Lassiter elevated to Chamber president

Published 9:00 am Saturday, December 18, 2021

A familiar face has taken over the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce president/CEO position. 

Kara Lassiter, who has been the local Chamber membership development director for the past six-plus years, was recently elevated to the leadership role following the departure of former president/CEO Angie Martin who left in late October to become executive vice president of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce. 

“I’m very honored,” Lassiter told The Union-Recorder Thursday. “I love being able to lead and guide Milledgeville. I’m just so thankful for this opportunity and that the board and search committee thought that I was the best person to continue on what we’ve been doing for the last several years.”

A native of nearby Macon, Lassiter came to Milledgeville in 2014 and worked at Georgia College for a year before taking her former position with the Chamber in June 2015. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2008 with a degree in public relations and minor in sociology. 

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Kara lead our amazing staff,” Chamber board chair Kyle Hitchcock said in a press release announcing Lassiter’s promotion. “Her experience, skills, and dedication are a perfect match for our needs now and into the future.”

In addition to her work with local businesses, Lassiter during her tenure has overseen Chamber initiatives such as Leadership Baldwin and Youth Leadership Baldwin, among others. Now she’s guiding a Chamber touting over 400 members of the local business community. 

“I hope to bring positive energy and some new ideas along with continuing what we’ve been doing,” said Lassiter. “Angie was a great leader here. I was fortunate to be able to learn under her. She’s still my mentor, so I can call her if I need any advice or anything from her.

“I feel like there are so many good things that are coming our way in Milledgeville right now. We’ve got a lot of new businesses opening up. Even with the year we’ve had with COVID, we’ve had so many new members come. We are here for our business community, and we want to help them flourish and grow as much as possible.”

As for Lassiter’s previous role of membership development director, she said the Chamber is looking to fill that opening, though there may be some slight changes in job responsibilities moving forward. 

Looking ahead, the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2022. Lassiter said there are no concrete plans yet, but that milestone will certainly be observed. The new Chamber president is also looking forward to bringing back programs and events like small business workshops as well as others that were lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I want to say thank you to all of the board members and the search committee,” Lassiter said. “Throughout these last couple of months they really have helped keep us on track. I knew I could call on our board members whenever I needed anything and they would be there to help out.”