The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce has exceeded its goal of raising $2.1 million for its HALLmark campaign, which supports job creation among other economic initiatives.

The group announced the news at an investors breakfast this morning. Investments for the five-year capital campaign have totaled more than $2.2 million, with additional funding still trickling in.

"This is a five-year commitment and I think it says that we have faith in this community; we're on the right path," Chamber President Kit Dunlap said to the attendees, who represented some 140 contributing businesses. "We do operate this like a business. We have goals. We have measurable goals."

The campaign kicked off in June and funding supports the chamber's goals of creating 1,700 new jobs, attracting locally owned small businesses and bolstering health care and community wellness programs, among other initiatives. Chamber members praised the campaign's success in face of economic uncertainty.

John Addison Jr., co-CEO of financial marketing company Primerica, offered the morning's keynote address, encouraging the group to face the recession head on and take leadership "up a notch" in the face of hardship. He told the audience that when people's livelihoods depend on their success, "your best" is not always good enough.

"Challenging times require great leadership," he said. "It's easy to run something or be in charge when everything is going great, the economy is ticking, everything's doing awesome, the world is great, you're just making money. That is an easy time to be a leader. The time when leadership is most needed is in extraordinary times."