As Karen’s year as board chair comes to an end it is a good time to reflect on the year and thank Karen and all the retiring board members, Kevin Kalberg, Sandi Sutton, and Jack Emmons.
Jack Emmons, owner of John L. Scott and Mitzel’s Restaurant in Kent, is a very busy guy, but as they always say, ask the busiest person you know to get the job done --- and Jack always did. Jack took on the responsibility of recruiting volunteers for all our events and he headed up our annual Business Expo. It was a great fit for him as he is the volunteer extraordinaire working diligently for years on community-wide events such as our annual Hooked On Fishing Trout Derby, Maple Valley Days, Maple Valley Farmers’ Market, Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October and Make A Difference Day. The list goes on and on including his professional group activities. Jack certainly leads by example and inspires others to do the same. His participation on the board was consistent and his deliberations thoughtful. We so appreciate his three years of time and energy and look forward to his continued participation as an active chamber member.
Kevin Kalberg of Claffey’s Painting and Mold Solutions NW came on board in 2007 and served as board president the very next year. Kevin’s passion was legislative advocacy. While serving on our board he was also chair of the East King County Chambers of Commerce Legislative Coalition. Under Kevin’s leadership, we became much more effective in advocating for business both at the State and local level. Kevin’s year as chair coincided with our economic downturn which was hard on all of us but he did not let us wallow in it. Instead he embraced the idea of taking the opportunity to hone our professional skills, saw off the dead wood in our businesses, and fill our minds with positive thoughts so we would be prepared to compete in the new economic reality. He constantly reminded us of this quote, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read”. He challenged us to turn off the TV, quit listening to the bad news, and join him in reading his monthly book selection to fill our minds with useful information. Kevin was also instrumental in the development of our Small Business Development Center program.
And then there’s Sandi Sutton of All Service Plumbing & Contracting, one of the longest serving board members. Sandi gave it her all from 2004-2011 serving first in an appointed position and then in most every board position including treasurer, vice-president, and president. Anyone who knows Sandi has witnessed her energy, determination, and creativity. Sandi dedicated countless hours of time and energy to many of our events from the annual president’s dinner and auction, the golf challenge, Business Expo, and of course ‘Hooked on Fishing. Sandi attended many of the state and regional conferences and brought back the ideas that are the basis of so many of our existing programs such as the newly instituted tiered membership dues structure. She challenged us to do more and do it better. One of her favorite quotes was from a speaker at one of the conferences: “You can take it, you can leave it, or you can change it . . . so what’s YOUR plan?” I will always value the hours and hours and hours of volunteer time she gifted to this chamber and her steadfast support of me. Always and Forever, Sandi!
Karen was another board member that had only one year on the board before serving as board president but she jumped right in and took on the role whole-heartedly. Karen shares the skills of most board chairs --- organized, decisive, articulate, and she runs a darn good meeting. She never asked someone to do something she wouldn’t do herself. She was very hands-on without being controlling and made sure projects were completed as anticipated. I appreciated her straight-forward, no nonsense approach and her openness to new ideas and opinions. One of her greatest skills is listening and acknowledging of the different perspectives and opinions at the table. I enjoyed her tenure as my boss. Thank you, Karen, for your encouragement and your commitment to our motto: Growing Business, Building Community. I know you will continue to serve us well on the board as our Past-President.
With all of that, I look forward to the coming year with our continuing board members and our newly elected board members. I’m lucky enough to live here, work here and play here and I LOVE my job!!!!!!!!!
Added on 06/28/2011
Filed Under
Exec's Corner,
Leadership by Chamber blog
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