Vol 21/Issue 2
greater owensboro chamber of commerce
FEB.
CHAMBER MATTERS 2023
Rooster Booster to feature Joe Frazier The Chamber will host its Rooster Booster breakfast this Thursday, February 2 at 7:30 a.m. at the Owensboro Convention Center (501 West Second Street). The program is sponsored by Public Life Foundation. Featured speaker will be Joe Frazier, founding Executive Director of the Kentucky Chamber Foundation’s Center for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Louisville’s 2021 40 Under 40.
Reserve your spot now at www.chamber. owensboro.com or by calling the Chamber office at (270) 926-1860 by noon on Wednesday, February 1. COST IN ADVANCE: $15 for Chamber Members and $25 for non-members. COST AT THE DOOR: $20 for Chamber Members and $25 for non-members.
The Public Life Foundation was founded nearly two decades ago to engage and empower citizens to take meaningful action in community decision-making and public policy. In recent years, the Foundation has expanded its scope by committing over $4 million of its assets to enhance early childhood education opportunities in our community. In 2020, the Foundation announced a multi-year partnership with the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence to help make this vision a reality. After several months of research, analysis, and deliberation, PLFO announced the formation of the Greater Owensboro Partnership for Early Development. This coalition of community leaders—representing the
Joe Frazier (M.S. Sociology & M.A. Philosophy) is the founding Executive Director of the Kentucky Chamber Foundation’s Center for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. Prior to his role at the Chamber Frazier served in Diversity and Inclusion related roles at different institutions including Bellarmine University as the Director of the Dr. Patricia Carver Office of Identity and Inclusion, and at Virginia Tech where he served as the Assistant Director JOE FRAZIER for the Asian Cultural Engagement Center. Frazier also started his own DE&I consulting practice Education to Action LLC. Frazier serves on a number of boards and taskforces for Kentuckians including the Board of Directors for Volunteers of America Mid States and the Louisville Association for Community Economics (LACE), the Kentucky Non-Profit Network’s Racial Equality Taskforce, and the President’s Advisory Council for the Noir Black Chamber of Commerce. He is also recognized among Louisville’s 2021 40 Under 40.
business, early and K-12 education, nonprofit, higher education, faithbased, healthcare, and government sectors—is dedicated to developing bold and innovative solutions to improve early learning outcomes. The partnership discovered that access to high quality early childhood education is not accessible to all children in Greater Owensboro for a number of reasons, ranging from affordability and availability of high quality early learning environments to issues pertaining to recruiting and retaining early childhood educators. Why early learning? Research clearly illustrates that children who participate in quality early learning are prepared for kindergarten, ultimately increasing their likelihood of securing proficiency in reading and math by the
2023 Board of Directors
close of the third grade. Such gains in early learning mean that these same children are 40% less likely to drop out of high school, more likely to pursue higher education opportunities, and become valuable participants in our community’s workforce. As Chamber members and business owners, each of you understands that attracting and maintaining a quality workforce is perhaps the most important factor in determining a community’s long-term economic success. It is our hope that building a robust early learning ecosystem will create opportunities for every child in Greater Owensboro maximize their potential, and that of our community. We invite you to learn more about our work by visiting www.plfo.org and www.prichardcommittee.org/goped/
Board Member Joan Hayden Hayden Electric Inc.
Board Chair Sarah Murphy Ford Hartz Contracting, LLC
Vice-Chair, Membership Development Michael Johnson Truth Outreach Inc.
Past Chair Brenda Clayton Brenda Clayton, CPA
Vice-Chair, Membership Services Olga McKissic Western Academy at H.L. Neblett Community Center
Chair-Elect John Marshall Moore Don Moore Automotive Legends Team Sports Marshall Ventures
Board Member Dr. Thomas Mitzel Kentucky Wesleyan College
Vice-Chair, Finance Clay Ford EM Ford
Board Member Joanna Shake Green River Area Development District
Special Director, Daviess County Fiscal Court Commissioner Chris Castlen
Vice-Chair, Advocacy Shawn Patterson Southern Star Central Gas Pipelines, Inc.
Board Member Dr. Wanda Figueroa RiverValley Behavioral Health
Special Director, City of Owensboro Commissioner Bob Glenn
Vice-Chair, Administration Father Larry Hostetter Brescia University
Board Member Jacob Call Western Kentucky Distilling Co.
Special Director, Economic Development Corporation Tom Ed Booth US Bank
Vice-Chair, Legal Susan Montalvo-Gesser Catholic Diocese of Owensboro
Board Member Jean Wells Wells Health Systems, Inc.
Special Director, Chamber Young Professionals Chair Ellen Ebelhar Independence Bank
Board Member Mark Marsh Owensboro Health Board Member Suzanne Cecil White Cecil Farms Produce, LLC White Chateau Board Member Matt Hayden Gulfstream Commercial Services, LLC