South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Announces 2009-10 Board of Directors

COLUMBIA, SC – January 5, 2009 – The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the newly elected Board of Directors and Executive Committee for 2009-10. For a complete listing with photos, click here.

The South Carolina Chamber Board recently voted to approve the following business leaders to its Executive Committee:

Dr. Joseph Salley (Chairman) – Salley is president and chief executive officer of Milliken and Company, one of the largest textile and chemical manufacturers in the world. Headquartered in Spartanburg, the company employs approximately 10,000 associates working in more than 50 facilities, with operations extending to seven countries worldwide. Dr. Salley has served on the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance Board of Directors, the University of South Carolina Research Foundation Board of Directors and the University of South Carolina Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board.

Dick Wilkerson (Chair-Elect) – Wilkerson is chairman and president of Michelin North America, headquartered in Greenville. Michelin designs, manufactures and sells tires for nearly every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle. A 29-year veteran of Michelin, Wilkerson has a wide range of experience with the company, from leading Michelin’s worldwide original equipment earthmover tire business to his past position of executive vice president for personnel.

Dennis Wade (Treasurer) – Wade has served as president and CEO of The Jackson Companies since 2001.   The Jackson Companies, located in the south strand of Myrtle Beach, is a diversified recreational, real estate and service company whose operations include Ocean Lakes Family Campground and Prestwick Golf and Country Club.

William Boyd (Past Chairman) – Boyd serves as a shareholder in the law firm of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd P.A., where his practice focuses on managing complex transactions and business counseling. He has managed numerous mergers and acquisitions and large-scale development and industrial projects and is listed in Chambers USA, a UK publication, as one of South Carolina’s leading lawyers in mergers and acquisitions.

John Creech, Esq. (General Counsel) – Creech, a shareholder in the Greenville office of Ogletree Deakins, has extensive experience in employment and labor law, having represented a diverse number of companies since 1973. His experience includes union elections and decertifications, mergers and acquisitions of union and non-union companies, contract negotiations, strikes and litigation of a wide variety of cases before various agencies and courts across the United States.

George Acker – Acker is the southern region director of Government and Community Relations for Duke Energy. Since 1981, he has held various positions with the company in Greenville, Anderson, Columbia, Spartanburg and Charlotte. Acker is vice chairman of the Upstate Alliance and past chairman of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities and the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Reed Bolton Byrum, APR – Byrum is chair of Greenville’s Byrum Innovation Group, which positions innovative companies for value in the business and investment marketplaces. With 20 years of experience, Byrum has served as a corporate executive for companies ranging from small tech firms to Fortune 100 companies like EDS and GE Capital. He is a former president and CEO of the national Public Relations Society of America.

Willis “Trip” Gregory III – Gregory is senior vice president for human resources for Palmetto Health. His background includes extensive experience as a human resources generalist responsible for recruiting, retention, compensation and benefits administration, occupational health, employee relations, labor relations, training, education, development, policy development and a variety of other human resource-related issues. He is chairman of the South Carolina Chamber’s Human Resources Committee.

Josef Kerscher – Kerscher is president of BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC in Spartanburg, appointed to the position in April 2007. From 2004 to 2006, he was plant manager of Plant Munich. He joined BMW AG in 1979. Kerscher was in the German Air Force in the Reserve, from 1972-1974. From 1975-1979, he studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University Munich, with emphasis on environmental engineering.

Pamela Lackey – Lackey is president of AT&T in South Carolina. She previously oversaw the company’s public policy strategies in regulatory, legislative and community affairs activities in the state. Lackey has been involved in leadership roles in many community and civic organizations, including the Junior League of Greenville and Columbia, the SCETV Midlands Citizens Advisory Committee and the Palmetto Center for Women’s Business Advisory Committee.

David Pethick – Pethick is president of the Energy & Environment Group of URS Corporation’s Washington Division. With 37 years of management experience in the nuclear industry, he is responsible for work with the U.S. Department of Energy and the United Kingdom Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a Juris Doctor from American University in Washington, D.C.

Jonathan Pinson – Pinson is president of the Greenville-based Professional Staffing Solutions. He is also part-owner of Travinia’s Italian Kitchen and the Hilton Convention Center Hotel. A 1993 graduate of South Carolina State University, Pinson is the current chairman of the university’s board of directors.

Jim Reynolds – Reynolds is owner and president of Total Comfort and Comfort Services, a leading provider of HVAC services in South Carolina. Reynolds also serves the state with extensive community service in education and workforce development, including New Carolina’s Education Task Force, the Education and Economic Development Act Coordinating Council, Midlands Technical College Foundation Board, Midlands Education and Business Alliance and the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He is also chairman of the South Carolina Chamber’s Excellence in Education Council.

Roger Schrum – Schrum has more than 25 years of business communications management experience for five Fortune 1000 energy and manufacturing companies. He currently is vice president of investor relations and corporate affairs for Sonoco Products Company, where he serves as global spokesperson and is responsible for the $3.7 billion packaging company’s investor relations, marketing communications, public relations and public affairs activities. He is chairman of the South Carolina Chamber’s Public Relations Advisory Committee.

The South Carolina Chamber Board voted to approve the following business leaders to its Board of Directors:

• James Bennett – Executive Vice President, First Citizens Bank, Columbia
• Melody Birmingham-Byrd – Vice President, Southern Region, Progress Energy, Florence
• Stacy Brandon – Senior Vice President, Bank of America, Greenville
• Michael Brenan – President, BB&T, Columbia
• James Brogdon Jr. – Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Santee Cooper, Moncks Corner
• Chris Browning – President, Darlington Raceway, Darlington
• Mia Butler – President, McLeod Butler Communications LLC, Columbia
• Nancy Cheek – Owner/Manager, Language Espresso LLC, Columbia
• Allen Creigh
  ton – General Counsel and Director of Public Relations, FUJIFILM Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc., Greenwood
• Charles Dalton – President and CEO, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Pickens
• John C.L. Darby – President and CEO, The Beach Company, Charleston
• Richard Dillard – Director of Public Affairs, Milliken & Company, Spartanbur
• Mark Dunlay – Plant Manager, ALCOA Inc., Goose Creek
• Deepal Eliatamby – President, Alliance Consulting Engineers Inc., Columbia
• Barry Falin – Vice President, Thompson Construction Group Inc., Sumter
• Sara Fisher – Senior Executive Vice President/COO, The National Bank of South Carolina, Columbia
• William Floyd, Esq. – Partner, Nexsen Pruet LLC, Columbia
• Caleb Fort – Co-chairman, The Merit Group Inc., Spartanburg
• Frederick Gibbs – President and CEO, Banc Capital and Financial Services Inc., Spartanburg
• Charles Hamrick, II – Secretary and Treasurer, Hamrick Mills Inc., Gaffney
• Avery Hilton – Executive Vice President – Mills, CMC Steel South Carolina, West Columbia
• Roger Jones Sr. – President/CEO, Companion Associates Inc., Charleston
• Mark Kent – President, KENTWOOL, Greenville
• Ray Lattimore – President-CEO, Marketplace Staffing Services Inc., Greenville
• Cathy Novinger – Executive Director, Novinger QTR Consulting Inc., West Columbia
• David Pankau – President and COO, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Columbia
• Arthur Perry, II – President/CEO, 2AM Group, Spartanburg
• W. Pete Primm – Senior Vice President, CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene Engineering & Construction, Spartanburg
• Mark Propst – General Manager, The Timken Company, Gaffney
• Dennis Ramsey – Site Manager – Eastman, Columbia Operations, Eastman Chemical Company, Gaston
• Michael Riordan – President and CEO, Greenville Hospital System, Greenville
• Jack Shuler – Chief Executive Officer, ArborOne Financial, Florence
• Nancy Spencer – Regional Vice President, Delta Dental, Columbia
• Charles Speth, II, Esq. – Shareholder, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, Columbia
• Jean-Louis Vanderstraeten – President and CEO, FN Manufacturing LLC, Columbia
• Allen Ward – President and Principal-in-Charge, Ward Edwards Inc., Bluffton
• Doug Wendel – Consultant, Burroughs and Chapin Company, Inc., Myrtle Beach
• Craig White – Vice President, Self Regional Healthcare, Greenwood.
• Gene Wise – General Manager, Target Distribution Center, Target Corporation, Lugoff
• George Wolfe – Attorney, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Columbia
• M. William Youngblood, Esq. – Managing Partner, McNair Law Firm PA, Charleston 

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s first state chamber Accredited with Distinction by the U.S. Chamber, is the state’s largest statewide broad-based business and industry trade association representing more than 6,500 member companies and more than 600,000 member employees, with 90 percent of membership comprised of small businesses. As the unified voice for business and industry, the Chamber is a catalyst for increasing per capita income and enhancing the state’s global competitiveness in order to improve the quality of life for all South Carolinians.