SOUTH CAROLINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
ANNOUNCES 2009-10 BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
January 5, 2010
Contact: Julie Scott 803-799-4601
julie.scott@scchamber.net
(Columbia, S.C.) – The South Carolina Chamber of
Commerce is pleased to announce the newly elected Board of Directors and
Executive Committee for 2009-10. For a complete listing with photos,
click here.
The South Carolina Chamber Board recently voted to approve the
following business leaders to its Executive Committee:
Dr. Joseph Salley (Chairman) – Salley is president
and chief executive officer of Milliken and Company, one of the largest textile
and chemical manufacturers in the world. Headquartered in Spartanburg, the
company employs approximately 10,000 associates working in more than 50
facilities, with operations extending to seven countries worldwide. Dr. Salley
has served on the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance Board of Directors, the
University of South Carolina Research Foundation Board of Directors and the
University of South Carolina Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board.
Dick Wilkerson (Chair-Elect) – Wilkerson is chairman and
president of Michelin North America, headquartered in Greenville. Michelin
designs, manufactures and sells tires for nearly every type of vehicle,
including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment,
heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle. A 29-year veteran of
Michelin, Wilkerson has a wide range of experience with the company, from
leading Michelin’s worldwide original equipment earthmover tire business to his
past position of executive vice president for personnel.
Dennis Wade (Treasurer) – Wade has served as
president and CEO of The Jackson Companies since 2001. The Jackson Companies,
located in the south strand of Myrtle Beach, is a diversified recreational, real
estate and service company whose operations include Ocean Lakes Family
Campground and Prestwick Golf and Country Club.
William Boyd (Past Chairman) – Boyd serves as a
shareholder in the law firm of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd P.A., where his practice
focuses on managing complex transactions and business counseling. He has managed
numerous mergers and acquisitions and large-scale development and industrial
projects and is listed in Chambers USA, a UK publication, as one of South
Carolina’s leading lawyers in mergers and acquisitions.
John Creech, Esq. (General Counsel) – Creech, a
shareholder in the Greenville office of Ogletree Deakins, has extensive
experience in employment and labor law, having represented a diverse number of
companies since 1973. His experience includes union elections and
decertifications, mergers and acquisitions of union and non-union companies,
contract negotiations, strikes and litigation of a wide variety of cases before
various agencies and courts across the United States.
George Acker – Acker is the southern region director of
Government and Community Relations for Duke Energy. Since 1981, he has held
various positions with the company in Greenville, Anderson, Columbia,
Spartanburg and Charlotte. Acker is vice chairman of the Upstate Alliance and
past chairman of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities and the
Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Reed Bolton Byrum, APR – Byrum is chair of Greenville’s
Byrum Innovation Group, which positions innovative companies for value in the
business and investment marketplaces. With 20 years of experience, Byrum has
served as a corporate executive for companies ranging from small tech firms to
Fortune 100 companies like EDS and GE Capital. He is a former president and CEO
of the national Public Relations Society of America.
Willis “Trip” Gregory III – Gregory is senior vice
president for human resources for Palmetto Health. His background includes
extensive experience as a human resources generalist responsible for recruiting,
retention, compensation and benefits administration, occupational health,
employee relations, labor relations, training, education, development, policy
development and a variety of other human resource-related issues. He is chairman
of the South Carolina Chamber’s Human Resources Committee.
Josef Kerscher – Kerscher is president of BMW
Manufacturing Co. LLC in Spartanburg, appointed to the position in April 2007.
From 2004 to 2006, he was plant manager of Plant Munich. He joined BMW AG in
1979. Kerscher was in the German Air Force in the Reserve, from 1972-1974. From
1975-1979, he studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University Munich,
with emphasis on environmental engineering.
Pamela Lackey – Lackey is president of AT&T in South
Carolina. She previously oversaw the company’s public policy strategies in
regulatory, legislative and community affairs activities in the state. Lackey
has been involved in leadership roles in many community and civic organizations,
including the Junior League of Greenville and Columbia, the SCETV Midlands
Citizens Advisory Committee and the Palmetto Center for Women’s Business
Advisory Committee.
David Pethick – Pethick is president of the Energy &
Environment Group of URS Corporation’s Washington Division. With 37 years of
management experience in the nuclear industry, he is responsible for work with
the U.S. Department of Energy and the United Kingdom Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue
University and a Juris Doctor from American University in Washington, D.C.
Jonathan Pinson – Pinson is president of the
Greenville-based Professional Staffing Solutions. He is also part-owner of
Travinia’s Italian Kitchen and the Hilton Convention Center Hotel. A 1993
graduate of South Carolina State University, Pinson is the current chairman of
the university’s board of directors.
Jim Reynolds – Reynolds is owner and president of Total
Comfort and Comfort Services, a leading provider of HVAC services in South
Carolina. Reynolds also serves the state with extensive community service in
education and workforce development, including New Carolina’s Education Task
Force, the Education and Economic Development Act Coordinating Council, Midlands
Technical College Foundation Board, Midlands Education and Business Alliance and
the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He is also chairman of the South
Carolina Chamber’s Excellence in Education Council.
Roger Schrum – Schrum has more than 25 years of business
communications management experience for five Fortune 1000 energy and
manufacturing companies. He currently is vice president of investor relations
and corporate affairs for Sonoco Products Company, where he serves as global
spokesperson and is responsible for the $3.7 billion packaging company’s
investor relations, marketing communications, public relations and public
affairs activities. He is chairman of the South Carolina Chamber’s Public
Relations Advisory Committee.
The South Carolina Chamber Board voted to approve the following
business leaders to its Board of Directors:
James Bennett – Executive Vice President, First
Citizens Bank, Columbia
Melody Birmingham-Byrd – Vice President, Southern
Region, Progress Energy, Florence
Stacy Brandon – Senior Vice President, Bank of
America, Greenville
Michael Brenan – President, BB&T, Columbia
James Brogdon Jr. – Senior Vice President and General
Counsel, Santee Cooper, Moncks Corner
Chris Browning – President, Darlington Raceway,
Darlington
Mia Butler – President, McLeod Butler
Communications LLC, Columbia
Nancy Cheek – Owner/Manager, Language Espresso LLC,
Columbia
Allen Creighton – General Counsel and Director of
Public Relations, FUJIFILM Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc., Greenwood
Charles Dalton – President and CEO, Blue Ridge
Electric Cooperative, Pickens
John C.L. Darby – President and CEO, The Beach
Company, Charleston
Richard Dillard – Director of Public Affairs,
Milliken & Company, Spartanburg
Mark Dunlay – Plant Manager, ALCOA Inc., Goose
Creek
Deepal Eliatamby – President, Alliance Consulting
Engineers Inc., Columbia
Barry Falin – Vice President, Thompson
Construction Group Inc., Sumter
Sara Fisher – Senior Executive Vice President/COO,
The National Bank of South Carolina, Columbia
William Floyd, Esq. – Partner, Nexsen Pruet LLC,
Columbia
Caleb Fort – Co-chairman, The Merit Group Inc.,
Spartanburgrederick Gibbs – President and CEO, Banc Capital and Financial
Services Inc., Spartanburg
Charles Hamrick, II – Secretary and Treasurer,
Hamrick Mills Inc., Gaffney
Avery Hilton – Executive Vice President – Mills,
CMC Steel South Carolina, West Columbia
Roger Jones Sr. – President/CEO, Companion
Associates Inc., Charleston
Mark Kent – President, KENTWOOL, Greenville
Ray Lattimore – President-CEO, Marketplace
Staffing Services Inc., Greenville
Cathy Novinger – Executive Director, Novinger QTR
Consulting Inc., West Columbia
David Pankau – President and COO, BlueCross
BlueShield of South Carolina, Columbia
Arthur Perry, II – President/CEO, 2AM Group,
Spartanburg
W. Pete Primm – Senior Vice President, CH2M HILL
Lockwood Greene Engineering & Construction, Spartanburg
Mark Propst – General Manager, The Timken Company, Gaffney
Dennis Ramsey – Site Manager – Eastman, Columbia
Operations, Eastman Chemical Company, Gaston
Michael Riordan – President and CEO, Greenville
Hospital System, Greenville
Jack Shuler – Chief Executive Officer, ArborOne
Financial, Florence
Nancy Spencer – Regional Vice President, Delta
Dental, Columbia
Charles Speth, II, Esq. – Shareholder, Ogletree,
Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, Columbia
Jean-Louis Vanderstraeten – President and CEO, FN
Manufacturing LLC, Columbia
Allen Ward – President and Principal-in-Charge,
Ward Edwards Inc., Bluffton
Doug Wendel – Consultant, Burroughs and Chapin
Company, Inc., Myrtle Beach
Craig White – Vice President, Self Regional
Healthcare, Greenwood.
Gene Wise – General Manager, Target Distribution
Center, Target Corporation, Lugoff
George Wolfe – Attorney, Nelson Mullins Riley &
Scarborough LLP, Columbia
Rob Youngblood – President, York County Regional
Chamber of Commerce, Rock Hill
M. William Youngblood, Esq. – Managing Partner,
McNair Law Firm PA, Charleston
The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s first state chamber
Accredited with Distinction by the U.S. Chamber, is the state’s largest
statewide broad-based business and industry trade association representing more
than 6,500 member companies and more than 600,000 member employees, with 90
percent of membership comprised of small businesses. As the unified voice for
business and industry, the Chamber is a catalyst for increasing per capita
income and enhancing the state’s global competitiveness in order to improve the
quality of life for all South Carolinians.