Photo contributed by the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce / Rob Bradham, president and CEO of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, has announced he will be leaving his post effective Nov. 1.Rob Bradham, president and CEO of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, will be leaving the chamber effective Monday.
According to a news release sent out to the public on Thursday, the Chamber's chief operating officer, Phyllis Stephens, will take over as president and CEO on an interim basis until the organization's executive board has completed the search process and found a permanent replacement for Bradham.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga's Rob Bradham to lead Dalton chamber)
Bradham, 45, has been with the chamber since November 2015. Under his leadership, the chamber launched and managed Believe Greater Dalton, a five-year community strategic plan that is working on strategies for six areas to improve the community: educational outcomes, housing, entrepreneurship, economic development, downtown development and community pride.
The chamber also advocated for a local sales tax committee to decide which projects should be included on future sales tax ballot measures and worked on a variety of initiatives related to immigration reform and manufacturing.
With Bradham's guidance, the chamber worked with the Dalton/Whitfield County Joint Development Authority to recruit new manufacturing to Whitfield County, increasing the diversity of the manufacturing base and contributing to the long-term economic stability of the community.
Other accomplishments during Bradham's time as president of the chamber include the creation of the Dalton Innovation Accelerator, an innovation incubator downtown that gives people the opportunity to pitch business ideas to potential investors. Through the accelerator - a first-of-its-kind program in Dalton - residents were able to participate in a competition called PitchDIA for money they could use to fund their business idea.
For his part, Bradham said it has been his pleasure to serve the Dalton community and that he is "very proud" of the community improvements that were achieved through Believe Greater Dalton.
"Downtown Dalton is more animated than it's ever been. I had the personal privilege of playing a role in the development of Burr Park alongside my friends David Aft, Deanna Mathis, and others. The chamber has also played a significant role in the development of the Dalton Innovation Accelerator and our two PitchDIA competitions. I'm very proud of the community's accomplishments over the last few years, and it's been very rewarding that the chamber has been involved in a significant way," he said in the release. "I love community development, and we've accomplished a great deal through Believe Greater Dalton and other programs. I want to work with other communities to accomplish their goals on this front."
Bradham said he has no intention to leave Dalton and wants to continue to serve within the community in whatever capacity he can.
Dalton State College president and chamber board chair Dr. Margaret Venable praised Bradham the impact he has had over the last six years.
"Rob has contributed a great deal to our community and the chamber," she said in the release. "The chamber is more financially healthy than it's ever been, and we have a terrific team at the chamber. The development of Believe Greater Dalton has had a tremendous positive impact on our community over the past few years, and we appreciate his leadership. We wish him well in his future endeavors, and we're glad that he intends to stay here."
Before he moved to Dalton, Bradham spent five years serving as the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's vice president of public strategies. Before that, he worked as senior vice president of business development and government affairs for the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce in Virginia and as vice president and director of governmental affairs for the Organization Management Group, one of Virginia's largest trade association management companies.
Bradham holds a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in political science from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.
Contact Kelcey Caulder at kcaulder@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @kelceycaulder.