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Whittle named chamber president
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| By: Mark J. Crawford, Editor |
November 06, 2009 |
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Born and raised in Bradford County, Pam Whittle is about as country as anyone can be, and that probably makes her official appointment last week as president of the chamber of commerce all the more comforting to many.
"I'm excited about it," she said a few hours after the chamber board appointed her, admitting the reality hadn't quite "sunk in yet." She said she's not a big title person. After all, she's been doing the job for a year sans title, ever since she was assigned those interim duties.
During that time, she impressed the board. After a committee interviewed 11 total applicants to the vacant post, the board agreed Whittle would do the best job leading the chamber, according to Dean Weaver, chairman of the chamber's Board of Governors.
"We're very pleased with the job she's done to date and expect her to continue to grow the chamber and encourage local business and job development," Weaver said.
The last time the North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce went searching for a president, Whittle said they were looking for an outsider's perspective on Bradford County and what that could bring. Having served at the chamber during that time, she said she now has both an outsider's and an insider's view of how to support the local economy, stimulate growth and assist those moving to the area.
Whittle started at the chamber of commerce as a part-timer after a major chicken processing company pulled out of Bradford County and left her family and others struggling. She was actually one of the last babies born in the city of Starke. After graduating Bradford High in 1980, she married, and she and her husband built a home and a chicken farm.
Until 2002, she raised cows, chickens and children, she said, and then Tyson pulled out, turning a lot of lives upside down.
Lex Green, president of the chamber at the time, brought her on board to help those who had been left without jobs.
"I always tell people I was hired to work part time here. I don't know what happened," she said.
What happened is that Whittle found a career by continuing to serve others as she had for years, whether it was as PTO president when her children were in school, working with 4-H and FFA, or serving the county as a school board member. According to Whittle, helping the community is just part of what being from Bradford County is about, and that aspect of working for the chamber fit well with her outlook on life.
Having lost a business through no fault of her own, she can empathize with business owners and the difficulties they face.
"I can understand the plight of some of the business owners that are like, 'I did nothing wrong, and it still didn't work,'" she said. "I feel your pain. I've been there."
Though she's adopted a business persona, she's still an outside girl, and away from the office she's still raising cows and picking up pecans.
The board members have been very supportive of her throughout the past year, and she's quick to recognize the volunteer hours they put into making the chamber and its programs successful. Without their help, the chamber would be in bad shape, she said.
Finding herself suddenly serving as the interim head of the chamber last year was admittedly a big change.
"I kept wondering where my Pam was," she said referring to her role as the president's right hand for many years. The president has no shortage of things with which to stay busy, but looking back, all of the organizational goals for the year have been accomplished.
"I'm ready to go," she said of planning the chamber's new year, which begins in January and kicks off with the annual chamber banquet. "It will be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it."
The chamber president's duties include serving as executive secretary to the board and advisor to the board chairman, creating a plan of action for the program and planning committees, assembling all needed information and data for chamber programs, serving as a ex officio member to all of the various chamber boards, carrying out the board's policies and goals, staffing the chamber, etc.
In addition to the banquet, which serves as a fundraiser for the Bradford County Education Foundation, the board has a hand in sponsoring the Strawberry Festival and Bike Fest among many other events. It is involved in business and tourism development, local government advisement, job training and placement-the list goes on.
It's little wonder why Whittle is left looking for her own "Pam."
The chamber has gone from five to three employees in the last year, and another one of those is going to be busier as well. DeAnna Adams has been appointed to serve as manager of Main Street Starke, the arm of the chamber focused on downtown revitalization.
Like all chamber employees, she does a bit of everything for the organization, but one of her main focuses has been as chief financial officer.
Weaver said the board is equally pleased with Adams' work and expects great things to come from both appointments.
Main Street is very active in organizing and staffing downtown events. Adams said one of the first things the organization will look at even as it goes through reorganizing itself is an expansion of the boundaries that constitute Main Street Starke, redrawing the lines to include the old power plant site that the city hopes to turn into an entertainment amphitheater.
Whittle said she, Adams and Susan Brown, who oversees business services for FloridaWorks, work well together and separately to accomplish the chamber's goals. You can't ask for much more than a staff that you don't have to follow behind to make sure things are getting done, she said.
The North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce serves Bradford and Union counties and the Lake Region. Its board members are drawn from local businesses and organizations working together for the betterment of all three areas.
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©Bradford County Telegraph 2009
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