The following column is from Paul Morse with GE Lighting Systems:
The Henderson County Chamber of Commerce is a 1000+ membership based business organization representing businesses, not just in Henderson County, but all around the Western North Carolina region. I am Paul Morse, GE Lighting Solutions Site Leader, and I represent one of those businesses.
The Henderson County Chamber of Commerce has been a great partner to our local GE Lighting business since the early 1950s. A call was placed to the Chamber, from GE headquarters, requesting local assistance in finding suitable industrial land for a potential new GE plant. The only instructions were to meet with a visiting company representative and to drive him around the county in a search for potential land that could be contained by fencing. The Chamber moved into action and in 1955 our new GE plant opened on Spartanburg Highway. In 1956, the new plant was on the cover of the GE Annual Report, and the facility hosted the GE Annual Shareholders meeting.
This was the beginning of a great GE-Chamber relationship. Over the decades, the Chamber has been a public, positive voice in supporting both our expansions and difficult restructuring actions necessary to maintain our operation’s competitiveness. Today, we are growing and investing in LED lighting technologies and launching exciting new innovative products. As a growing leading technology business, we are proud to say we have been able to recall all of the employees impacted by a former restructuring.
We support the Chamber because it has always been a local advocate and supporter for our business through good times and bad. They are willing to assist our business with navigating water, sewer, power, and other infrastructure issues with the local and state officials.
Thank you to the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce for supporting our local GE Lighting Solutions business and all the other businesses in Henderson County!
The Henderson County Chamber of Commerce strives to be a community resource, an information source and link for our area. For more information on what the Chamber can do for you and your business stop by the office or call 828-692-1413.

Tags: advocate, business, economy, GE Lighting Systems, Henderson County Chamber of Commerce, local, membership, Paul Morse, relationship, supporter, Western North Carolina