Greenville Chamber hires Carlos Phillips as President and CEO
February 24, 2016
The Greenville Chamber of Commerce announced that W. Carlos Phillips will serve as the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber. He will take the position in late March. Phillips currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Operations of Greater Louisville Inc., The Metro Chamber of Commerce of Louisville, KY. Phillips replaces Ben Haskew who announced his retirement in August, 2015 after serving as the Chamber’s CEO for over 12 years.
David Lominack, TD Bank’s South Carolina Market President and Chair of the Chamber’s 2016 board of directors, chaired the Chamber’s 9-member Search Committee that worked with Waverly Partners, LLC to conduct a national search that included candidates from across the country. In the announcement, Lominack said, “Carlos is going to be a tremendous asset to this Chamber and our community as a whole. He has a deep passion for supporting the business community and clearly recognizes that the success of our entire region is dependent upon maintaining and attracting good companies and a talented workforce.”
Julie Godshall Brown, President & CEO of Godshall Professional Recruiting and Staffing and Immediate Past Chair of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, said “We are very excited about having Carlos take the reins of the Chamber. Greenville is very fortunate to have recruited someone with Carlos’ energy and varied Chamber and corporate background. We are confident he will successfully lead this Chamber forward.”
“This is a great opportunity for Carlos to advance his career as a CEO of a dynamic 2200 member, 25 employee chamber,” said Kent Oyler, President & CEO of Greater Louisville Inc.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve the Greenville Chamber and community,” said Phillips. “My wife LaTonya, our family and I are very excited about our new adventure in Greenville. I saw this as an opportunity to lead a dedicated staff and help write the next chapter for a Chamber that has very successfully served the Greenville region for many years.”
Phillips brings a series of successful chamber industry experiences from Greater Louisville Inc. and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. He helped to lead Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) to be recognized as “Chamber of the Year” in 2007, and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to be recognized as an industry leader in membership growth and programmatic excellence. Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) serves 1,500+ members in a 15-county/2-state region with 1.4 million people. The Chamber has 33 employees and total revenues of $5.9M.
He currently leads a 17-member team responsible for GLI’s operations functions, including membership sales, events, products, finance, HR and IT. He regularly interacts with 21 Executive Committee members and a 55-member Board. His day-to-day duties focus on growing the membership, increasing the investment and programmatic budget, enhancing event content, directing the staff, and optimizing day-to-day chamber operations.
Phillips is an active member of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executive, where he serves as a member of the Board’s Executive Committee, Chair of its Education Committee, Chair, of the Membership Development Division, and a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He also serves as a Board Member of the Louisville Sports Commission and the University of Kentucky National Alumni Association.
Before joining GLI in 2005, Phillips served in various sales, operations, and leadership roles within the BellSouth, Cingular Wireless and AT&T organizations. He served as Director of Retail Sales and Director of Retail Operations in Atlanta, GA where he led 200+ associates and over 300 company-owned and authorized dealer locations. He also served as Business Sales & Market Manager in Birmingham, AL where he led the retail and business sales organization and was responsible for 25 company-owned and authorized retailer locations.
Phillips received an undergraduate degree in Communications from the University of Kentucky and a masters degree from Western Kentucky University. He and his wife, LaTonya, have four children. He is a native of Owensboro, KY.
About the Greenville Chamber
The Greenville Chamber, now in its 127th year of operation, is the largest business advocacy and support organization in Upstate South Carolina. The Chamber has over 2,200 Investors supporting the vision of continually improving the quality of life in the community by inspiring and facilitating business success. The Chamber seeks to accomplish this vision by advocating for the things that enable businesses to grow, thrive and remain relevant and forward-thinking in an ever-changing world. The Chamber strives to be the unifying force that brings together and leads those who work to improve the quality of life in the Greenville region through business growth. The Greenville Chamber has a 31-member volunteer Board of Directors, a 25-member staff and an operating budget of $2.6 million. Learn more at www.greenvillechamber.org.
