News & Events
Non-Profit Event Proves Collaboration Works
An overflow crowd for the first ever Laurens County non-profit board training proved the benefit of two leading county organizations filling a much needed niche. The Laurens County Chamber of Commerce and the Laurens County United Way worked together to organize the January 11 event at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Clinton. Board members from non-profits from as far away as Greenwood participated in the training facilitated by The Weathers Group of Columbia.
"We were delighted to see such a large turn out," said Caroline Thomas, executive director of United Way of Laurens County. "The crowd of more than forty-five board members proves we have met an important need for the county’s non-profits."
The training session derived from a board member training session held in January 2007 to educate new board members for the Chamber of Commerce, an event that Thomas attended. Over the past year, she and Chamber president and CEO Rob Clapper have worked to put together an expanded training session for all non-profit boards including many of the United Way agencies.
Participants learned about organizational structure as well as their duties as board members. The facilitators also instructed participants in establishing a vision for their particular organization and planning for a successful future.
"The board members walked away from the training with a better understanding of their duties including their fiscal responsibilities," said Rob Clapper, president and CEO of the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce. "They can now go forward and begin strategic planning for their organization’s future. All of their efforts only work to improve Laurens County and its quality of life."
The popularity of the January 11 session has insured the event will become an annual offering, according to the session’s organizers.
