Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 3/30/17. Mike Kramer, President & COO of Atlantic Capital in Chattanooga, left, speaks to Bill Kilbride, President & CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger during a grand opening event celebrating Atlantic Capital's move to Warehouse Row. The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce has announced the 40 men and women who will make up its 2017-2018 Leadership Chattanooga class.
The program, started in 1984, is among the Chamber's flagship programs.
"We have participants from big business and small business; from healthcare, technology, finance, utilities, education, public safety and so many other elements of the local economy," said Bill Kilbride, Chamber President & CEO.
Leadership Chattanooga, which has nearly 1,200 alumni, plugs participants into a substantial network of business and civic leaders across the region. The get exposure to different parts of the community, and spend time at key businesses to learn what makes the Chattanooga region tick.
"We have some class members who have already achieved a great deal and others who are early in their careers," said Kilbride. "But they all have a love for our community in common – and a desire to learn more and to make an impact."
LEADERSHIP CHATTANOOGA CLASS:
Bergen Aldahir - Partnership for Families, Children and Adults
Jared Bigham - Chattanooga 2.0
John Bilderback - Chattanooga Hamilton County Health Dept.
Susan Cowden - Southeast Tennessee Development District
John Douglas - Pinnacle Financial Partners
Connie Fernandez - Skye Strategies
Chelsea Garcia - Henderson Hutcherson & McCullough, PLLC
Joey Greer - EPB
Susan Harris - See Rock City, Inc.
Jeff Hollis - Vision Hospitality Group, Inc.
Miles Huff - Spire Labs, Inc.
Shea Jefferson - City of Chattanooga
Angela Johnson - Girls Preparatory School
Althea Jones - Tennessee Valley Authority
Amy Katcher - Hamilton County Department of Education
Kevin Kruchinski - Tennessee American Water
Courtney Krueger - First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga
Alexa LeBoeuf - UnifiEd
Sande Lambert - Signal Centers, Inc.
Albert Leavengood - CIGNA HealthCare
Sammy Lowdermilk - The Enterprise Center
Stefanie Mansueto - Chase Commercial Banking
Lisa Maragnano - CARTA
Jeremy Martinez - BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
KeeKee Mathis - Volkswagen Group of America
Patrick Miles - La Paz Chattanooga
Donald Mueller - Children's Hospital at Erlanger
Strat Parrott - Juncture, LLC
Meg Scarbrough - Chattanooga Times Free Press
Darian Scott - Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce
Meagan Shinn - River City Company
Tyler Siira - Unum
Krista Stephens - Volkswagen Chattanooga
Michael Stone - Public Education Foundation
Jennifer Summerlin - Inline Electric Supply
Maggie Tanner - Synovus Banking Company/Synovus Bank
Amanda Thompson - U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Inc.
James Tyson - EMJ Corporation
Nathan Vaughn - Chattanooga Police Department
Justin Whitaker - United Way of Greater Chattanooga