Meet the new president of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce replacing Sue Parr

The first woman to lead the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce is retiring.

Chamber President and CEO Sue Parr will consult for the chamber while helping her successor, Executive Vice-President Angie Cox, transition into her new role effective mid-August.

A community's chamber of commerce is a group representing member business owners who promote and foster the members' business interests as a component of local growth.

Leading Augusta's chamber since 2005, Parr helped build the organization into "a thought leader on how the business community must engage in its own future growth by working to shape the forces that create a strong economy," the chamber said in a July 23 statement.

An ardent golf enthusiast, Parr came to Augusta from Lansing, Michigan, where she was senior vice president and chief operating officer for the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Parr's local accomplishments include introducing new programs such as Students2Work and Talent2Work, online portals that help Augusta-area adults and high-school students connect with employers filling jobs or offering training to pursue those jobs.

Talent show: Job-seekers, employers can connect on new chamber website

Georgia's annual Red Carpet Tour attracts potential commercial and industrial partners to the state. Augusta and the Masters Tournament usually is the tour's last stop and, under Parr, the tour has become an important component of Masters Week.

Other initiatives to grow and thrive under Parr include creating the chamber's annual list of Top 10 in 10 Young Professionals to Watch since 2010. She also expanded Augusta Day, an annual meet-and-greet between local leaders and state lawmakers, into Greater Augusta Day in 2012 to better represent the economic region.

The chamber's executive committee unanimously chose to promote Cox, and "worked with Sue and her retirement transition to ensure her hard work over many decades will be honored yet serve as a strong foundation for the many new and exciting times to come under Angie’s leadership," said board Chairman Dennis Trotter.

Cox arrived in Augusta in 2021 after serving more than six years as executive director of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce.

Augusta's chamber leaders credit Cox with the organization's "largest revenue and membership increases to-date as well as doubling member participation in event programming over the last several years," according to the chamber's statement.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Meet the new president of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce replacing Sue Parr