Last Tuesday's Speaker: Hap Graff and Alex Colley:
Hap Graff: Interim President & Chief Executive Officer .png)
Some 24 years ago as the Chamber Chairman, I hired Rick Hemmingsen as President of the Independence Chamber of Commerce. Rick served the Chamber well and taught me a bit about negotiating with the Board and what it took to be an effective President. Rick wanted to build a new Chamber Building and lead the charge to build the Enterprise Center. Today, some 20 years later it is still one of the nicest office buildings in Independence.
Following a year search where Teresa Freeland served as interim President, the Chamber hired Kim Kimbrough in 2012. Kim brought new ideas with him and one of the most interesting is the partnership with the Independence School District and Ford Next Generation Learning to launch "career academies". The aim of the program is to better prepare high school students to move into the work force and others to be better prepared to succeed in college. Then, according to the Independence Examiner, Kim left suddenly. The next day Brad Speaks emailed me and asked me to lunch with Tom Weir. When I arrived, I was surprised to find Cindy McClain at the lunch too. I knew this lunch was going to be a little bigger than to ask me to join the Chamber or to replace Jeff Benson, the recently departed VP of Membership.
Thus, 7 days ago, I was sitting with you in Rotary all relaxed and retired. A few days later after a random lunch with good people, I am the interim President of your Independence Chamber of Commerce. Exciting times.
Alex Colley: Vice President of Small Business Development .png)
In mid-February, 2013, the newly established position of Vice-President for Small Business Development at the Chamber was filled by Alexandra (Alex) Colley. She is a native of Pensacola FL. and a graduate of the University of Tampa with a degree in Marketing and the University of West Florida with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). Alex worked for a state-charted downtown redevelopment authority in Pensacola, FL from 2009-2013. During that time, she rose to the position of Assistant Executive Director. Her position at the Chamber is primarily responsible for developing additional capacities within small business members to positively impact their operational environment and knowledge necessary to remain prosperous.