The following is an excerpt from David Darnell's speech given at the Charlotte Chamber's Annual Meeting on November 16. Darnell is the 2010 Charlotte Chamber Chair and president of Global Commercial Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Tim, it has been a great privilege to work with you. Great organization have the right leader at the right time and, Tim, you were the right leader for this time. On behalf of all the members, and the city of Charlotte and our region, I want to thank you for your passion, your dedication and your leadership during these last 12 months. You held a tight grip on the wheel, and navigated the ship through some hurricane force winds.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would first and foremost like to point out that we have all survived that cross-fire hurricane Tim spoke of last year. We've been through the toughest of times in recent history, and have had to make hard decisions as a result. We may be battered and bruised, we may be smaller and leaner, we may look different, we may be...remixed...but we're still here. That is a huge accomplishment and one we should take a moment to celebrate.

I am very proud to be leading your Chamber in 2010. I grew up in Charlotte. I have lived other places, but that has only made me appreciate being a part of this community even more.

As we look to the new year, I see courage and leadership carrying us through. I see us beginning the process of getting our swagger back. As I have traveled around the country, I have seen many cities that are envious of Charlotte and what we have. I'm not being Pollyannaish, but we have a lot going for us...much more than we think. We have a great quality of life, a talented workforce and - most importantly - a spirit of success. Charlotte...we need to get our swagger back, and we DESERVE to get our swagger back!

Your Charlotte Chamber wants to help lead the community in that effort, and support you and your business in that effort. These are the times when we must look hard at our core mission and focus on what's important. Just as you have had to do in your business, your chamber is doing just that.

We all have learned some hard lessons over the past year or so. I would like to share four lessons that I will be taking into my year of leadership of the Chamber. While these are not necessarily new or earth-shaking, they are the core of what I think makes your Chamber a valuable partner in both your business success and the success of our community.

First lesson... we exist because of our members and - more importantly - FOR our members. You will see us even more committed to delivering member value to all our members - small, medium and large. We will continue to deliver on the Economic Development front, by attracting new companies, jobs and investment and by helping our existing business grow. We will continue to be a strong voice for business at the local, state and federal levels of government, and we will improve upon the competitive advantages we deliver to you as a member through our programs, communications, research and connections. We will continually ask ourselves "What does this do for our customer?" when developing new offerings or evaluating current ones.

Second lesson...we must look ahead with optimism. It is very easy during tough times to put your head down and focus on current challenges. But we must balance that with an eye on the long-term. Twenty years ago, our leaders were making decisions that helped us get where we are today. We have a responsibility to those who will sit at Annual Meeting 20 years from now to ensure that momentum continues. There are many organizations, towns, cities that the world has just passed by and they've become irrelevant. We must ensure this does not happen to us as a Chamber or as a community. This coming year, as we target new industries such as healthcare and the energy sector to further diversify our economy, as we continue to address transportation issues, as we diversify our leadership and provide support for all types of businesses to grow, we will be laying the groundwork for not only a strong 2010, but a strong 2030, as well.

Third lesson...you can't do it alone. We have big challenges to tackle on the Chamber's Program of Work...growing the economy, public policy issues, transportation, education. We can't tackle these issues if we are working in silos. It is our job to integrate, to find points of intersection to help the community grow. We will do that in 2010 by working closely with partners like the Center City Partners, the Charlotte Regional Partnership, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, the City and County. We will work with the new mayor, Anthony Foxx, and new members of the School Board and City Council. We will continue to work with our neighboring chambers and our ethnic and international partners. We're all in this together, and are much stronger as a result.

And the fourth lesson ... This Chamber and this community are extremely fortunate. They say that during tough times, you find out who your friends are. This organization has strong, committed friends. We have you, our members, who continue to support our work, understanding how the mission of growing the economy, serving as a voice for business and returning value to members is key to the success of our community, and you wanted to continue to be a part of that success. Our volunteers, hundreds of them, continued to give of their time and talent when the struggling economy most likely mounted new demands on them daily. And we have leaders, like our past chairs, our elected officials, our active citizens...and many, many others who are committed to seeing and delivering on a bright future for Charlotte. Relationships are important at all times, but times like these are when relationships get defined. I thank each and every one of you. Just by being here tonight and showing your strong support for the Chamber, you are playing a key role.

Thank you for joining us this evening, and for your ongoing commitment to your Chamber. We are all in this together. It's not going to be easy, but that's OK. We'll take the hard things. Easy things get commoditized, but hard things have margin. And when you have the support of members like you, when you have the best volunteers and the best staff...when you have commitment, loyalty and incredible assets, there is no doubt we can achieve the hard things and emerge victorious.

I see a remixed Charlotte growing and prospering!