Alan Smith found so much success through his membership with the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce that he had zero qualms about being at the helm of the board as 2012 chairman — it’s his way of repaying a favor.

Smith, along with his daughter Jennifer Rogers, owns Extreme Images, a local sign shop.

They started out in the basement of his home and now have nine employees and their own storefront on Fairburn Road.

Smith largely attributes much of that growth to the chamber of commerce.

“I wouldn’t be where I am right now,” he said.

It’s no wonder that one of Smith’s main goals during his tenure is to continue supporting the networking programs and the members of the chamber.

Networking builds business — just look at Smith’s sign shop.

And effective chamber programs bolster membership, in turn.

Smith said he was initially hesitant in joining the chamber of commerce and wasn’t sure of its effectiveness. It wasn’t until a friend invited him to attend two networking meetings that Smith was sold.

Eight years later, Smith has served as a board member for three years and is serving his third year on the executive row — first as treasure, then as chair-elect and now as chair.

He said another goal is to help facilitate community collaboration between the city and the county governments.

The city and the county both have development authorities, and both government entities are now working to develop a plan to fold them into one another, Smith said.

The role of board chairman is largely to oversee the operations of the chamber as a whole, and also the various board committees, which Smith said is going to be a breeze for two reasons.

The first is the people who work for and serve the chamber.

“Kali [Boatright] and her staff are awesome,” he said of the chamber president. “I’ve got a really fantastic board in place.”

And he said despite the economy, the chamber’s finances are in good shape.

“We’re as financially sound as I’ve ever known,” Smith said.

Boatright said she’s pleased to have a person with Smith’s background as the chairman for 2012.

“The chamber is excited to have an entrepreneur and small-business owner as its 2012 chairman of the board,” she said. “Alan Smith is an excellent representative of a large portion of our membership and brings that voice to the forefront of discussions at the top level.”