Chamber of Commerce Has New Incoming President

Alan Noel, a 19-year South Orange resident who owns the accounting firm , is the new president of the Chamber of Commerce, and he's focused on restoring membership—which was once as high as 100 businesses and is now somewhere between 24 and 50—to previous levels.

"My objective is to revitalize [the Chamber's] importance in the town," said Noel, 48, who's been a member of the organization for 10 years and says his focus will be on increasing foot traffic to South Orange's downtown for retail businesses, though he works in professional services. "It should be a recognized and effective advocate for the businesses that are represented in South Orange."

Noel will serve out the remains of outgoing president Leslie Pogany's term, and there will be a formal election in March. His executive committee will be comprised of Cheryl Walker Robinson and Samuel Tolley as vice presidents and Anthony DeFranco as treasurer, and they're in the process of developing a strategic plan. He's also seeking local business owners to serve as trustees.

Noel hopes to ultimately organize more events, but also to educate business owners about relevant issues, like the potential impacts of national health care reform, by bringing in state and county legislators, and municipal officials to address the group. Though downtown is the focal point, he'd also like to work on driving traffic to home-based businesses.