The North Texas Commission announced the election and appointment of its new officers, Executive Committee and Directors to its Board. Chuck Allen, managing director of government relations, American Airlines, will serve as the 2018 chairman of the North Texas Commission. Stephen Tolerico, chief information officer, Sewell Automotive Companies, moves into the immediate past chairman role. Scott Orr, vice president public affairs for Fidelity Investments, was elected as vice chairman. Kevin Ward, general manager, Trinity River Authority, continues his role as secretary, Dan Johnson, city manager, City of Richardson, will continue his role as treasurer, and Hal Thorne, OnePrime, will serve as general counsel. Karen Hunt, market president for Coppell for Frost Bank and Mayor of Coppell, and Rosa Navejar, president, The Rios Group, were elected to the Executive Committee.
The following directors will remain on the Executive Committee for 2018:
Mayor Douglas Athas, City of Garland
Liz Beauchamp, vice president, governmental and public affairs, Atmos Energy
Councilman Rick Callahan, City of Dallas
Andrew Johnsen, vice president, BNSF Railway Company
Dr. Joe May, chancellor, Dallas County Community College District
Gray Mayes, director, government relations, Texas Instruments
Bob Pence, chairman of the board, Freese and Nichols
Holly Reed, managing director external affairs, Texas Central
David Tesmer, senior vice president, community engagement and advocacy, Texas Health Resources.
Newly appointed board members are:
Dave Brown, American Airlines Center
Beth Bowman, Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce
Charles Carpenter, Denton Chamber of Commerce
Randy Canivel, Midwestern State University
Mayor Jeff Cheney, City of Frisco
Chris Coffman, City of Granbury
Dr. Laura DeFina, The Cooper Institute
Mayor Kevin Falconer, City of Carrollton
Judy Gaman, Executive Medicine of Texas
Dr. Walter Gaman, Healthcare Associates of Texas
Eugene Giovanni, Tarrant County College
David Gu, Sharp Business Systems
Mayor Bob Golden, Leadership North Texas Alumni
Mayor Tom Hayden, Town of Flower Mound
Lisa Hermes, McKinney Chamber of Commerce
Michael Jacobson, Arlington Chamber of Commerce
Ken Malcolmson, North Dallas Chamber of Commerce
Robert McCarrick, Capital One
Aimee Novak, Verizon
Dale Petroskey, Dallas Regional Chamber
Fred Slabach, Texas Wesleyan University
Walter Skipwith, Halff Associates
Mayor William Tate, City of Grapevine
Robbie Tawil, The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel
Laura Terhune, DeSoto Chamber of Commerce
Bill Thornton, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
Carlton Tidwell, Terrell Chamber of Commerce
Janet Weil, WorldVentures
Hon. Rita Wright Oujesky, City of North Richland Hills
Additionally, the North Texas Commission Board of Directors approved adding representatives from the region’s minority chambers as ex-officio Board members. Those chambers include:
U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Southwest
Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce
Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce
Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce
Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was also added as an ex-officio Board member.