Chamber selects six new board members
Published 10:11 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Six new members will join the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in March.
The six selected by the nominating committee are Cheryl Bailey of Cullman Regional Medical Center, Elaine Cole of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Steve Cummings of Cummings Sporting Goods, Jan Harris of Cullman City Schools and Albert von Pelser of Rehau. Their three-year terms begin March 1.
Chamber President Kirk Mancer said the committee drew from several areas of the community in making its nominations.
“It’s a diverse group,” Mancer said. “They’ve got small business as well as industry represented. I think each brings certain experience from a different field.”
Chair-elect Ed Darling, publisher of The Cullman Times, will succeed Cheryl Conover as board chair next year. Next year’s chair-elect has yet to be named.
Also undetermined are the board’s five vice chairs who head five committees: business development and services, community development, finance and administration, membership and marketing, and tourism and recreation.
Paul Bussman, immediate past chair and nominating committee head, said at Tuesday’s board meeting that the committee had decided upon a slate of officers, but was still in the process of contacting those people.
Mancer said if those selected to be officers accept, the full board will vote on the slate at its January meeting. They would take office in March.
During the brief meeting, Mancer said 95 businesses, or about 8 percent, had returned the Chamber’s Cullman Area Business Climate Survey forms, which he termed a “pretty good” response rate.
The survey targets small businesses for their opinions and expectations of the county’s economic future. The deadline is Jan. 20, after which the Chamber will report the results to the public.
Upcoming Chamber events include:
• Jan. 17: Board of directors meeting.
• Jan. 24: Industry appreciation reception at Terri Pines, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Jan. 27: Monthly luncheon at All Steak Restaurant, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Featured speakers will be the mayors of Cullman County’s small towns.