Don’t take this place for granted.
That was outgoing Wayne County Chamber of Commerce President Scott Satterfield’s message to anyone and everyone who works, lives, worships, serves as an elected official, or calls Wayne County “home,” as he began his final week in the role he’s held since April of 2022.
“This is an absolutely amazing place to live,” Satterfield told Goldsborodailynews.com earlier this week. “I think we can’t forget that, no matter what you’re doing. We shouldn’t take for granted that, that will always be the case. Every day I hope leaders wake up and make this place, even if it’s one degree better, to move it forward, and to do it together. I don’t care what (political) party you are, I don’t care where you come from, or where you grew up, once you get into leadership positions it’s time to work together. It’s time to figure out what are the problems and how can we solve them, instead of the game of politics. Focus on the things that matter, the things that people care about. People only care about what happens to their families, what happens to their businesses, and what happens to their future, so I would encourage leaders to care about that more than their name. I think we have a lot of leaders that do that. If people ever feel negative about this community, they should come spend a week with me. They would see good over, and over, and over again.”
Despite having previous experience in ministry, and as a business owner, as well as a role in the downtown development department with the city of Goldsboro as the Business and Property Development Specialist, Satterfield admitted he wasn’t quite sure what to expect as he stepped into the role held by previous Wayne County Chamber of Commerce President Kate Daniels.
“I think for me I didn’t know exactly what to expect,” Satterfield said. “Kate Daniels, my predecessor, had been very kind and really tried to explain the role, and she was helpful in my transition. I think I did not expect the Chamber to be as far reaching and that took some adjusting in terms of the kinds of things you had to know and to learn and figure out. I think my goal coming in was to try and impact the community in the most positive way that we could, and help the organization be as healthy as it could be.”
The Wayne County Chamber of Commerce played a vital role in the significant local elections that occurred late in 2023.
The Chamber hosted candidate forums along with events such as “Eggs and Issues,” which provided the community an opportunity to hear candidates speak on relevant issues facing the City of Goldsboro.
Those public forums went a long way toward shaping a mayoral race between Charles Gaylor and Raymond Smith that was ultimately decided by six votes.
Key Goldsboro City Council races were also impacted by those same events hosted by the Chamber.
“I’m proud of the fact that we were able to give a platform to all the candidates and ask them the same questions and just let the public be able to hear that,” Satterfield said. “We thought (those elections were important) and they turned out to be very consequential elections. I think in a non-partisan way, for the Chamber to use its platform to try to open the door to the community-at-large to ask these folks some questions, and it felt like a role that we ought to play, and I’m proud that we played it.”
Under Satterfield’s direction, the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce has been vital in furthering conversations between the community and elected officials around several important topics including affordable housing, the future of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, childcare, teacher’s salaries, and wastewater system expansion, to name a few.
“We’ve tried to shape a legislative agenda that came from our members,” Satterfield said. “It didn’t come from outside of our members. That grassroots path turned into events, and forums and spaces where those conversations could be had. I think at first, maybe we had elected leaders who weren’t as comfortable answering those questions, or at least not in public. I think they’ve gotten much better at it, and I think they’ve realized people want to know. They want to hear what elected officials are deciding. I think sometimes when you’re an elected leader, you have to be careful not to only hear the 30 people who are in your ear all the time. The truth is there’s a broad public who has needs and that’s a diverse group of people. Most of the people who are moving the community forward are not the loud ones. We’re very proud of the work we’ve done to move the ball forward on a handful of issues that we felt like really mattered.”
One of the hallmark events during Sattefield’s tenure with the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce was Foodie Week, which was held Apr. 29 – May 3, 2024.
Foodie Week was a celebration of agriculture and locally owned restaurants in Wayne County, with different restaurants, highlighted each day throughout the week.
Foodie Week originated as an idea of the Wayne County Small Business Committee and then grew through the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, as a concept to capture the process food goes through from the local farm, through the production plant, and ultimately to the local restaurant.
The week culminated with Foodie Friday, an open-air dinner with a locally sourced meal and a live auction that raised profits of $4,885.94, which were donated to the Wayne County Livestock Development Association for ag scholarships awarded to local students attending Wayne Community College and the University of Mount Olive.
Foodie Friday also included a viewing of the Foodie Friday documentary filmed by the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce and the County of Wayne.
“Any way we can make the public aware of what our farmers do is critical,” Satterfield said. “We will never waste a moment by making a big deal out of what they do. I think farmers are misunderstood in a lot of ways. I think people think they’re not as smart as they actually are. I think people think they’re backward or behind the times, but the truth of the matter is food is never not going to be important. The fact that we can deliver that, from the time a seed goes in the ground to the time it ends up on somebody’s plate, that happens in Wayne County because of farmers. That can’t go away. It is partly about protecting a heritage, a culture, and a livelihood, but it is also about protecting the country. There’s not many counties that still grow their own food, and we can’t lose it.”
One of the most rewarding aspects of Satterfield’s role as President of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce has been watching each of his staff members thrive in their respective roles.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Satterfield said of his staff. “It’s a great staff, it’s not a good staff, it’s a great staff. We’re not perfect, nobody is. We have some people who really take ownership of the roles they play, and you just see their leadership start to fly. They’re trusted with quite a bit of responsibility, and that bodes well for the organization, but with or without me, or with or without someone in this role, the organization will continue, and I think they’ll do just fine. They have brought creativity, and they work really hard and do a lot of work that people don’t see. I’m definitely going to miss them.”
In 2024, the rigors and demands that accompany the role of President of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce began to catch up with Satterfield.
He admits that his schedule which at times was taxing, along with physical and mental health challenges, all impacted months of soul-searching and contemplating his future.
“2024 was a difficult year personally, and for my mental health and physical health,” Satterfield said. “I just started to look at things differently. As I started to go through that process I started to think that something has to be different here. My schedule has to be different, I have to find some time or find some space that’s less public, and less intense because I didn’t anticipate the intensity of this role. If someone had told me the Chamber of Commerce was this intense, I just wouldn’t have thought that. My heart was moving into a place where I needed to see my kid’s faces a little more, and I just had to move at a different rhythm and that was a difficult place to get to, because I love very much what I do, and I still do. That will be hard to sort of let go of, but I was given a great opportunity by some great friends of mine. The considerations of that started some time ago, but it took a long time to come to a conclusion.”
As Satterfield approaches his final days as Chamber President, it’s the utilization of the Chamber’s platform and it’s ability to impact the community that he says he’s most proud of.
“The Chamber is a rare platform in its scope, and it’s reach, and it’s voice that it carries,” Satterfield said. “I think what I’ll be most proud of is that I can rest knowing that we leveraged it for good, and we put in as much energy and passion as we could manage and afford financially. I’m proud of our work on things like childcare and agriculture. I think we tried to make the place a little more representative of the community in terms of class or race. I want other people to experience the power of opportunity, and if they’re willing to work hard and do the right things that they can grow, and we want Wayne County to be a place that does that.”
