area is truly one of the best regions in the country to live, to do business, to raise a family, to work and to play.

We have some of the finest schools in the country. Our universities offer first class tertiary education. Our hospitals and private medical facilities are home to a great number of experts across a wide range of specialities. In business, we continue to see steady growth in acumen and entrepreneurial innovation. Consequently, our city is growing in leaps and bounds. One only needs to look at the vast pace of commercial development to know that East London is a city on the march.

In assuming the office of president this evening, I pledge to you that I will lead the Border Kei Chamber of Business in being one of the most efficient and most effective ambassadors for our city.

And I invite all of you to join me in this endeavour. Let's show the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, the hidden treasure that is Border Kei; her resources, her people and her potential.

In small ways, and in big ones, let us work every day to promote and build our region by finding new and innovative ways to truly work together.         

Ladies and gentlemen - The success of Buffalo City and beyond depends on it.

In closing, I would like to thank you for your support and I look forward to nurturing our business association and friendship over the next two years.

Terry Taylor

President