A house RESOLUTION

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR J. DAVID JAMESON, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE GREATER AIKEN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT AFTER ALMOST A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE GREATER AIKEN AREA, AND TO WISH HIM CONTINUED SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN ALL HIS FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

Whereas, it is altogether fitting and proper that the members of the House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina should pause in their deliberations to express their gratitude to J. David Jameson for his significant and storied contributions to the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce; and

Whereas a native of the Palmetto State, Mr. Jameson was reared in Ridgeland and attended Clemson University before earning a degree from Armstrong State University.  For six years, he served at the Economic Development Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield counties, and beginning in 2006, he became the president and CEO of the Greater Aiken Chamber where he has served for eighteen years; and

Whereas,  in his first year as Aiken's leading advocate for the health and profitability of all businesses, he secured eighty million dollars for Savannah River Site operations' budget from Washington, D. C.  By 2007, membership in the chamber had reached a milestone of one thousand members, and he established an Equine Industry Task Force to ensure appropriate goods and services be provided to the area's equine industry.  In 2008, the chamber initiated their Aiken Young Professionals program which continues to impact the area; and

Whereas, in 2020, the chamber advocated for five major economic initiatives: funding of the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC), the South Carolina National Guard DreamPort at the University of South Carolina Aiken, the Plutonium Pit (PIT) production mission at the Savannah River Site, liability protection for business in the wake of COVID-19, and the local investment of the settlement of six hundred million dollars between the federal government and the State of South Carolina; and

Whereas, he worked with chambers of commerce and economic development groups in North Carolina, as well as South Carolina: the Jasper and Bamberg counties' chambers of commerce and Colleton County Resource and Development Board, all in South Carolina, and the Fayetteville and Greensboro chambers of commerce in North Carolina.  Under Mr. Jameson's leadership, the Greater Aiken Chamber has received three impressive five-star accreditations from the United States Chamber of Commerce; and

Whereas, devoted to his community, Mr. Jameson served on the Aiken Downtown Development Association and the Aiken Corporation and served as chair for the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization.  He has served on the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and as chair of the Greater Aiken Integrated Trails Foundation (GAIT), the Woodwinds Estates Homeowners Association, and the Rotary Club of Aiken and as president of the Carolinas Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, South Carolina Economic Developers Association, and South Carolina Community Development Association; and

Whereas, Mr. Jameson has been recognized for his service with the Distinguished Citizenship Award by the Boy Scouts of America and with the Stuff that Legends are Made of Award from the Concerned Ministers Fellowship, and most notably as a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto in 1990, South Carolina's highest civilian honor, awarded by the governor of South Carolina; and

Whereas, grateful for David Jameson's significant service to the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce, the South Carolina House of Representatives takes great pleasure in extending best wishes to him as he transitions on February 29, 2024, to a richly deserved retirement and the slower pace of the days ahead. May he have many years of enjoyment in his well-earned retirement in Aiken, as he fondly and frequently says, "If you're lucky enough to live in Aiken, you're lucky enough."  Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor J. David Jameson, President and CEO of the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce, upon the occasion of his retirement after almost a quarter of a century of exemplary service to the greater Aiken area, and wish him continued success and happiness in all his future endeavors.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to J. David Jameson.

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