Bailey Spends Decade With Farmington Chamber

Organization Now Has About 80 Members

FARMINGTON — Joe Bailey of Fayetteville predicted he would be involved in the Farmington Chamber of Commerce from the beginning.

He just didn’t predict his involvement would last more than 10 years.

His wife, Janelle, who owned a business in Farmington at the time, received a notice about a community meeting at the Farmington Senior Center. Bailey said he recalls telling her, “I know what’s going to happen. I’m going to end up in the middle of this.”

The meeting was held in July 2011, and Ernie Penn, who was mayor then also, told the assembled group that Farmington should form its own Chamber of Commerce and needed someone to spearhead it.

“No one volunteered,” Bailey said, and then Penn pointed to Bailey.

“I’m one of those guys who has a hard time saying no,” Bailey said.

He said he told Penn, “I’ll do what I can.” Bailey said that offer to help lasted 11 years.

Bailey stepped down as president of the Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce last summer but still remains an ex- officio member of the board of directors. Jodi Hendricks with the Farmington School District is the new chamber president.

Bailey was retired from Tyson Foods and had traveled across the country with his job. He thought he would play golf and “mess around” in retirement but said he put his efforts into organizing the Farmington chamber.

“I enjoyed meeting the people when I first started and I like to see things happening and grow,” he said.

The chamber formed in July 2001, and began accepting members the following month. Bailey said the initial goal was to have 50 members by the end of the year. After three months, the chamber had 70 members and within six months, Bailey had helped to recruit more than 100 chamber members.

Bailey said he first approached the banks in Farmington and Fayetteville about joining and he believes that helped to encourage other businesses to join. Each year, he would follow up with the businesses to encourage them to renew their memberships to keep the chamber going.

He stayed as president so long, he said, because no one showed an interest in taking over as a volunteer president and also because he felt he owed it to the businesses he had recruited as members.

“I didn’t want to talk people into joining and then walk away,” he said.

Bailey kept a scrapbook of chamber activities over the years and these newspaper articles, photos and letters show an active organization.

Many people in the community have served on the chamber board since 2001. Some of these include Alan Clark, Rick Hutchins, Donald Kerr, Dr. Betty Marie, Charlie Cate, Ron Wright, Bryan Law, Terry Drake, Kenda Rogers, Darrin and Tracy Taylor, Terry Drake, Jarrod Mattingly, Beverlee Dugger, Will Deaton, Lucky Chambers and Gary Smith.

The chamber has recognized a number of citizens for their service to the community. Recipients include former city Alderman Roy Hummel, former Farmington school Superintendent Michael Gray, Edna Davis, Washington County Judge Marilyn Edwards, who was a state representative at

the time, and state Sen. Sue Madison.

The chamber’s first office was in Legend Realty. It later moved to its own office at 65 W. Main St., and now is using space at Farmington City Hall.

The chamber has sponsored numerous ribbon cutting ceremonies the past 11 years. It sponsors an annual golf tournament, awards college scholarships to Farmington graduates and donates funds to teachers, school organizations and community events.

The chamber started the Cardinal Car Classic, helped with the cost for canine training for the police department’s first police dog and printed the first city map. As chamber president, Bailey was instrumental in bringing Farmington its first doctor’s office and suggested moving the flag from the old post office to the Farmington Cemetery in memory of veterans buried in that location.

Bailey, himself, has received accolades for his commitment to the community. He was one of the first recipients to receive a “key to the city” from Penn. He received a “Dedicated Service Award” from the chamber in 2006, and was named Citizen of the Year by the Farmington chamber in 2011.

A chamber is important because it is an organization independent of city government, Bailey said.

At the same time, he said more is accomplished as the city, chamber, school and other groups work together. The city map is an example of that, he said. The chamber printed the maps and the city bought them to provide to visitors and residents. On other occasions, the chamber partnered with the school to sponsor different activities and events.

“Overall, I got to know people through the chamber that I never would have known,” Bailey said. “All the time, we tried to do things to help in the community.”

The chamber now has about 80 members. In addition to Hendricks, other officers are vice president Tommy Cornwell, treasurer Tracy Nelson and secretary Brittany Holloway.

Bailey