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Senator Kelly Loeffler spoke on the importance of leadership and how Georgia is handling the COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday morning for the LaGrange-Troup Chamber of Commerce’s virtual Early Bird Breakfast.

“At a time like this, the leadership that you are providing is incredible,” Loeffler said. “I was out there, at what seems like a very different time, [when] I was appointed by the governor on Dec. 4. I started immediately, even before being sworn in on Jan. 6, getting around the state.”

Loeffler said when she made one of her first stops at the Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia plant in West Point, it showed her what Georgia is about.

“That was only Jan. 3, and we are, as you imagine, in a challenging time,” Loeffler said. “I really commend Kia for their flexibility, and it just shows you the best of our communities, of our business, of our major employers and how they are helping be a part of this.”

Growing up on a farm, Loeffler said she was taught her integrity, work ethic, family and faith.

“These are all the things that I have taken through my life, and through my business career,” Loeffler said. “Whether it was working in my family’s fields, working in the cattle lot or waitressing. After graduating, I literally moved across the country trying to build my career over the last nearly three decades and ended up fortunately getting a job offer at a startup company in Georgia.”

When Loeffler moved to Georgia in the early 2000s, Loeffler joined a small investor relations startup called Intercontinental Exchange.

Loeffler first considered a run for political office in 2014 but passed on the race because of Intercontinental Exchange’s pending acquisition with the New York Stock Exchange.

She also noted that she also was excited to see businessman David Perdue run for the seat. 

“It was also a lifelong dream to work around markets,” Loeffler said. “I grew up around markets because of growing up on the farm. As you may know, farmers everyday do prices for corn, cattle and cotton. You know that really drives the rhythm of farming. It has really fulfilled a lifelong dream to contribute to free markets, to price formation, to risk management.”

Last year, Loeffler decided to seek out the senate seat again.

“I did so out of the renewed desire to give back because I had lived out the American dream and I want to protect that for others,” Loeffler said. “I see every day hard working Georgians contributing to the economy, and I want to protect their opportunities. I was really humbled to be appointed, and I am working very hard for Georgia.”

Loeffler said that now as Georgia slowly begins to open its doors, the community has to continue to move forward.

“We have turned to some semblance of normalcy in a safe manner,” Loeffler said. “I decided to focus using my three decades of business experience to create what I call the USA rise plan, which is a restoring and igniting the strength of our economy based around four tenants. Those four tenants are not meant to be prescriptive in the form of a bill, but these are using legislation that we already have in place.”

Going forward, Loeffler’s goal is to support the economic recovery in Georgia.