Greater Charlotte Chamber of Commerce

“Michael smith has a business relationship with ann caulkins, frank emory, fred whitfield, harvey gantt, pat riley, patsy kinsey and tom skains. Catherine morrison has a business relationship with harvey gantt. Chase monroe has a business relationship with the charlotte chamber. Greg kilpatrick and scott vaughn have a business relationship with the charlotte chamber. Linda lockman-brooks and will brooks have a family relationship. Michael tarwater has a business relationship with thomas skains, pamela davies, ed brown and angie vincent-hamacher. Michael tarwater has a business relationship with the charlotte chamber and joe piemont, tony perez and james taylor. Tom skains has various business relationships. Michael jones is a section 16 officer of lowe's companies, inc. And lowe's companies, inc. Has business relationships with the employees of some of the charlotte chamber's board of directors companies.”

“The charlotte chamber is an organization with members who each have the right to elect the members of the governing body.”

“Each member of the chamber has the right to elect the members of the governing body of the chamber.”

“The 990 is prepared by the chamber's independent accountants and reviewed by the cfo and ceo of the chamber. Upon approval by the ceo and cfo, the 990 is next reviewed by the executive committee and then by the board of directors. The 990 is filed after the board completes its review.”

“Each director, principal officer and member of a committee with governing board delegated powers shall annually sign a statement which affirms such person: has received a copy of the conflicts of interest policy, has read and understands the policy, has agreed to comply with the policy, and understands the organization is non-profit and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption, it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes. With respect to enforcement, each member has a duty to disclose the existence of a possible conflict of interest. Once a disclosure of the facts has been made, the person with the potential conflict must recuse themselves from the meeting. At this point the remaining members shall vote on whether or not an actual conflict exists. If it is decided that a conflict does exist, appropriate actions will be taken.”

“In january of each year, the chamber chair, the executive committee and the board of directors review the chamber's program of work for the coming year. The ceo's performance is based upon achievement of these key objectives which have been assigned relative value. The status of these key objectives are presented to the executive committee monthly. At the end of the year, the current chairperson and ceo assess achievement of these objectives on the ceo's performance review form. The ceo compensation committee consists of: current chair, immediate past chair, chair-elect, general counsel and treasurer. The committee is supported by the chamber's cfo. At the end of the calendar year, this committee reviews the following for the ceo performance evaluation: ceo performance review based on objectives discussed above, 2013 independent contractor reviewed program and market assessments, a compensation history spreadsheet, a benefits and total compensation explanation, ceo compensation comparables from other local non-profits, ceo compensation comparables from other chambers of commerce and minutes from the most recent ceo compensation committee meetings. Upon determining total ceo compensation (including salary, bonus and benefit adjustments), the ceo compensation committee submits its proposal to the executive committee for approval. Compensation for officers and key employees is determined annually based on market indicators. These key positions are reviewed annually in january and this is when objectives and goals are determined for the next year. These annual objectives and goals are formally reviewed after six months. Unless there is a significant change in job responsibilities or compensation reflected by market indicators, compensation for these key positions are subject to the same budgetary guidelines as the rest of the staff. Bonuses and incentive compensation for non-ceo employees is based on achievement of both organizational and individual objectives and the discretion of the ceo. The total annual bonus pool is approved by the compensation committee. In addition, towers watson did a market assessment and program review for these positions and commented on the current governance framework. The chamber also implemented an executive compensation policy.”

“The chamber's financial statements are available to the general public. The chamber's bylaws, public policy, strategic plan and the board of director's list are available on the organization's website.”

“The charlotte chamber's financial statements are audited annually on a consolidated basis. Chamber services, inc., a for-profit organization, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the charlotte chamber. The financial statements are also reviewed monthly by the governing body on a consolidated basis. The chamber has a budget committee that meets semi-annually to prepare budgets. Audit services are put out to bid every 3-5 years. The budget committee reviews fees and services from the prospective audit companies and approves of a firm.”