LAKELAND — Katie Mosier’s face lights up when she starts talking about downtown.

“There are a lot of changes coming. This is an exciting time,” Mosier says, standing on the sidewalk in front of her new employer — the Lakeland-Lanier County Chamber of Commerce.

Mosier left her job at Louis Smith Hospital to take on a challenge from new Chamber President Bill Wilson to help rally business owners and residents behind the common goal of revitalizing downtown Lakeland.

Mosier is the Chamber’s administrative assistant, but speaks with the temperature and pace of a public relations zealot bent on lobbying a cause through Congress.

She’s fired up about Wilson’s challenge to restore lost Chamber membership.

“Three years ago, we had approximately 164 members in the Chamber,” Mosier said. “We want to get it back to that. We have 72 Chamber members today, but we have 185 licensed businesses in Lanier County. We have our work cut out for us. But we’ll do it. In just the first week of April, we’ve added two new members.”

Growing Chamber membership is a key part of uniting the community behind the common goals of growing local commerce and reviving downtown, Wilson noted.

“But we have to convince people how membership in the Chamber benefits you,” he said. “We are working hard to improve those benefits.”

The Chamber has started a quarterly breakfast for members, offers the “Fast Forward” Chamber newsletter, is cranking up Business After Hours events and more.

Mosier and Wilson were joined Thursday by fellow Chamber officials Jason Shaw, who chairs the Chamber’s Tourism Committee, and Wendy Moore, secretary-treasurer of the Chamber and director of Leadership Lanier, for a walking tour of downtown.

Also joining them were Lakeland Mayor Bill Darsey, city Police Chief Robbie Grantham, and longtime resident and local author-historian Nell Patten Roquemore.

The enthusiasm and love for this downtown and hometown shone from these individuals like rays from the sun.

Although economic times are tough and downtown business has been on the wane of recent, these key leaders only offered hope, faith and confidence that a better day will come if they can convince others to work hard for common goals.

As Mosier stated early on, changes, indeed, are coming downtown.

The mayor pointed to a set of blueprints for a major $400,000 downtown streetscape project that’s been approved by the Georgia Department of Transportation, but is among projects frozen for funding until the DOT’s new director gets a handle on statewide project priorities.