ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Marian Mason, new executive director with the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, wants to change the image of Central Baldwin County.

“We have long been known as an agricultural community,” she said. “I would like to be considered as the small business leader in this area.”

Part of Mason’s mission for 2008 will be to foster a relationship between the Chamber and small businesses.

“I want to bring in seminars geared toward small business,” said Mason, who was hired as the Chamber director on Jan. 2, saying that seminars could cover a wide range of topics from financing and legal issues to marketing. “We could have a whole series of seminars just on marketing for the small business.”

Mason, who sat down for an interview the day after Central Baldwin held its annual banquet on Thursday, Feb. 17, said her first order of business will be to establish a relationship between the chamber and the communities of Central Baldwin County.

Over the last few weeks, Mason has attended council meetings for each of the municipalities, Robertsdale, Silverhill, Loxley and Summerdale.

“We have to be able to offer a unified front for all of our communities,” she said. “I want to talk to as many business and community leaders as I possibly can to establish the needs of all of our communities.”

One of the main advantages for most of Central Baldwin is the fact that major highways, Alabama Highway 59, which runs north and south through many of the communities as a gateway to Alabama’s Gulf Coast, while Alabama Highway 104 and Interstate 10 run east and west to connect the communities with the Eastern Shore and Mobile.

“We have to give people a reason to stop here before continuing on further south,” she said. “We have people coming through our communities every day who spend a lot of money on the Gulf Coast. We need to find a way to keep some of that money here in Central Baldwin County.”

Ecology also needs to be an important part of growth in Central Baldwin County, she said.

“Having economic growth is great, but we also need to focus on economic development that fosters ecological growth as well,” she said.

That means fostering businesses such as Edgefield Lumber Company in Loxley, producers of ecologically friendly Blu-Wood.

Mason is looking for 2008 to be an exciting and challenging year, both personally in tackling a new profession, and for the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.

“I was looking for a challenge and I definitely found it,” she said, “ I am just thankful that I am surrounded by such talented and supportive people to make my job easier.”