Woody Woodside, the President of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce has decided to call it a day. Woodside has set a date of around April 1st to retire from the position he will have held for 34 years. The Chamber has already engaged a firm to conduct a nationwide search for his replacement.
Press release:
Woodside Announces Retirement as President of Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce(For Immediate Release –July18, 2018)
Milton H. “Woody” Woodside, president of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce and advocate for businesses, has stated his plans to retire on April1, 2019. The announcement was made today during an annual planning session for the organization’s board of directors.
“The time has come for me to spend more time with my family and friends,” Woodside told the board. “I plan to continue to be involved in the community by serving in a different capacity and at a different pace. The chamber is in great financial shape and the leadership of the organization is prepared to move to a new level with the strong foundation that I am proud to say I have been a part of establishing over the years.”
Woodside has held the top chamber executive seat in Brunswick and Glynn County since 1985. According to the Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, he is one of the most tenured, continuous serving chamber leaders to serve only one community in the state.
Prior to joining the chamber, Woodsideserved 13 years on congressional staff with former Congressmen “Bo” Ginn and Lindsay Thomas.A native of Clinton, North Carolina, heattended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, and graduated from The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina, in 1970.
Woodside is a graduate of the Institute for Organizational Management of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Southeast Georgia Chambers and Developers Council, and twice served on the board of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Executives Association. He also served as chairman of the Council for Economic Development OrganizationsRegion 11 with theGovernor’s Development Council.
Currently Woodside serves on the Glynn-Brunswick Memorial Hospital Authority, Glynn County Transportation Policy Committee, Jekyll Island Foundation Advisory Board, Rotary Club of Brunswick,and the Military Officer’s Association of America (MOAA),Golden Isles Chapter. He has been recognized throughout his career with many awards and accolades, including the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce –Alfred W. Jones Award, Glynn County Bar Association –Liberty Bell Award, National Guard Association of U.S. –Patrick Henry Awardby the National Guard Association of the U.S., Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives –Kent Lawrence Professionalof the Year Award, Keep Brunswick-Golden Isles Beautiful –Bootsie Mason Award, OkefenokeeCouncil Boy Scouts of America, Golden Eagle Award, Emory Dawson Humanitarian Award Recipient,and the Leadership Georgia –Frederick B. Kerr Award 1999. Georgia Trend magazine named him a “Notable Georgian” nine consecutive years and the Brunswick Jaycees awarded Woodside Glynn County’s Young Man of the Year in 1978