A member of the Kentucky Chamber is ready to retire. Who? What position does he/she hold? When will he/she retire? How long did they serve?
The Kentucky Chamber President and CEO, Dave Adkisson, is set to retire in October of this year after serving for 14 years. The chamber is doing a nationwide search to find a replacement.
Under the leadership of Adkisson, the chamber has doubled in size, increased staff to 40 professionals, created the Kentucky Chamber Workforce Center and Leadership Institute for School Principals, expanded its headquarters in Frankfort, and placed a major emphasis on public policy, government relations, and improving education.
“During Dave’s 14-year tenure, he has been a tremendous value driver for Kentucky Chamber members and for all of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Kentucky Chamber Board Chair and LG&E KU Energy President Paul Thompson. “His vision and leadership on a broad spectrum of Chamber interests has built today’s strong and vibrant Chamber that has achieved many business community goals and positioned us well for future gains. His caring and upstanding qualities have allowed him to be the ideal person to collaborate with all various constituents involved with advancing the Commonwealth. Dave will be dearly missed, but we wish him and his family even greater success in his retirement years.”
During his tenure, the Kentucky Chamber became the first state chamber in the country to hire a professional reporter to cover state government news for a business audience. He was recognized as the 2017 State Chamber of the Year by the National Council of State Chambers.
At 65 years old, he is a native of Owensboro, KY where he began his career by working for the local chamber of commerce. At the age of 34, he was elected mayor of Owensboro and re-elected without opposition four years later. In 1999, he was recruited to become the president of the Birmingham, AL Chamber of Commerce and served five years in that post. He is the longest-serving president of the Kentucky Chamber in its 75-year history.
“It’s been a fantastic honor to be on such a winning team and to work with so many talented business leaders across Kentucky,” Adkisson said. “It’s now time for me to turn things over to someone else. I’ve offered the Chamber Board of Directors my help in assuring a smooth transition between now and my retirement in October. Meanwhile, we’ve got some exciting projects that I want to either see completed or ready to hand off to the next Chamber president. I have some personal projects, including serving as chairman of Georgetown College’s trustees, that I want to be able to give more time. I plan to stay involved, but on a project by project basis.”
Waverly Partners has been chosen to conduct the national search for Adkisson’s successor. Waverly Partners is a firm that specializes in executive searches for chambers and economic development groups.
An eight-person search committee has been selected that is made up of Chamber Board members to handle the leadership transition.
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