Judy Atkins, Business Officer of the Marietta Community Foundation, Inc., recently graduated from Telesis, the leadership program of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce.

Participants in Telesis program meet weekly to learn about the issues facing the community and innovative ideas to address these concerns.  As a member of the Telesis Class of 2004, Atkins joins a network of over 300 graduates committed to building a stronger Marietta and Washington County.   

"Judy's commitment to our community is enormous," says Bret Bicoy, President & CEO of the Marietta Community Foundation.  "Her participation in Telesis now includes her in a network of people collectively working to build a stronger Washington County."

As a part of the Telesis Class of 2004, Judy was a part of a team that has undertaken efforts to build the Telesis Alumni Network.

Dave Fleming, another member of the Class of 2004 explains their work saying, "Our community project was to expand upon what was existing in Telesis, the alumni. We're trying to regroup and utilize our resources, and the Chambers resources, to develop a more comprehensive alumni network to utilize the business professionals that have gone through the training (so) that we can benefit from their experiences and their business experiences in Marietta to make Telesis a much stronger organization. We just wanted to get back in touch with our graduates and utilize what they have to offer now, what they've done in the past, and what they can help us with in the future."

Keith Russell, another 2004 graduate says the Network won?t release a "phone book" style listing of past graduates. Instead he says,  "It will be a database on a computer at the Chamber (of Commerce Office.) If they need resources for people who led certain projects or certain community initiatives they can look it up, find the resources, find out who was interested in helping, and get things moving."

Telesis was formed in 1988 when the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce received a grant from the Gannett Foundation. Since that first year the program has been underwritten by various corporate sponsors within the community.

For more information about the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce visit their web site at www.mariettachamber.com. To apply for a future Telesis classs, email Charmel Wesel at wesel@mariettachamber.com.